The secret language of lipids

Dr. Hanaa Hariri wins prestigious NIH award to study lipid metabolism

Assistant Professor Hanaa Hariri is fascinated by cellular organization. As a postdoc, she discovered that sites of contact between organelles are enriched for proteins that regulate lipid metabolism.

Metabolic regulation is critical for adaptation to stress and starvation, and ultimately, cell survival. Her laboratory then noticed another role of inter-organelle contact sites - they serve to coordinate the interplay between lipids and methionine metabolism.

The intimate relationship between lipid and methionine metabolic pathways has long been recognized but how changes in methionine metabolism affect lipid homeostasis remains unclear. Dr. Hariri has been granted funding from the National Institute of Health to decipher the role of inter-organelle contacts in coordinating lipid and methionine metabolism.

Understanding how these major metabolic pathways communicate will inform a wide number of human pathologies including cancers, liver diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Wayne State congratulates Dr. Hariri and her laboratory!