The C. Outten Group research program is focused on two interrelated projects: (1) characterizing the mechanisms for maintaining adequate intracellular levels of the essential metal iron (Fe), and (2) identifying factors that control glutathione (GSH) flux between subcellular compartments and its impact on metal metabolism.
The goal of this project is to characterize iron signaling pathways in yeast model systems using structural, biophysical, and genetic methods to probe the functional and physical interactions that govern these signaling pathways.
Our goals for this project are to identify factors that control thiol redox balance in subcellular compartments and characterize the role of the tripeptide glutathione in redox and metal metabolism. To accomplish this we use green fluorescent protein (GFP)-based redox sensors we developed to measure the glutathione redox state in different subcellular compartments.