Our laboratory studies how autophagy (self-eating) is regulated and functions in complex multi-cellular organisms. Autophagy has been implicated in multiple human disorders, including neurodegeneration and cancer, and is considered a promising therapeutic target. Autophagy is a catabolic process that helps to provide fuel as bioenergetics substrates during nutrient deprivation, and is thought to influence growth of tissues. A goal of our research is to understand how signaling pathways that regulate autophagy, cell growth and cell bioenergetics interface to control tissue growth and animal health.

• Shravage BV, Hill JH, Powers CM, Wu L, Baehrecke EH. Atg6 is required for multiple vesicle trafficking pathways and hematopoiesis in Drosophila. Development. 2013 Mar;140(6):1321-9. PubMed PMID: 23406899; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3585664. 
• Pérez E, Das G, Bergmann A, Baehrecke EH. Autophagy regulates tissue overgrowth in a context-dependent manner. Oncogene. 2014 Sep 1;0PubMed PMID: 25174403; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4345156.  
• Lin L, Rodrigues FSLM, Kary C, Contet A, Logan M, Baxter R, Wood W and Baehrecke EH (2017) Complement-related regulates autophagy in neighboring cells. Cell 2017 Jun 29;170(1):158-171. PMID: 2866617 PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5533186. 
• Anding AL, Wang C, Chang TK, Sliter DA, Powers CM, Hofmann K, Youle RJ, Baehrecke EH. Vps13D encodes a ubiquitin binding protein that is required for the regulation of mitochondrial size and clearance. Curr Biol. 2018 Jan 22;28(2):287-295. PMID: 29307555; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5787036. 
• Zhao S, Fortier TM, Baehrecke EH. Autophagy Promotes Tumor-like Stem Cell Niche Occupancy. Curr Biol. 2018 Oct 8;28(19):3056-3064.PMID: 30270184; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6185742. 
•  Velentzas PD, Zhang L, Das G, Chang TK, Nelson C, Kobertz WR, Baehrecke EH. The proton-coupled monocarboxylate transporter Hermes is necessary for autophagy during cell death. Dev Cell. 2018 Oct 9: 47:281-293. PMID: 30318245 PubMed Central PMCID: in progress.