Fanis Missirlis

Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN - MX

I am honored to serve as organizer of the 8th ISZB meeting and I hope many of you reading these lines will join us in the beautiful city of Merida in December 2024.

We use Drosophila melanogaster and other animals to investigate the biological function of metal ions and translate relevant findings into biomedical research activity. I am particularly interested in understanding how metal ions drive biological systems into action and how metal ions reach their destination as cofactors of proteins localized in different cell types and subcellular compartments and how cells ensure the binding of specific metals – required for enzyme activity – into protein ‘pockets’ that can in principle accommodate more than one metal ion type.

Specifically in the field of zinc biology, we recently contributed to the problem of how Drosophila stores zinc. Our entry into the field started by the serendipitous observation that different fly mutants, that looked otherwise normal, had three-fold difference in total body zinc content. We now know Malpighian tubules are the site of zinc storage and excretion in insects; the above-mentioned mutants were defective in retaining zinc in this organ. Components of the genetic pathway that control the biogenesis and regulation of zinc storage granules overlap with those that control eye pigment formation and deposition studied from the times of Thomas Morgan 116 years ago. A fascinating aspect arising from this line of research is how different organs of the insect communicate with each other to regulate dietary zinc absorption, storage, and excretion. Zinc storage and systemic zinc regulation have not been elucidated in humans, either, which means that our work in this field can potentially help guide important investigations in biomedicine. We collaborate closely with the laboratories of Liliana Quintanar at Cinvestav and of Fabio Arnesano at the University of Bari Aldo Moro in Italy for spectroscopy-related work to define the endogenous chemical ligands for zinc.