Aleksandra Kotwica

Supervisor: Dr Andrew Murray

Title: Bioenergetics reinforcement: a novel strategy to improve survival in novel inflammatory states

Abstract: Despite advances in healthcare and science, sepsis-related organ dysfunction remains the most common cause of death in the intensive care unit. A key feature of sepsis in dysfunctional organs such as heart, brain and skeletal muscle is bioenergetic failure due to mitochondrial impairments. Hypoxia has been shown to induce state of metabolic hibernation within cells through an increase in mitochondrial autophagy and inhibition of mitochondrial biogenesis. We hypothesized that induction of mitochondrial autophagy, in parallel with inhibition of mitochondrial biogenesis, represents a critical adaptive mechanism to couple energy production to oxygen demand.