Thomas Wollert

Website: https://research.pasteur.fr/en/team/membrane-biochemistry-and-transport/
ORCID: 0000-0001-9732-4789 
Twitter: @WollertLab

1) We are interested in autophagy, which is a major cellular recycling pathway. Autophagy selects cytoplasmic material, sequesters it in autophagosomes and transports it to lysosomes for degradation. Autophagic cargo, including organelles, protein aggregates, ribosomes and multienzyme complexes, is captured by a membrane cisterna, termed phagophore. The membrane expands around its cargo to engulf it entirely and sealing of the membrane gives rise to an autophagosome, which is a “transport container” that delivers its content to lysosomes. Autophagy takes a central position in cellular catabolism and is interconnected with many other cellular pathways. Reduced autophagic activity or dysfunctions are contributing to the onset of many human diseases, including cancer, neurodegeneration, metabolic and immune diseases. Such a decline of autophagy occurs during aging, leading to a higher prevalence of neurogenerative diseases and cancer in the older population. A directed and precise manipulation of the autophagic activity offers so far unexplored options to treat those diseases, notably neurodegenerative diseases for which no efficient treatment exists. The major aim of our research is to decipher the molecular mechanism of autophagy to reveal potential drug targets. We are combining in vitro reconstitutions from purified components with cell biology, biochemistry and structural biology.

2) We are very experienced in reconstituting purified proteins on model membranes in vitro. We have also expertise in TIRF imaging and FLIM, both techniques are available at our confocal Leica SP8 microscope.

Top 5 publications

1- Simonsen, A. & Wollert, T. Don’t forget to be picky – selective autophagy of protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases. Curr Opin Cell Biol 75, 102064 (2022).

2- Mohan, J. & Wollert, T. Membrane remodeling by SARS-CoV-2 – double-enveloped viral replication. Fac Rev 10, 17 (2021).

3- Wetzel, L. et al. TECPR1 promotes aggrephagy by direct recruitment of LC3C autophagosomes to lysosomes. Nat Commun 11, 2993 (2020).

4- Matscheko, N., Mayrhofer, P., Rao, Y., Beier, V. & Wollert, T. Atg11 tethers Atg9 vesicles to initiate selective autophagy. Plos Biol 17, e3000377 (2019).

5- Wollert, T. Autophagy. Curr Biol 29, R671 R677 (2019).

Dernières publications sur HAL :