Dr Vito Mennella

Vito Mennella
PhD

Reader in Nanoscale Biology

School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
www.qmul.ac.uk/sbbs/staff/vitomennella.html
Centre for Molecular Cell Biology
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Research

Airway Biology, Cilia/ centrosome/ ciliopathies, In vitro airway models, Asthma/ COPD, Volume EM, Super-resolution microscopy

Interests

My research sits at the interface of airway cell biology, organelle biophysics, and advanced imaging, with the overarching goal of understanding how the molecular and three-dimensional architecture of the respiratory epithelium governs lung function in health and disease.

A central focus of the laboratory is the biology of cilia and centrosomes in the human airway. Using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy and volume electron microscopy (volume EM), we have mapped the nanoscale organisation of basal bodies, basal feet, and the pericentriolar material, revealing structural principles that underpin cilia assembly, beating coordination, and epithelial defence. This work has direct translational relevance to motile ciliopathies, including Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD), for which we developed quantitative super-resolution pipelines to improve molecular diagnosis (Science Translational Medicine, 2020; Developmental Cell, 2020).

More recently, the laboratory has expanded into the 3D nanoscale architecture of the respiratory epithelium as a whole, employing focused ion beam-SEM to reconstruct multiciliated airway cells in their full ultrastructural context. This has uncovered previously unrecognised organellar relationships, including a motile cilia–rootlet–mitochondria communication axis, with implications for understanding how ciliary beat is energetically sustained and how it is disrupted in chronic airway disease (Cell Reports, 2026).

A parallel research strand addresses common lung conditions — asthma, COPD, and respiratory toxicity — using physiologically relevant in vitro airway models that recapitulate the mucociliary epithelium. These models serve as platforms to interrogate disease mechanisms (Nature Genetics, 2021) and to assess the impact of environmental pollutants, chemicals, and drugs on airway cell biology, including ongoing work supported by industrial partnerships with Astra Zeneca to investigate mechanisms of new drug modalities (ASOs) toxicity and Syngenta on New Alternative Methodologies (NAMs) for respiratory toxicity prediction.

Methodological innovation is integral to the group's identity. We develop and apply AI-assisted 3D segmentation workflows for volume EM datasets, quantitative image analysis tools, and structured illumination microscopy approaches to extract biological insight from complex, high-dimensional imaging data.

Together, these research strands position the laboratory at the intersection of fundamental cell biology, rare disease, chronic respiratory disease, and imaging technology — contributing to the Centre's strengths in molecular and cellular mechanisms of human health and pathology.