Ph.D., Biology, The Rockefeller University
B.S./M.S., Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University
The making and breaking of subcellular compartments
Thousands of biochemical reactions happen in parallel inside a single cell; they must be partitioned into correct subcellular spaces called organelles to avoid interference and enable robust regulation. How do cells maintain their proper functions, detect and repair damage, and trigger alarms when things go terribly wrong?
We aim to identify the mechanisms governing the assembly of diverse categories of biomolecules into functional organelles, and to reveal damage control mechanisms by which cells repair or dispose of dysfunctional cellular components. We are particularly interested in understanding how cells rewire organellar functions during metabolic crisis or programmed cell death, with the hope of identifying overlooked organelle quality control mechanisms in both homeostasis and disease.
Selected publications
Genetic dissection of rapid proteolysis identifies TXNDC15 as a keyfactor of ERAD and lipid homeostasis
Liu Y, Yaochai MY, Liu S, Alwaseem H, Birsoy K. Cell Chemical Biology (in press). BioRxiv. 2026 Apr 2; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13060290.
Autoregulatory control of mitochondrial glutathione homeostasis
Liu Y, Liu S, Tomar A, Yen FS, Unlu G, Ropek N, Weber RA, Wang Y, Khan A, Gad M, Peng J, Terzi E, Alwaseem H,Pagano AE, Heissel S, Molina H, Allwein B, Kenny TC, Possemato RL, Zhao L, Hite RK, Vinogradova EV, Mansy SS, Birsoy K. Science. 2023 Nov 17;382(6672):820-828.PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11170550.