Alenka Lovy
Profesor Asistente
La Dra. Lovy recibió su Maestría en Fisiología Vegetal estudiando biosíntesis de Taxol con el Dr. Rodney Croteau en la Universidad Estatal de Washington, Pullman, EE. UU. En 1999. En 2006, recibió su doctorado en Biología Vegetal de la Universidad de Massachusetts, Amherst, EE. UU. La guía del Dr. Peter Hepler, quien inspiró un uso importante de la microscopía para estudiar la ultraestructura celular mediante TEM y la microscopía confocal en vivo para estudiar la dinámica de la actina y los iones durante el crecimiento de los tubos de polen. Su carrera en microscopía continuó desarrollándose cuando se unió a la Tufts School of Medicine, Boston, EE. UU. En 2006, donde además de administrar la instalación de Tufts Imaging desarrolló varias colaboraciones, en una de las cuales recibió capacitación del Dr. Orian Shirihai para estudiar la dinámica mitocondrial. . Esto llevó a una colaboración con el Dr. César Cárdenas, con quien ha estado explorando la dinámica mitocondrial en el contexto del cáncer, que continúa aquí en el Centro de Biología Integrativa.
PUBLICATIONS
Ahumada-Castro, U., Silva-Pavez, E., Lovy, A., Pardo, E., Molgo, J. and Cárdenas, C. (2019). MTOR-independent autophagy induced by interrupted endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondrial Ca2+ communication: a dead end in cancer cells. Autophagy 2019 Feb;15(2):358-361.
Urra FA, Muñoz F, Lovy A, Cárdenas C..(2017). The Mitochondrial Complex(I)ty of Cancer. Front Oncol. 2017 Jun 8;7:118. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2017.00118.
Bustos G, Cruz P, Lovy A, Cárdenas C. (2017). Endoplasmic Reticulum-Mitochondria Calcium Communication and the Regulation of Mitochondrial Metabolism in Cancer: A Novel Potential Target. Front Oncol. 2017 Sep 8;7:199.
Cárdenas C, Müller M, McNeal A, Lovy A, Jaňa F, Bustos G, Urra F, Smith N, Molgó J, Diehl JA, Ridky TW, Foskett JK. (2016). Selective Vulnerability of Cancer Cells by Inhibition of Ca(2+) Transfer from Endoplasmic Reticulum to Mitochondria. Cell Rep. 2016 Apr 5;15(1):219-220. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.03.045.
Lovy A, Foskett JK, Cárdenas C. (2016). InsP3R, the calcium whisperer: Maintaining mitochondrial function in cancer. Mol Cell Oncol. 2016 May 11;3(4):e1185563. doi: 10.1080/23723556.2016
Lovy A, Molina AJ, Cerqueira FM, Trudeau K, Shirihai OS. (2012). A faster, high resolution, mtPA-GFP-based mitochondrial fusion assay acquiring kinetic data of multiple cells in parallel using confocal microscopy. Plant Physiol. 2008 Apr;146(4):1611-21. doi: 10.1104/pp.107.113035
Cárdenas L, Lovy-Wheeler A, Kunkel JG, Hepler PK. ( 2008). Pollen tube growth oscillations and intracellular calcium levels are reversibly modulated by actin polymerization. Plant Physiol. 2008 Apr;146(4):1611-21. doi: 10.1104/pp.107.113035
Lovy-Wheeler A, Cárdenas L, Kunkel JG, Hepler PK. (2006). Differential organelle movement on the actin cytoskeleton in lily pollen tubes. Cell Motil Cytoskeleton. 2007 Mar;64(3):217-32
Lovy-Wheeler A, Kunkel JG, Allwood EG, Hussey PJ, Hepler PK. (2006). Oscillatory increases in alkalinity anticipate growth and may regulate actin dynamics in pollen tubes of lily. Plant Cell. 2006 Sep;18(9):2182-93.
Cárdenas L, Lovy-Wheeler A, Wilsen KL, Hepler PK. (2005). Actin polymerization promotes the reversal of streaming in the apex of pollen tubes. Cell Motil Cytoskeleton. 2005 Jun;61(2):112-27.
Lovy-Wheeler A, Wilsen KL, Baskin TI, Hepler PK. (2005). Enhanced fixation reveals the apical cortical fringe of actin filaments as a consistent feature of the pollen tube. Planta. 2005 Apr;221(1):95-104.
RESEARCH LINES
At present, She would like to develop her work on the regulation of mitochondrial dynamics into aging models. Mitochondrial abnormalities, characterized by a decline in mitochondrial function and the accumulation of damaged mitochondria, have been observed in various cell types and tissues from aged organisms. Alteration of mitochondrial dynamics in aging could explain the accumulation of mitochondrial damage and be viewed as a mechanism linking a loss of mitochondrial fitness with unhealthy aging. Recent publications show that the microbiome influences aging. In fact, induction of mitochondrial fragmentation extends life span. Therefore, to know how mitochondrial dynamics are regulated in normal young mitochondria is fundamental to understand what happens in aged mitochondria. Current work is focused on understanding how commensal bacteria modify mitochondrial function in aging. In vitro and in vivo experiments are underway and she expects that the results will shed light on the role of the microbiome and mitochondrial performance in the protection against aging, allowing the design of interventions.
PROJECTS
Name: FONDAP
Title: Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism
Sponsor Institution: FONDAP
Responsible Researcher: Cardenas C, González-Billault C, Slachevsky A and Court F
Other Researcher: Alenka Lovy
Date of execution: 2015-2019
Name: Research Grant
Title: Mitochondrial uptake of constitutive InsP3R-released Ca2+ is essential to maintain mitochondrial metabolism and sustain breast cancer cell migration, invasion and metastasis
Sponsor Institution: FONDECYT
Responsible Researcher: Cesar Cárdenas
Other Researcher: Alenka Lovy
Date of execution: 2016 -2019
Name: Research Grant
Title: Evaluation of mitochondrial function and mitophagy in PINK1/PARK2 knockout iPSC derivate dopaminergic neurons
Sponsor Institution:
Responsible Researcher: Tufts School of Medicine
Date of execution: 2016 - 2019
TEAM
Paula Farías Cartes
Undergraduate student
Biochemistry student from Universidad de Concepcion, working to determine how commensal bacteria modify mitochondrial metabolism.
NETWORK
National
Dr. Cesar Cardenas, Center for Integrative Biology, Universidad Mayor
Dr. Felipe Court, Center for Integrative Biology, Universidad Mayor
Dr. Mario Sanhueza Cubillos, Center for Integrative Biology, Universidad Mayor
International
Dr. Rob Jackson, Center for Neuroscience Research, Tufts University, Boston, USA
Dr. John Leong, Microbiology Department, Tufts University, Boston, USA
Dr. Jimmy Crott, USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, USA
Dr. Mitch McVey, Tufts University, Medford, USA
Dr. Michael Malamy, Microbiology Department, Tufts University, Boston, USA
Dr. Anne Kane, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, USA