Dr Barry Panaretou

Dr. Panaretou completed his doctoral training at University College London, where his work focused on discovery and characterization of novel heat shock proteins/chaperones localized at the plasma membrane.

Dr. Panaretou's group uses the tractable genetics of the yeast model system to develop our understanding of oncoprotein function, specifically the ORAOV1/Lto1 oncoprotein that protects iron-sulphur (FeS) clusters from oxidative damage. Cancer cells generate more reactive oxygen species than their untransformed counterparts, so the overexpression of ORAOV1/Lto1 is a mechanism by which cancer cells can promote tumour growth.

The laboratory has also started to investigate the biology of Candida auris, a drug-resistant emerging fungal pathogen. The initial objectives of the group are to i) develop genetically modified strains that are sensitized to drugs, to facilitate drug discovery and ii) to determine the antifungal mode of action of specific antiseptics that have been developed by colleagues in the School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences.