Introduction to Peroxisome-related Interests

Raekil Park, MD, PhD

Translational Laboratory of Metabolic Homeostasis (TLMH)

Dept of Medical Science & Engineering, GIST, Korea

Peroxisomes are one of subcellular organelles bounded by a single membrane, which are involved in multifunctional physiological processes in all major groups of eukaryotes. It plays a critical role in maintaining cellular homeostasis in response to nutritional challenges. Accordingly, abnormal regulation of organellar interactions contribute to the pathophysiology of the metabolic disorders including Leigh's syndrome, Chediak-Higashi syndrome, Zellweger syndrome, to name a few. However, due to complexity of interactions among the organelles, we are still far away to obtain integrative information that can be applied for the treatment of various metabolic diseases in humans. A major reason for this is largely due to lack of information regarding the function of peroxisome-resident proteins, which precludes the completion of an interactive map among metabolic organelles.

Research interest in TLMH is to complete the functional mapping of peroxisome proteins, to build an organellar interactome and to understand the molecular etiology of disorders of lipid metabolism. TLMH strategically applies in vitro and in vivo models, including zebrafish and GEM, to reveal the function of some peroxisome proteins such as Pex5, Dhrs1, Slc25 etc. TLMH hope tha the research project will undoubtedly advance our understanding of complex interactions among metabolic organelles and help develop treatment for metabolic syndromes or diseases in humans