Master/Semester Project: Complexity of mitochondrial transporters and metabolic rewiring I

Mitochondria express a family of small molecule transporters that remain poorly characterized in homeostatic and diverse disease settings. It remains unclear how overexpression of many transporters alters metabolism and what this means in the context of cancer or developmental biology. Interestingly, humans exhibit tissue-specific expression of mitochondrial transporters to define metabolic niches. This project for a 3 or 6 month master’s student dives into the metabolic complexity of mitochondria and mitochondrial transport. Specifically, the student will use state-of-the-art metabolomics to explore the consequences of CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of several metabolite transporters in a human cell culture system. Additionally, 13C metabolite flux studies and modeling may be used to better understand metabolic alterations.

For more information please contact Dr. Peter Doubleday at