Merz, Alex

We seek to understand how the endolysosomal membrane system of eukaryotic cells is "wired" -- how it is organized, how it is regulated, and how its regulation is integrated with cellular metabolism.

We work at levels ranging from the whole organism to single molecules, and use yeast genetics, biochemistry, in vitro reconstitution, quantitative optical microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and electrophysiology. Our favorite model systems are budding yeast (S. cerevisiae) and nematode worm (C. elegans), but projects with other systems are possible. We emphasize the development of new assays and probes that allow us to explore new aspects of cell biology. 

Current projects include: 

• Understanding the mechanisms of intracellular membrane fusion. How do the assembly dynamics of SNARE proteins and SNARE co-chaperones control and execute fusion events?
• Explaining how organeles maintain their identity during transport — we seek to understand how compartments exhibit descrete identities and show little mixing or blending of character. How are intercopartmental boundaries enforced?
• What are the roles of phosphoinositide lipids in the endolysosomal system?
• How does the endolysosomal system participate in cellular stress responses and aging?

Our work is currently funded by the NIH and the American Cancer Society.