Autophagy and Signaling (Methods in Signal Transduction Series)

Autophagy and Signaling is an up-to-date overview of the many signaling pathways regulating autophagy in response to different cellular needs. Discussion includes the status and future directions of autophagy signaling research with respect to different aspects of health and disease. These include the roles of autophagy in regulating cell fate, immune response and host defense, nutrient sensing and metabolism, neural functions and homeostasis. The mechanisms and significance of cross-talk between autophagy and other cellular processes is also explored. Lastly, alterations in autophagy observed in aging and age-related pathologies are described.

Esther Wong graduated from the National University of Singapore with her PhD in 2004. She is an Assistant Professor with the School of Biological Sciences at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Her research focuses on autophagy, a cellular quality control pathway involved in protein degradation by lysosomes. The overall goal is to elucidate yet unknown mechanisms in the degradation of proteins by autophagy and how the related defects result in accumulation of damaged components, proteotoxicity and loss of cognitive functions associated with neurodegeneration and aging.