Dr Natalia Sanchez Soriano PhD

My research aims to understand how the cytoskeleton is regulated through signalling processes, and how this contributes to the formation of neuronal networks during development and their maintenance during ageing. For this, we make use of the fruit fly Drosophila where processes of neural development and ageing occur much faster, can be investigate with highly efficient experimental and genetic strategies, and lead to understanding that usually applies to higher organisms including humans. For example, signalling pathways known to be affected in ageing can be easily manipulated in our model, and their effects analysed in as little as 5 weeks, as compared to 15 months in mice. Notably, signs of ageing in fly neurons resemble the typical hallmarks of neuronal ageing in primates. See my website for more details.

The loss of axons that takes place during ageing or in neurodegenerative disease can be due to defective MT machinery. Hence, some MTBPs and upstream signalling pathways are associated with neurodegenerative disease. Several of our projects aim to understand how ageing or pathological mutations affect signalling pathways and how these, in turn, affect MT regulation and eventually neuronal networks.