The Tigano Laboratory

performs foundational research in the field of mitochondrial disorders and stress signaling.

Mitochondrial Disorders are genetic, progressive and often inherited pathologies that manifest when mitochondria fail in their principal task of producing energy -

Mitochondria evolved from the endosymbiosis of an obligate aerobe by an ancestral eukaryote 1.45 billions of years ago. Since then, mitochondria and nucleus evolved a complex relationship that ensures cellular and organismal homeostasis.

Mitochondria make use of complex signaling pathways to communicate with the nucleus about stress and damage.

Aberrant stress signaling can negatively influence the progression of human mitochondrial disorders by fostering tissue degeneration.