Catherine Clarke is an American biochemist who is a Professor of Chemistry at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. She was the first woman to serve as Head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Her research considers the functional roles of

Coenzyme Q Coenzyme Q, also known as ubiquinone and marketed as CoQ10, is a coenzyme family that is ubiquitous in animals and most bacteria (hence the name ubiquinone). In humans, the most common form is coenzyme Q10 or ubiquinone-10. It is a 1,4-benzoq ...

Early life and education

Clarke was an undergraduate and graduate student at the

. Her doctoral research considered the regulation of cholesterol metabolism. After completing her doctoral research, she joined

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

as a post-doctoral fellow. She eventually returned to UCLA, where she studied

polyisoprene Polyisoprene is strictly speaking a collective name for polymers that are produced by polymerization of isoprene. In practice polyisoprene is commonly used to refer to synthetic ''cis''-1,4-polyisoprene, made by the industrial polymerisation of i ...

and non-sterol metabolism. Whilst at UCLA, she started working on the biosynthesis of

coenzyme Q Coenzyme Q, also known as ubiquinone and marketed as CoQ10, is a coenzyme family that is ubiquitous in animals and most bacteria (hence the name ubiquinone). In humans, the most common form is coenzyme Q10 or ubiquinone-10. It is a 1,4-benzoq ...

using the yeast model.

Research and career

Clarke joined the chemistry and biochemistry department at University of California, Los Angeles in 1993. She was eventually promoted to Professor. Her research considers how cells synthesize coenzyme Q, a non-

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one ele ...

that is also known as

ubiquinone Coenzyme Q, also known as ubiquinone and marketed as CoQ10, is a coenzyme family that is ubiquitous in animals and most bacteria (hence the name ubiquinone). In humans, the most common form is coenzyme Q10 or ubiquinone-10. It is a 1,4-benzoq ...

. Coenzyme Q is a naturally occurring enzyme cofactor found in the mitochondria of the body cells. Clarke makes use of the yeast ''

Saccharomyces cerevisiae ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungus microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have been o ...

'' and nematode ''

Caenorhabditis elegans ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''rhabditis'' (r ...

'' to understand the fundamental mechanisms that underpin the inter- and intracellular charge transport of Coenzyme Q. Clarke studies a respiratory defective ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' mutant that is deficient in coenzyme Q. By characterizing the yeast and polypeptide proteins that are required for the synthesis of coenzyme Q, Clarke has shown that it is possible to investigate these defects. She has shown that yeast and other eukaryotes share the same biosynthetic pathway, and that a large multi-subunit complex within the mitochondrial matrix is required for Q biosynthesis. Clarke is also interested in the ageing process. It has been shown that gene mutations which increase the lifespan of nematodes such as ''

'' have homologs in

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxon, taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with vertebral column, backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the ...

s, act through highly conserved mechanisms. Mutations in the

CLK1 Dual specificity protein kinase CLK1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''CLK1'' gene. Function This gene encodes a member of the CDC2-like (or LAMMER) family of dual specificity protein kinases. In the cell nucleus, the encoded p ...

gene of ''C. elegans'' can give rise to longer lifespans and are defective in the biosynthesis of Coenzyme Q. These results indicate that CLK1 is essential for the biosynthesis of Coenzyme Q. Her research involves understanding how diet, environment and genotype impact longevity. In June 2016, Clarke became the first woman to lead the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Clarke was appointed Dean of Special Projects in the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences in 2019.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Catherine Freitag American women biochemists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of California, Los Angeles faculty Princeton University faculty 21st-century American women Chemists from California Whittier High School alumni