Place: 4274 Chamberlin (refreshments will be served)
Speaker: Dave Pagliarini, UW Department of Biochemistry
Abstract: Mitochondria are ubiquitous, tiny metabolic machines that live inside nearly all of our cells. Collectively, the make up ~10% of our body weight, and consume ~90% of the oxygen that we breath. They are best known for their role as "power plants" that transform different fuel sources into the universal cellular energy currency, ATP. However, their physiological functions are much more diverse, and their dysfunction leads to a wide spectrum of human disorders ranging from cancer to neurodegeneration. My group studies the composition and biogenesis of these organelles, and how defects in specific mitochondrial proteins gives rise to human disorders. To do so, we leverage a broad range of techniques including mass spectrometry-based proteomics, chemical genetics and mouse physiology.