Emilio Mottillo

The overall goal of our research program is to understand how cells store and release lipids and how this process is dysregulated in various metabolic diseases. Cells safely store lipids in organelles called lipid droplets. Our lab investigates the protein interactions that occur on the surface of lipid droplets and how the disruption of these interactions can lead to cardiometabolic diseases such as fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. A second major interest is to understand the metabolic signals generated by lipid droplets, how lipids droplets communicate with other organelles, and how cells sense lipids and maintain energy homeostasis. This project utilizes fluorescent microscopy approaches to image lipid metabolism in real-time in tissues such as brown fat, a thermogenic organ. To answer these questions in the lab we utilize cutting edge techniques such as real-time imaging of lipid metabolites, fluorescent microscopy and Crispr-Cas9 genome editing.