2011 Participants
Sebastian Vasquez Lopez
As we age some of the normally dividing cells in our body enter a state of arrest known as cell senescence. This is characterised by a series of functional and structural changes some of which occur at the level of the mitochondria, particularly in the electron transport chain. The project aimed to study how the mitochondrial respiration of human fibroblasts would change over a period of 14 days after the induction of senescence by X-ray irradiation and in naturally (replicative) senescent cells. For this I used a state-of-the-art piece of equipment that was able to measure very accurately small changes in oxygen concentrations of cell cultures after the addition of different electron transport chain inhibitors. From these measurements it was then possible to assess mitochondrial function.
Funded by: Wellcome Trust