Research

Our research explores questions concerning aging, cellular energy production, oxygen sensing, oxidative stress, and caloric restriction in yeast. These questions include:

  1. What role does mitochondrial nitric oxide production play in the extended lifespan enjoyed by organisms grown on calorie-restricted diets?
  2. What intracellular factors (metabolites, etc.) control the 'switch' in cytochrome c oxidase that shifts it between Cco/H2O and Cco/NO?
  3. How do free radicals function in disease and the aging process? Do they have both negative and positive effects?
  4. What downstream effects does nitric oxide have on signaling pathways or protein modification within the context of caloric restriction?
  5. How does mitochondrially-produced nitric oxide inactivate SIRT1 and stabilize HIF-1α?
  6. What function do these target signaling pathways/proteins serve?
  7. Can light-regulated mitchondrial nitric oxide synthesis be used to mitigae the aging process?

Links