Project Grant K99GM166523

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences awarded The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco $123,147 on August 4, 2026, under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859) to investigate how cellular biophysical and biochemical environments reshape fatty acid synthase (FASN) structure and function in disease contexts.

The recipient will employ CRISPR-based endogenous tagging, cryo-electron microscopy and tomography, fluorescence imaging, and functional assays to examine FASN behavior across molecular, cellular, and tissue-level organization. The research addresses a gap in understanding how disease-specific environmental conditions—including stress and altered nutrient availability—remodel FASN clustering, inter-particle crosstalk, subcellular localization, and spatial coordination with lipid droplets to reprogram fatty acid homeostasis. Preliminary data indicate that disease-mimicking conditions promote FASN clustering that increases palmitate production, suggesting diseased cells may reactivate an evolutionarily conserved cooperative mode of fatty acid synthesis to maximize metabolic throughput.

The work is performed in San Francisco, California, with a period of performance through July 31, 2028. This is a project grant, a component of NIGMS's investigator-initiated basic research portfolio focused on understanding biological processes underlying disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.