Zachary Kemmerer

Graduate Student



(608) 890-4229


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A prime interest of the Pagliarini lab is the characterization of unannotated mitochondrial proteins. My work focus on a group of proteins responsible for the biosynthesis of Coenzyme Q, an essential redox lipid that functions in the electron transport chain to produce ATP.

CoQ was discovered over 50 years ago here at UW-Madison, but we still do not fully understand its biosynthetic pathway, which limits our ability to develop new therapies for CoQ deficiency. Currently, I am studying ADCK3 (and Coq8, the yeast homolog), a putative kinase. This protein is essential for CoQ biosynthesis, but its endogenous function is still unknown.


M.S. Chemistry, 2014, Villanova University

B.A. Chemistry, Philosophy, 2012, University of Pennsylvania

Selected Publications

  • Kemmerer, ZA; Ader, NR; Mulroy, SS; Eggler, AL. Comparison of human Nrf2 antibodies: A tale of two proteins. Toxicol Lett (2015) 238, 2, 83-9.
  • Dittenhafer-Reed, KE; Richards, AL; Fan, J; Smallegan, MJ; Fotuhi Siahpirani, A; Kemmerer, ZA; Prolla, TA; Roy, S; Coon, JJ; Denu, JM. SIRT3 mediates multi-tissue coupling for metabolic fuel switching. Cell Metab (2015) 21, 4, 637-46.