Biomedical Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program
(B-SURE)
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA)
BAI, Yidong
(Cellular & Structural Biology): We are interested in a comprehensive
understanding of mitochondrial functions at the molecular, cellular, tissue,
and animal levels. Mitochondria play a central role in cellular energy
metabolism through the generation of ATP from oxidative phosphorylation
(OXPHOS). Mitochondria contain their own genomes and have a distinct molecular
mechanism governing their gene expression and functions. Recent developments
have also shown functional mitochondria are important in the regulation
of apoptosis, early embryonic development, generation and relay of electrical
and calcium signals, and synaptic transmission. Mitochondrial defects have
been reported in a wide range of conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes,
blindness, deafness, Parkinson's disease, various cancers, and aging. We
have established a powerful approach to isolate mouse mitochondrial mutants.
One current focus in the lab is to isolate a wide spectrum of mitochondrial
mutants, thus laying the foundation for further studies of mitochondrial
biology. The availability of mitochondrial mutants provided an opportunity
to study different aspects of mitochondrial functions. We are focusing
on the regulatory mechanisms working in mitochondria. We are also interested
in pathogenic mtDNA mutations associated with human diseases and aging,
and their consequence on various mitochondrial functions. Different approaches
are utilized in restoring the mitochondrial function in cells carrying
the mtDNA mutations, including introducing an yeast gene, NDI1 and performing
a genetic screen by enhanced retroviral mutagens.
Yidong
Bai's Web Page.