Wednesday Colloquia

Food for thought: all about life, reproduction, disease and death

by Prof. Ullas Kolthur (DBS, TIFR)

Wednesday, September 20, 2017 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at Lecture Theatre ( AG-66 )
TIFR
Description
Incidence of chronic and morbid lifestyle or non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cancer and neurodegeneration has increased both globally and in India. Although these diseases are caused due to unhealthy diets, lack of exercise and excess calorie intake, the molecular mechanisms that drive their onset and progression are poorly understood. Besides human health, it is now well established that dietary/metabolic inputs govern fundamental biological processes since all organisms have to sense, uptake and utilize nutrients. 

Our lab has made significant contributions in this aspect using a specific family of proteins called Sirtuins. These gens/proteins are special as they sense diet/metabolism and control all known cellular functions, and are activated in response to low calories.

Here, I will highlight our findings on how Sirtuins enable complex multi-compartmentalized, multi-cellular organisms in dealing dietary inputs and  how they impinge on organismal physiology and aging.