Non-canonical pathways for regulation of AMPK

The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has key roles in the regulation of eukaryotic cell function. Professor Hardie played a major role in uncovering the 'canonical' pathways by which AMPK is activated by energy stress and by calcium ions, but it now also appears to be regulated by other‘non-canonical’ pathways, and the focus of this Investigator Award will be to investigate these. He will study how the pathway is down-regulated in rapidly proliferating cells, how it can monitor cellular glycogen reserves, how it is involved in responses to the commonly used drug aspirin, and how it is activated by DNA-damaging agents. These studies should provide insights into, and may have applications in, both cancer and diabetes.