Imaging | Structural Biology | Metabolism | Organelle Contacts | Trafficking | Cytoskeleton

The Kast lab is investigating how cells remodel their metabolism in response to nutritional and environmental challenges. We are specifically interested in understanding the mechanisms cells employ to regulate the spatial-temporal arrangements and activities of metabolic compartments, such as lipid droplets, autophagosomes, and mitochondria, to meet the transient energy demands of the cell; as well as how perturbing these organelle networks contributes to pathogenesis of metabolic diseases and cancer. To study these processes, we use a multi-level approach that combines mass-spectrometry-based proteomics, cutting-edge microscopy, structural biology, and in vitro reconstitution assays