Faculty

Matthew Merrins
Assistant Professor
VA C4134
(608) 256-1901 x12848
My lab is working to understand metabolic signaling in the pancreatic islet and its deficiency in type 2 diabetes, with a focus on pyruvate kinases. My lab specializes in single-cell approaches – principally live-cell imaging and electrophysiology – and since the lab’s inception we have developed a number of exciting tools which have given us new insights into diabetes pathophysiology. One example is NADH fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), which allows us to distinguish metabolic activity in each subcellular compartment of the pancreatic beta cell, including the mitochondria. Using NADH FLIM and FRET imaging, we hope to understand the bidirectional communication between mitochondrial metabolism and the cell cycle machinery, mediated by cyclin-dependent kinases. Our research is funded by the NIDDK, the NIA, and the American Diabetes Association.
Affiliated Programs