DOCTORAL
CANDIDATES
Background
I completed my undergraduate degree in Chemistry in Innsbruck, Austria, where I conducted my bachelor’s thesis in analytical biochemistry in the laboratory of Marcel Kwiatkowski. My research investigated the mitochondrial NAD transporter SLC25A51 using knockout and overexpression systems to understand its impact on central carbon metabolism.
During my master’s studies, I completed an Erasmus exchange at the University of Edinburgh, focusing on data science and sustainable chemistry. For my master’s thesis, I continued studying mitochondrial transporters, examining the subcellular metabolic roles of SLC25A51 and SLC25A43. By comparing isolated mitochondrial metabolism with whole-cell metabolomics, I gained insight into how metabolite compartmentalization shapes cellular physiology.
This interest in mitochondrial transporters and metabolic compartmentalization led me to the laboratory of Mathias Ziegler at the University of Bergen, where I now investigate how mitochondrial metabolism communicates with the nucleus.
Research
My research aims to uncover how mitochondrial metabolite pools of particularly NAD and Coenzyme A, regulate nuclear histone modifications. Because these metabolites serve as essential cofactors for histone acetylation and deacetylation, their compartmentalized availability may directly influence gene expression programs.
For example, knockout of the mitochondrial NAD transporter SLC25A51 causes a selective depletion of mitochondrial NAD without significantly affecting cytosolic or nuclear NAD levels. Similarly, double knockout of the mitochondrial CoA transporters SLC25A16 and SLC25A42 results in compartment-specific depletion of mitochondrial CoA.
By dissecting these compartment-specific effects, my work seeks to clarify how mitochondrial metabolism contributes to epigenetic regulation and cellular adaptation.