Our group is focused on exploring lipid diversity and uncovering new lipid functions in cell biology with a focus on the role of lipids and membrane mechanics in protein export from the endoplasmic reticulum.  We apply multidisciplinary approaches that include mass spectrometry of lipids or lipidomics to analyze the lipidome of cells and uncover new networks of co-regulated lipids that help us identify new lipid functions (Jiménez-Rojo et al, 2020). We combine this approach with cell and chemical biology tools that allow us to engineer the lipid composition of cells and thus to manipulate biophysical properties such us membrane fluidity in vitro and in cellula (Jiménez-Rojo, Feng, Morstein et al, 2022). Using this methodology we aim to understand the metabolic and biophysical principles underlying secretion phentoypes that are characteristic of certain cell states such as cellular senescence. In particular we are exploring how cargoes of different sizes have distinct lipid requirements for their export and we aim to manipulate the secretion of those cargoes by manipulating membrane lipid composition.