Mireille Khacho

Mireille Khacho profile picture

Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, the University of Ottawa

Canada Research Chair tier2 in Mitochondrial Dynamics and Regenerative Medicine University of Ottawa | Neuromuscular disease center and the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology (OISB) member


NMD4C Involvement: Pillar 1: Preclinical Science

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Research Interests: Muscle stem cells, muscle regeneration, mitochondria, mitochondrial dynamics, metabolism, aging, neuromuscular diseases

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Biography

Dr. Khacho joined the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology in January 2018. She is the Canada Research Chair tier2 in Mitochondrial Dynamics and Regenerative Medicine. She is also a member of the University of Ottawa Neuromuscular disease center and the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology (OISB). Dr. Khacho has made significant contributions to our current understanding of the role of mitochondrial shape in stem cell function and longevity. Her work revealed the molecular mechanisms of how mitochondrial shape can direct the fate of stem cells and promote differentiation. As a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Ruth Slack, a notable leader in neurobiology, Dr. Khacho made the pioneering discovery that mitochondria are upstream signaling centers that dictate stem cell fate. This work has far reaching implications in aging and regenerative medicine and has now established a new area of research that bridges mitochondrial/metabolic regulation with aging and degenerative disease and stem cell function. Dr. Khacho’s research is focused on understanding key mitochondrial signaling pathways that are crucial for stem cell maintenance during aging and degenerative diseases. The discovery and characterization of these pathways would pave the way towards advancing stem cell therapies.


Recent Publications

Cairns, G, Thumiah-Mootoo, M, Abbasi, MR, Gourlay, M, Racine, J, Larionov, N et al.. PINK1 deficiency alters muscle stem cell fate decision and muscle regenerative capacity. Stem Cell Reports. 2024. PMID:38579709

Triolo, M, Baker, N, Agarwal, S, Larionov, N, Podinić, T, Khacho, M et al.. Optic atrophy 1 mediates muscle differentiation by promoting a metabolic switch via the supercomplex assembly factor SCAF1. iScience. 2024.27 (3)109164 PMID:38414856

Susser, LI, Nguyen, MA, Geoffrion, M, Emerton, C, Ouimet, M, Khacho, M et al.. Mitochondrial Fragmentation Promotes Inflammation Resolution Responses in Macrophages via Histone Lactylation. Mol Cell Biol. 2023.43 (10)531-546 PMID:37807652

Triolo, M, Wade, S, Baker, N, Khacho, M. Evaluating mitochondrial length, volume, and cristae ultrastructure in rare mouse adult stem cell populations. STAR Protoc. 2023.4 (1)102107 PMID:36853728

Baker, N, Wade, S, Triolo, M, Girgis, J, Chwastek, D, Larrigan, S et al.. The mitochondrial protein OPA1 regulates the quiescent state of adult muscle stem cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2022.29 (9)1315-1332.e9 PMID:35998642

Royea, J, Khacho, M. Examining Mitochondrial Morphology in Mouse Brains. Methods Mol Biol. 2022.2515 17-28 PMID:35776343

Wade, S, Khacho, M. MITOCHONDRIA: Mitochondrial dynamics in the regulation of stem cells. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2022.144 106158 PMID:35063637

Thumiah-Mootoo, M, Podinic, T, Khacho, M. Assessment of Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species and Redox Regulation in Stem Cells. Methods Mol Biol. 2021.2277 289-297 PMID:34080158

Cairns, G, Thumiah-Mootoo, M, Burelle, Y, Khacho, M. Mitophagy: A New Player in Stem Cell Biology. Biology (Basel). 2020.9 (12) PMID:33352783

Bondy-Chorney, E, Abramchuk, I, Nasser, R, Holinier, C, Denoncourt, A, Baijal, K et al.. A Broad Response to Intracellular Long-Chain Polyphosphate in Human Cells. Cell Rep. 2020.33 (4)108318 PMID:33113373

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