Lipid transport across membrane contact sites

Principal investigator: Höglinger

Correct synthesis, metabolism, and transport of lipids are paramount for the proper functioning of organisms. In this network, we focus on analyzing lipid transport between two organelles, mainly the endoplasmic reticulum and lysosomes. Recent evidence strongly implicates membrane contact sites in non-vesicular, inter-organelle lipid transport. Using multifunctional lipid probes, we set out to visualize, and quantify lipid transport in intact cells as well as to characterize lipid-protein interactions, aiming to identify molecular mechanisms governing lipid export from the lysosome.