Research
Mitochondria make most of the energy a cell runs on and almost none of their own machinery. We work on how the machinery gets in.
Lines of work
01
Protein import
How the machinery of the mitochondrial intermembrane space recognizes the proteins it is meant to take in, and how it holds onto them once they are across.
02
Redox-regulated translocation
The Mia40-Erv1 disulfide relay and the electron acceptors that keep it turning over, among them cytochrome c, cytochrome c peroxidase, and Osm1.
03
Aim32
A dual-localized 2Fe-2S thioredoxin-like ferredoxin. We are working out what it does in mitochondrial biogenesis, in respiration, and in the assembly of the mitoribosome.
Current project
Aim32, a Multi-faceted Redox Protein, in Mitochondrial Biogenesis
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
- 01Characterizing the protein import pathways of the mitochondrion.
- 02How mitochondrial thioredoxin-like ferredoxin proteins affect physiology.
- 03Assembly of the mitoribosome.
Open questions
- Does Aim32 control cellular respiration?
- Does its absence reduce how much energy a cell can make?
- Does it do different jobs in different mitochondrial compartments?
Approach
Yeast genetics, chemical biology, and tissue culture. Budding yeast is the working organism, chosen in part because it is a system an undergraduate can actually run. Published work includes small-molecule inhibitors of protein translocation.
Support
- 2024
NIH, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Aim32, a Multi-faceted Redox Protein, in Mitochondrial Biogenesis. Three years.
- $431,700
- 2019
NIH, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Mechanism of Aim32 import, with Kam Dahlquist as key personnel.
- $323,775
- 2026
Elizabeth and Michael Rudinica Prize
For student-faculty research, Seaver College.
- 2025
LMU Award for Excellence in Extramural Funding