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Arash Bashirullah, PhD

Professor
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education Executive Director, Lachman Institute

The Biology of Intracellular Lipid Trafficking

Lipids are fundamental components of cells, crucial for defining organelle identity, regulating cellular signaling, and directing intracellular trafficking. Despite these essential roles, how lipids are transported to the correct subcellular domains to carry out their functions and how defects in lipid transport contribute to diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative disorders remain poorly understood.

In the Bashirullah lab, we focus on intracellular lipid trafficking through the study of a newly defined superfamily of lipid transfer proteins: the bridge-like lipid transfer proteins (BLTPs). These proteins act as lipid superhighways, facilitating the rapid exchange of lipids between organelle membranes at membrane contact sites. We have helped define members of the BLTP superfamily and are current investigating their molecular, cellular, physiological, behavioral and developmental functions using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. By dissecting the roles of these proteins, particularly BLTP2 (hobbit in flies), we aim to identify the mechanisms that control lipid transport and understand how defects in these mechanisms impact cellular function and disease etiology. Ultimately, we hope to generate insights that could lead to novel therapeutic strategies for a wide range of diseases associated with lipid trafficking defects.