Sean P. Cregan
Studies the molecular pathways that trigger neuron death, aiming to find drug targets that protect neurons in stroke and in diseases such as Parkinson, Alzheimer and Huntington.
Scientist, Robarts Research Institute · Neuroscience Program, Western University
Portrait: Robarts Research Institute, Western University
Sean Cregan is a scientist at the Robarts Research Institute at Western University in London, Ontario. According to the institute, his lab studies the molecules that trigger cell death in the brain and how they are switched on, with the goal of finding drug targets that help neurons survive in stroke and in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson disease.
The study in the Atlas, led by Matthew Demmings, looked at the integrated stress response, a cell program that is switched on by stress. When the stress does not go away, the transcription factor ATF4 raises three genes, SESN2, DDIT4 and Trib3, which together turn down both mTORC1 and mTORC2.
In mouse and cell models of Parkinson disease, this lasting drop in mTOR activity helped kill dopamine neurons through a cell-death protein called PUMA. The result is unusual in mTOR research, because here too little mTOR activity is harmful, not too much.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | M | ATF4 activates a transcriptional program that chronically suppresses mTOR activity and promotes neurodegeneration in Parkinson disease models DEMMINGS2026 Showed that chronic ATF4 signaling raises SESN2, DDIT4 and Trib3, suppressing mTORC1 and mTORC2 and driving dopamine neuron death via PUMA in Parkinson disease models. Cregan is the senior author. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 2
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Sean P. Cregan.
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- Joy Zhao Researcher in Sean Cregan's lab studying how chronic cell-stress signalling through ATF4 suppresses mTOR and kills dopamine neurons in Parkinson's disease models
- Matthew D. Demmings Neuroscience researcher in Sean Cregan's lab at Western University who showed that chronic ATF4 stress signalling shuts down mTOR and kills dopamine neurons in models of Parkinson's disease
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