Edward Chouchani, Ph.D.

Research

The Chouchani lab will study how the chemically reactive byproducts of metabolism regulate the activity of proteins involved in inflammation and obesity. Energy-generating metabolic reactions produce highly reactive chemical byproducts. Although these reactive chemicals, left unchecked, can damage cell components, my lab has discovered that they also serve to regulate the activity of some cellular proteins. In my laboratory, we developed a method that allowed us to identify more than 9,000 proteins in 10 different mouse tissues that contain sites that can be modified by these reactive chemicals. Now, combining these resources with cutting-edge techniques in chemical biology, physiology, pharmacology, and protein chemistry, we will identify compounds that similarly target the vulnerable sites in two major classes of protein: those that generate inflammatory signaling molecules, and a second that controls energy expenditure and plays a role in obesity and diabetes. After maximizing the potency and specificity of these compounds, we will test how effective they are at inhibiting the activity of these target proteins in mice. This work could lead to promising new drugs for treating metabolic and inflammatory disorders.