Patrick Lewis | Leucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2 and the path to Parkinson’s

19 January 2023, 1.00 PM - 19 January 2023, 2.00 PM

Patrick Lewis, Royal Veterinary College

Lecture Theatre C42, Biomedical Sciences Building

Summary: LRRK2 is one of the most important genetic contributors to risk for Parkinson’s, and is a key drug target for the disease. This seminar will cover our current understanding of how dysfunction of LRRK2 alters cellular vulnerability in Parkinson’s, with a focus on lysosomal biology.

Abstract: Mutations in Leucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) are the most common genetic cause of Parkinson’s disease, making LRRK2 a priority drug target for this disorder. Despite nearly two decades of research, the cellular events that link LRRK2 to Parkinson’s disease remain obscure, although there is increasing evidence linking LRRK2 to lysosomal dysfunction through regulation of a subset of Rab GTPases. Work in our group has focused on understanding the response of LRRK2 to lysosomal stress, and how common variants such as the R1298H coding variant in LRRK2 can influence kinase activity. LRRK2 is a complex, multidomain protein, and we have a particular focus on the GTPase activity of LRRK2 impacts on overall function using cellular models for LRRK2 activity. Combining these mechanistic studies for LRRK2 with genomic and proteomic studies across the human nervous system, we are beginning to build a clearer picture of how LRRK2 contributes to PD.

BioPatrick Lewis is an academic at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London. Following a brief stint at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville during his undergraduate degree, he completed a PhD at the MRC Prion Unit under the supervision of John Collinge and Tony Clarke before moving to the National Institute on Aging in 2005 for a postdoctoral fellowship investigating the cellular basis of Parkinson’s disease. He returned to UCL in 2007 to establish his own group as a Brain Research Trust fellow and then a Parkinson’s UK senior research fellow, moving to the University of Reading in 2013. Since moving to the RVC in 2020, his research centres on the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration, with a particular interest in the links between Leucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2 and cellular pathways linked to macroautophagy and lysosomal dysfunction.

Host: Kirsty McMillan

Contact information

Contact: Adam Grieve

Edit this page