On April 9th, 2019, Prof. Harvey McMahon from Medical Research Council UK visited Institute of Biophysics, CAS,at the invitation of Professor Junjie Hu of the National Key Laboratory of Biomacromolecules and gave a lecture entitled “Membrane curvature and Parkinson’s disease”.
Membrane architectures and dynamics are of great importance. Prof. McMahon’s lab has long been dedicated to the studies of regulation of membrane structure, such as endocytosis and exocytosis. The regulation of these morphologies can be described by biophysical characteristics. Professor McMahon’s team found that proteins with amphipathic helical or hydrophobic insertion loops may affect or respond to curvature, including proteins of the BAR superfamily. These proteins play important roles insynaptic transmission in nerve cells.
In this lecture, Professor Harvey McMahon highlights the impact of disruption of the mitochondrial quality control pathway on Parkinson's disease. The function ofα-synuclein protein in healthy brains is still unclear, however researchers of Parkinson's disease are very interested in it because it is the main component of lewy body, the pathological marker of Parkinson's disease. Since its discovery, α-synuclein has been the focus of research of Parkinson's disease. However, whether and how α-synuclein functions in Parkinson's disease are still elusive. ProfessorMcMahon's laboratory found that in the cells of the Parkinson's disease model, α-synuclein can be recruited to the mitochondria through VAPA/B and Cardiolipin, resulting in abnormal oxidative capacity of mitochondria.These findings offer a new direction for study and treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Professor McMahon's lecture is informative and impressive. Teachers and students have asked many interesting questions. Prof. McMahon patiently answers the questions and conducts in-depth discussions and exchanges on the frontiers of field-related development. The academic atmosphere of the entire venue was rich and the audience was well received.

Prof.  Harvey McMahon was giving the lecture 

The Audience

The Audience

Prof. Junjie Hu and  Prof. Harvey McMahon

（Reported by Hu Junjie's group）