UC Riverside

Mitochondria serve to regulate energy and redox homeostasis, ultimately determining cell fate. While mitochondrial dysfunction is characteristic of many metabolic, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an energy and stress sensor, is known to regulate mitochondrial biogenesis and function. This work is to study a novel mechanism by which AMPK regulates both energy and redox homeostasis through regulation of NAD+ synthetase 1 (NADSYN) and two epigenetic modulators, DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) and retinoblastoma binding protein 7 (RBBP7). This study combines bioinformatics screening and experimental validation to discover novel substrates of AMPK that are involved in energy and mitochondrial homeostasis in the cell.