Platt Lab | University of Oxford



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Platt Lab, Introduction

Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are found in all eukaryotic cells and are believed to play important roles in health and disease. Elucidating their normal physiological and cell biological roles is a major area of interest within this laboratory.

In particular, we study diseases that result from defects in GSL metabolism (synthesis and degradation), to gain unique insights into the normal functions of these molecules. The majority of these diseases are characterised by severe pathology in the brain and are currently untreatable.

We are therefore using the knowledge gained from studying these disorders to develop effective therapies for clinical evaluation.

We currently have the following interests:

The cell biology of glycosphingolipids

How defects in glycosphingolipid metabolism cause disease

The effects of glycosphingolipid storage on the immune system

Development of cell based assays to monitoring storage disease patients receiving experimental therapies

The development of novel therapies for diseases caused by defects in glycolipid metabolism
The involvement of glycosphingolipids in male germ cell development, in particular with organelle formation in post-meiotic germ cells.