How is mitochondrial architecture controlled in healthy and dying cells?
We are an interdisciplinary team seeking to understand how membrane architecture is achieved and regulated by proteins. We approach this question by using the mitochondria as a model system and study proteins that regulate mitochondrial membrane architecture in healthy and dying cells. Currently we are focused on proteins involved in mitochondrial fission and fusion as well as proteins that interact with mitochondria during apoptosis. Many of these proteins are amphitropic, that is they adopt both soluble and membrane-bound conformations. We anticipate that this amphitropism is likely governed by evolutionarily conserved mechanisms, and a major goal of our work is to define what governs such protein amphitropism. Our work contributes to understanding the basic biology, chemistry, and physics of protein-protein and protein-membrane interactions that underlie these signalling pathways and are important in human disease. We strive for an understanding that will identify new therapeutic ro
