Cellular and Molecular Biology Training Program

Eriko is in the Molecular Biology IDP.  She joined the training program in 2013.  Her research mentor is Dr. Michael Teitell.  She received a B.S. degree in 2012 from CSU Northridge.

Mentor: Dr. Michael Teitell

Mitochondrial function is maintained by importing macromolecules from the cytosol.  Protein import machinery have been studied heavily, however very little is known about RNA import into mammalian mitochondria.  I am dissecting the RNA import signal to elucidate the RNA import mechanism.  In addition I am designing screens to identify factors involved in mitochondrial RNA import.