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Mitochondria control of physiology and disease

Mission of the lab is to discover new biology linked to mitochondria and metabolism that controls physiological responses and diseases including cancer, viral pneumonia, neurological diseases (Parkinson’s, ALS, and Alzheimer) and aging. A key aspect of this mission is also to train the next generation of “discoverers” in a supportive environment.

Lab News

Lab News

Sep 8, 2020

Understanding Mitochondrial Dysfunction's Impact on Neurological Diseases

Dr. Chandel discusses a recent study that may improve the understanding of mitochondrial dysfunction and its impact on the development of neurological diseases. The study, led by Greg McElroy, also suggests that targeting mitochondrial complex I linked biology could be a promising therapeutic target for neurological diseases.

November 18, 2019

New Link Between Mitochondria and Neurodegeneration

Mitochondria, the organelle that powers most cells in the body, may be the canary in the coal mine for neurological disease, according to new findings published in the Journal of Cell Biology. Mitochondrial stress and dysfunction have long been suspected as an early step in diseases like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease, but Navdeep Chandel and collaborators have uncovered a mechanism that may explain how. The study found that mitochondrial stress in neurons can cause an enzyme imbalance that contributes to neuronal dysfunction and death. Reversing this imbalance showed promise in cell models, sketching an outline of a future therapy.

January 16, 2019

Mitochondria Linked to Autoimmunity

Northwestern Medicine scientists have demonstrated that a specific mitochondrial protein complex is essential to the immunosuppressive activity of regulatory T-cells, findings with potential significance for a wide variety of autoimmune diseases.

The study, published in Nature, demonstrated that the suppressive function of regulatory T (Treg) cells was impaired when they had been modified to lack mitochondria complex III, previously known as an essential component of mitochondrial function.

June 12, 2017

Mitochondria Behind Blood Cell Formation

New Northwestern Medicine published in Nature Cell Biology has shown that mitochondria, traditionally known for their role creating energy in cells, also play an important role in hematopoiesis, the body's process for creating new blood cells.

In this study, Navdeep S. Chandel's lab, including postdoctoral fellow Elena Anso, PhD, and graduate students Sam Weinberg and Lauren Diebold demonstrated that mitochondria control hematopoietic stem cell fat by preventing the generation of a metabolite called 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG). The scientists showed that mice with stem cells deficient in mitochondrial function cannot generate blood cells due to elevated levels of 2HG, which causes histone and DNA hyper-methylation.

July 23, 2020

Mitochondrial Metabolism Shows Promise as Target for Cancer Therapy

Dr. Chandel discusses recent publications in the lab demonstrating the essential role of the mitochondrial electron transport chain in tumorigenesis and potential therapeutic avenues for targeting mitochondrial metabolism in the clinic.

March 29, 2019

A New Way to Fight Cancer

Metabolic therapy is showing promise in robbing malignant cells of their primary energy source. In this Op-Ed, Navdeep Chandel discusses the current status and future directions of metabolic therapy in the clinic.

December 07, 2018

Highly Cited Researchers 2018 - 2021

Clarivate Analytics has included Navdeep S. Chandel, PhD in their list of Highly Cited Researchers from 2018-2020. This list represents scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated significant influence in the last decade. It recognizes world-class researchers selected for their exceptional research performance, demonstrated by production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in Web of Science.

Link to Google Scholar

April 07, 2020

Un-Miracle Drugs Could Help Tame the Pandemic

In this article, Dr. Navdeep Chandel discusses the potential of Metformin as a drug to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

March 18, 2019

Biologists Discover Unknown Powers in Mighty Mitochondria`

Mitochondria are most famous as sources of metabolic energy. But by splitting and combining, they can also release chemical signals to regulate cell activities, including the generation of neurons.

October 23, 2017

Novel Technique Explains Herbicide's Link to Parkinson's Disease

Navdeep S. Chandel's lab has used an innovative gene editing technique to identify the genes that may lead to Parkinson's disease after exposure to paraquat, a commonly used herbicide. This study, which utilized the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, serves as a proof-of-concept for using genetic screens to investigate the biology of oxidative stress.

The study was published in Nature Chemical Biology and the first author was Colleen Reczek, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Chandel's lab. Other authors include Chandel lab members Hyewon Kong and Inmaculada Martinez-Reyes, PhD.

Podcasts

Podcasts

May 05, 2018

The Return of Metabolism

In Episode #226 of SmartDrugSmarts, Dr. Chandel shares his research into the subcellular world of mitochondria, ATP, the Krebs Cycle — and how these esoteric interests translate up into real-world lifespan and quality-of-life differences for us big, adult mammals.

Dec 03, 2018

Metabolism, Mitochondria, and Metformin in Health and Disease

In this podcast episode of The Peter Attia Drive, Navdeep Chandel, PhD discusses the role of mitochondria and metabolism in health and disease. Nav also provides insights into the mitochondria as signaling organelles, antioxidants, and Metformin's multifaceted effects on human health, among many topics related to well-being.

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