Aakriti Jain, Ph.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

Dr. Aakriti Jain earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2014, followed by a master’s degree in Biology from Université Paris Diderot in 2015. She completed her Ph.D. in Cancer Metabolism at the Francis Crick Institute in London in 2019, where her research focused on how mitochondrial nitrogen metabolism is disrupted in liver cancer. In 2020, Aakriti joined the laboratory of Dr. Roberto Zoncu at UC Berkeley as a postdoctoral fellow. Her work combined cell biology, biochemistry, functional genomics, and disease models to uncover fundamental mechanisms of lysosomal biology, linking them to disease. In January 2026, Aakriti joined the Department of Physiology, with a secondary appointment at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute (CRI), at UT Southwestern Medical Center as an Assistant Professor.

The Jain lab uses disease models to uncover fundamental mechanisms that regulate lysosomal function and dysfunction. Lysosomes are central hubs of cellular metabolism and signaling, and their impairment contributes to diseases ranging from cancer to neurodegeneration. Yet key aspects of lysosomal biology remain poorly understood. Our research investigates how lysosomes degrade complex cargo, how cells use the products of lysosomal catabolism, and how lysosomal stress is sensed and communicated across the cell. By integrating organelle reconstitution, multi-omics, bioinformatics, biochemistry, and cell biology, we aim to build a systems-level understanding of lysosomal catabolism and identify new strategies to restore lysosomal health in disease.

Research Interest

Cancer
Enzymology
Lysosome
Neurodegeneration
Organelle interactions

Publications

Featured Publications

Lysosomes as hubs of metabolic sensing and cellular homeostasis.: Jain A, Zoncu R, Mol Cell 2026 Jan
Leucine aminopeptidase LyLAP enables lysosomal degradation of membrane proteins.: Jain A, Heremans I, Rademaker G, Detomasi TC, Rohweder P, Anderson D, Zhang J, Hernandez GA, Gupta S, von Linde T, Lange M, Spacci M, Luo J, Citron YR, Olzmann JA, Dawson DW, Craik CS, Bommer G, Perera RM, Zoncu R, Science 2025 Mar 387 6741 eadq8331
Metabolic priming by multiple enzyme systems supports glycolysis, HIF1α stabilisation, and human cancer cell survival in early hypoxia.: Grimm F, Asuaje A, Jain A, Silva Dos Santos M, Kleinjung J, Nunes PM, Gehrig S, Fets L, Darici S, MacRae JI, Anastasiou D, EMBO J 2024 Apr 43 8 1545-1569
Lysosomal GPCR-like protein LYCHOS signals cholesterol sufficiency to mTORC1.: Shin HR, Citron YR, Wang L, Tribouillard L, Goul CS, Stipp R, Sugasawa Y, Jain A, Samson N, Lim CY, Davis OB, Castaneda-Carpio D, Qian M, Nomura DK, Perera RM, Park E, Covey DF, Laplante M, Evers AS, Zoncu R, Science 2022 Sep 377 6612 1290-1298
Organelle transporters and inter-organelle communication as drivers of metabolic regulation and cellular homeostasis.: Jain A, Zoncu R, Mol Metab 2022 Jun 60 101481
Picking the arginine lock on PQLC2 cycling.: Jain A, Zoncu R, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021 Aug 118 35
MCT2 mediates concentration-dependent inhibition of glutamine metabolism by MOG.: Fets L, Driscoll PC, Grimm F, Jain A, Nunes PM, Gounis M, Doglioni G, Papageorgiou G, Ragan TJ, Campos S, Silva Dos Santos M, MacRae JI, O'Reilly N, Wright AJ, Benes CH, Courtney KD, House D, Anastasiou D Nat. Chem. Biol. 2018 Nov 14 11 1032-1042
Correlation analysis of targeted proteins and metabolites to assess and engineer microbial isopentenol production.: George KW, Chen A, Jain A, Batth TS, Baidoo EE, Wang G, Adams PD, Petzold CJ, Keasling JD, Lee TS Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2014 Feb
Capillary electrophoretic separation-based approach to determine the labeling kinetics of oligodeoxynucleotides.: Kanavarioti A, Greenman KL, Hamalainen M, Jain A, Johns AM, Melville CR, Kemmish K, Andregg W, Electrophoresis 2012 Dec 33 23 3529-43