Organelle Contact Sites
Over the past few decades, it has become clear that intracellular organelles communicate with each other in order to meet the cell's physiological needs. This type of communication is mediated by sites of close proximity between organelles, known as 'organelle contact sites'. These sites are extremely dynamic and vary depending on metabolic conditions, stimuli, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and pathological conditions. Marta is particularly interested in understanding the mechanisms by which cells maintain a certain distance between organelles, either by tethering or spacing biological membranes.
To know more on contact sites:
10.1038/s41556-024-01539-z 10.1038/s41580-020-0210-7
To know more on mtDNA and contacts:
10.1089/dna.2020.5614
Fluorescence Microscopy & Hight Throughput Imaging
Since the beginning of her career, Marta got passionated in fluorescence microscopy and in the development of GFP-based genetically encoded probes (see doi: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2006.03.007. and doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2010.04.003.) In 2012, Marta had the opportunity to attend the EMBO course 'High-throughput Microscopy for Systems Biology', which inspired her interest in designing high-content microscopy experiments. Several high-throughput screens based on fluorescence microscopy are running in her lab, and Marta would love to collaborate on your screening projects!
A few examples of high content imaging approaches can be found here:
10.3390/cells12071089 10.1038/s41419-022-04741-9 10.1016/j.rvsc.2025.105585 Epub 2025 Feb 26
The Charme of Melanogenesis
Over the past five years, with the support of the Leo Foundation, the MG lab has started a new area of research focusing on the intricate cellular processes underlying melanin synthesis. Unexpectedly, our team discovered that a mitochondrial fission factor plays a role in melanosome biogenesis.
Find out more about this fascinating work:
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-4545422/v1Funding
