Lipids are normally synthesized with a linear backbone of carbon atoms. We are studying the synthesis and degradation of lipids that carry branches in their backbone. 

Cancer cells need to adjust their metabolism to fulfil the needs imposed by their growth and survival under challenging conditions. We are exploring novel metabolic pathways that might play a role in these adaptations and could the targeted by therapeutic approaches.

Biochemistry textbooks suggest that metabolism occurs in well defined pathways and leads to a limited number of metabolites. We want to understand what happens when enzymes do not do their job properly or when metabolites react with each other in non-enzymatic reaction. We have discovered several metabolite-repair enzymes that help eliminate potentially dangerous compounds and thereby facilitate the efficient coexistance of metabolic pathways.

We have discovered that the glycan of the  protein a-dystroglycan contains ribitolphosphate groups which before had only been known to exist in bacteria. Ribitolphosphate incorporation is essential for the formation of a glycan that is required for the interaction of this protein with extracellular matrix proteins. We are trying to understand how this modification is generated and how it is altered under specific conditions.