Jennifer Watts
Washington State University, WA·Genetics
Cells can die in several controlled ways, and one of the newest to be recognized is ferroptosis. In ferroptosis, iron drives the damaging oxidation of fats in cell membranes, a process called lipid peroxidation.
- Fields
Genetics
Biochemistry
Biology
- Topics
ferroptosis
regulated cell death
lipid peroxidation
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2028
What they work on
- Identify genes and pathways that control ferroptosis triggered by dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids in C. elegans germ cells, using genetic, dietary and biochemical approaches.
- Define how lipid metabolism, iron and antioxidant protection change germ-cell sensitivity to ferroptosis, which is cell death driven by iron-dependent oxidation of membrane fats, in living worms.
- Determine how organelles such as mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum and cellular vesicles influence how sensitive cells are to ferroptosis in the C. elegans model.
- Test whether ferroptosis of germ cells contributes to reproductive aging by extending the diet-induced death studies from young worms to older C. elegans.
More about the research
This kind of cell death plays a part in human diseases such as neurodegeneration and lung and kidney disease. Triggering it on purpose might also help kill tumors. Many basic questions remain open. Which fat-derived molecules set ferroptosis off? How does diet affect it? How do organelles such as mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) change a cell's sensitivity? And does ferroptosis affect germ cells, the cells that make eggs and sperm, and so shape reproduction?
Why it matters
Ferroptosis contributes to neurodegeneration and to lung and kidney disease, and inducing it may help destroy cancer cells. Finding the genes, dietary fats and metabolic steps that control this cell death could point to drug targets that protect tissues in these diseases. It could also inform new cancer treatments, for example ones based on fatty acids such as DGLA. The work may also show how cell death affects fertility as animals age.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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Harvard University, MA·Biochemistry
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E. Jane Hubbard
New York University, NY·Biology
Identify the molecular mechanisms by which insulin/IGF-like signaling acts from other tissues to drive age-related decline of the one-cell germline stem cell niche in C. elegans.
Wen Tang
Ohio State University, OH·Genetics
Determine how transcription of piRNA genes is regulated in C. elegans, using laboratory experiments combined with computational analysis.
The school
Washington State University: 22 labs on PI Pages, $403M a year on research, 259 research doctorates a year.
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