Home Department: undeclared
Mentor: Howard Chang, Dermatology and Genetics

Mitochondria play a key role in regulating cellular processes. The pathways through which important mitochondrial proteins and their corresponding RNA localize at the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) is not well understood. Using drug perturbations and a newly developed technique called APEX-Seq, Sharon will determine the mechanisms that guide RNA localization to the OMM, which, in turn, may expose how these pathways are dysregulated in debilitating mitochondrial disorders, such as diabetes mellitus, Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy, Leigh syndrome, and many others.