Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Jason Yoon Rose Hills

Investigating Cryptic Translation Using the SHL8 Minigene

Through immune surveillance, the immune system can identify cells as self or non-self i.e. transplanted, cancerous, or pathogen-infected. Immune surveillance relies on antigen presentation to T cells. Some of these antigens arise from endogenous protein translation, through either conventional methods of translation or certain cryptic means of translation. Previous work done in the Shastri lab has shown that antigens may be generated through the usage of an alternate-non-AUG initiation codon and that this mechanism is distinct from the conventional AUG-mediated translation. This work has been done using one particular antigen-reporter system (the LYL8 antigen arising from the H60 minor histocompatibility gene). My aim is to use an alternate reporteran OVA-peptide antigen SHL8to further characterize cryptic translation, helping to establish cryptic translation as a widespread phenomenon and not one that is reporter-dependent.

Message To Sponsor

During the school year, its often difficult to ration between research, school work, and extracurricular activities. The SURF/Rose Hills award has given me an opportunity to spend my summer full-time pursuing my research interests in immunology. I hope to make significant progress on my project in the next eight weeks, which will culminate in an honors thesis next spring.