Paul Conbine, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, will present the seminar “How do you get out what you put in? Moving mitochondrial copper.”

The Cobine Laboratory at Auburn University is primarily focused on understanding how cells and organelles balance their metal requirements while avoiding toxicity of these elements. Mitochondrial copper homeostasis is required for maturation of cytochrome c oxidase and a fraction of the cellular superoxide dismutase, two enzymes that are critical to normal physiology. However, the transporters and molecules that control availability of copper in this organelle are unknown. We use combinations of biochemistry, yeast and bacterial genetics, spectroscopy, analytical chemistry, cell biology and natural products chemistry to try an uncover the molecules involved and the implication of manipulating this pool of copper.