Jonathan Friedman
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX·Biology
Mitochondria, the cell's energy-producing compartments, are wrapped in two membranes and have a complex internal structure. Besides making energy through oxidative phosphorylation, they help build nucleotides and amino acids and control calcium levels.
- Fields
Biology
Biochemistry
Physiology
- Topics
mitochondria
organelle structure
oxidative phosphorylation
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2030
What they work on
- Determine how structural changes are coordinated across the two mitochondrial membranes during mitochondrial fission, the process by which these organelles divide.
- Define how the internal organization of mitochondria is remodeled to support local energy and metabolic demand in different regions of a cell.
- Uncover how the mitochondrial interior senses acute, localized stress and relays this dysfunction to quality-control machinery outside the organelle.
More about the research
Inside cells they form a connected network that constantly divides (fission) and fuses, partly to share out the mitochondrial genome. When this organization breaks down, it can contribute to diseases such as neurodegeneration and diabetes. Still, little is known about how a cell's energy needs are communicated to the inside of the organelle, or how its internal layout is reshaped to meet them.
Why it matters
Defects in mitochondrial structure appear in many diseases, including diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders. Understanding how mitochondria maintain their inner organization, reshape it to meet local energy needs and signal when damaged could identify mechanisms to target, with the long-term goal of therapies that ease diseases caused by mitochondrial dysfunction.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Erin Barnhart
Columbia University, NY·Neuroscience
Compare calcium signals in the cytosol and in the endoplasmic reticulum, the neuron's main calcium store, across defined Drosophila motion vision cell types, using simultaneous in vivo imaging in living flies.
Evgeny Pavlov
New York University, NY·Biochemistry
Identify which molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial permeability transition operate under specific stress conditions, such as calcium and reactive oxygen species imbalance, using the lab's animal and cell disease models.
Jerry Chipuk
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY·Biology
Determine how cancer-gene signaling from BRAF V600E or mutant NRAS switches on the ATF5-dependent mitochondrial unfolded protein response, a mitochondrial stress alarm, during senescence in primary human melanocytes.
The school
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center: 40 labs on PI Pages, $869M a year on research, 86 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.