Dr Janet Kumita

Interests

My research group uses a multidisciplinary approach, including biophysics, cell biology and protein engineering, to study the molecular processes underlying protein self-assembly, in particular aberrant amyloid fibril formation related to disorders including Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and systemic amyloidosis, and more recently to study the phenomena of liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) in biology and its relevance to cellular protein quality control mechanisms. Our main areas of study are: 1) Establishing a structure-function relationship between biomolecular condensates and protein degradation; 2) Defining the structural characteristics of amyloid-related aggregates and determining how these species alter cellular quality control mechanisms and cell-to-cell transfer processes - factors that are crucial in neurodegenerative disease progression; and 3) Understanding protein homeostasis in ageing and disease.

Research Focus

Equipment

Cell culture

Fluorescence microscopy

Protein purification

Recombinant protein expression