The role of lysosomal to mitochondrial communication in health and aging
The decline of health in aging has long been associated with many hallmarks of cellular stress, such as the dysfunctional mitochondria and lysosomes, two central organelles responsible for cellular health. Mitochondria and lysosomes also both harbor genetic mutations found in age-related diseases, such as in Parkinson’s Disease. It is so far unclear what causes failure of these organelles during aging and whether their failures are linked. However, recent evidence shows that these two organelles communicate with each other in many important ways to promote cellular health. Thus, unhealthy aging may arise not just from the individual loss of these organelles but also from the loss of their synergistic communication. To understand how the decline of organellar function leads to the failure of health in aging, Dr. Shen’s project focuses on understanding how mitochondria and lysosomes communicate to promote health and how this process fails over time.
