The Tan Lab studies core principles of cell biology in aging, with particular interest in basic molecular mechanisms underlying cellular homeostasis and stress response. Organelle stress and damages are common risk factors in aging and diseases. A major goal of our lab is elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the sensing, repairing, and clearance of damaged organelles in mammalian cells. We search for essential, unifying principles behind complex stress responses through unbiased approaches, and dissect underlying mechanisms with multidisciplinary methods including molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics. Current research topics include lysosomal quality control in aging and neurodegeneration, inter-organelle communications in cell homeostasis, and lysosomal stress in age-related inflammation
Research Interests
Representative Publications
1. Lv B, Dion WA, Yang H, Xun J, Kim DH, Zhu B, Tan JX. A TBK1-independent primordial function of STING in lysosomal biogenesis. Molecular Cell. 2024 Sep 19.
2. Tan, JX, Finkel, T. A phosphoinositide signalling pathway mediates rapid lysosomal repair. Nature. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05164-4
3. Tan X, Anderson RA. Keeping in touch with the ER network. Science. 2017;12;356(6338): 584-585.
4. Tan X, Thapa N, Sun Y, Anderson RA. A kinase independent role for EGF receptor in autophagy initiation. Cell. 2015;160(1-2):145-60.