On Friday, April 5th 2024, the Labex WHO AM I? invite Professor Matthias Peter (Institute of Biochemistry, ETH Zurich) to present an Institut Jacques Monod Lecture (formely “Conférence Monod-Diderot”) on the theme:
Protect and recycle: how cells regulate dormancy
Abstract:
Amyloids were long viewed as irreversible, pathological aggregates, often associated with neurodegenerative diseases. However, recent insights challenge this view, providing evidence that reversible amyloids form upon stress conditions and fulfil critical cellular functions. Yet, the molecular mechanisms regulating functional amyloids and the differences to their pathological counterparts remain poorly understood. In this talk, I will summarize conserved principles of amyloid reversibility that we uncovered by studying the essential metabolic enzyme pyruvate kinase (PK) in yeast and human cells. Indeed, both yeast Cdc19 and human PKM2, but not PKM1, form reversible amyloids through a pH-sensitive amyloid core motif. Stress-induced cytosolic acidification promotes aggregate formation via protonation of specific residues within the amyloid core. Our work thus unravels a conserved and potentially widespread molecular mechanism underlying amyloid functionality and reversibility, fine-tuned to the respective physiological pH range of cells.
The lecture will take place at 11.45 am in the Buffon amphitheater, 15 rue Hélène Brion 75013 Paris
