Ding Xue
University of Colorado Boulder, CO·Genetics
In most animals, the mitochondria (the cell's energy-producing structures) carried in by the sperm are destroyed soon after fertilization. As a result, offspring inherit mitochondria only from the mother.
- Fields
Genetics
Biology
Neuroscience
- Topics
paternal mitochondrial elimination
mitochondrial inheritance
maternal inheritance
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2031
What they work on
- Determine how paternal mitochondria are selectively damaged, recognized and removed in fertilized eggs, using molecular genetic, biochemical and cell biological analyses.
- Identify the paternal and maternal mechanisms that specifically eliminate sperm-derived mitochondria, and test why their removal is needed for animal development and organismal fitness.
- Identify the factors, signaling pathways and biological processes that physical exercise regulates to protect neurons against neurodegenerative disease, using genetic, biochemical and proteomic approaches.
More about the research
Separately, regular physical exercise appears to protect nerve cells from degeneration. Both processes matter for normal development and long-term health, and defects in them are linked to human disease. Yet the molecular machinery behind each is poorly understood. The project studies both processes using molecular genetics, reverse genetics (disrupting specific genes to see what changes), biochemistry, cell biology and proteomics, the large-scale analysis of proteins.
Why it matters
Defects in paternal mitochondrial elimination can cause inherited mitochondrial diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases remain hard to treat. By identifying the genes and pathways that remove sperm mitochondria and that link exercise to nerve-cell protection, this work could reveal new therapeutic targets. It could also suggest new strategies for treating patients with these conditions.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Piya Ghose
University of Texas at Arlington, TX·Biology
Determine how mitochondrial trafficking, the transport of the cell's energy-producing organelles, influences elimination of cell processes during Compartmentalized Cell Elimination of the C. elegans tail-spike cell.
Jonathan TIlly
Northeastern University, MA·Biology
Compare mitochondrial size, energy profiles and protein makeup between inner cell mass (embryo-forming) cells and trophectoderm (placenta-forming) cells in mouse blastocysts, using a new mitochondrial subpopulation analysis method.
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
University of Colorado Boulder: 36 labs on PI Pages, $718M a year on research, 447 research doctorates a year.
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