Department of Biological Sciences
General Directory
Kim Tieu
| Title: | Professor, Peter and Bonnie McCausland Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience Research Concentration - Neuroscience & Neurodegenerative Diseases |
| Department: | Biological Sciences McCausland College of Arts and Sciences |
| Email: | KTIEU@mailbox.sc.edu |
| Office: | CLS, Room 707 |
Research
The overarching goal of Dr. Tieu’s laboratory is to identify the mechanisms that damage brain cells and develop strategies to preserve neuronal health. His research connects mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired clearance of toxic proteins, and neuroinflammation to identify therapeutic targets that could slow or prevent neurodegeneration.
A longstanding interest is mitochondrial dynamics—the processes of mitochondrial division, fusion, and movement that help maintain neuronal function. His laboratory has demonstrated that inhibiting dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1), a key regulator of mitochondrial division, protects mitochondrial function and morphology, protects dopamine-producing neurons and improves dopamine release in experimental models of Parkinson’s disease. These findings support targeting mitochondrial dynamics as a potential therapeutic strategy.
His research has also uncovered non-canonical functions of DRP1 that extend beyond its role in mitochondrial division. His laboratory demonstrated that reducing DRP1 function improves autophagy, the cellular process responsible for removing damaged cellular components and toxic proteins, independently of mitochondrial function. Related studies showed that DRP1 inhibition reduces the accumulation and spread of pathological α-synuclein, a protein central to Parkinson’s disease. More recently, his laboratory identified a previously unrecognized role for DRP1 in regulating neuroinflammation. This work demonstrated that DRP1 enters the cell nucleus and directly regulates inflammatory gene expression through the NF-κB pathway. This discovery expands the understanding of DRP1 beyond mitochondrial division and opens new avenues for investigating how glial cells contribute to neuronal injury.
Together, these research directions guide the laboratory’s efforts to understand how disease-associated proteins, environmental toxicants, and inflammatory signals converge on shared cellular pathways—and how these pathways can be targeted to preserve brain health.