Carissa Pardamean
This summer, my research involves point mutations in genomic sequences encoding for the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, which is a part of the neural tube formation pathway. The mutations cause spina bifida or neural tube defect (NTD), one of the most common neonatal defects in the US. A common method for NTD prevention is folate (vitamin B9) supplementation but this is not always effective. Thus, my hypothesis is that the success of the folate salvage depends on the type of point mutation that is present in the fetus. Additionally, though NTD […]
John Wang
Muscle fibers are lined with small, non-fiber cells that reside between fiber bundles. These cells are called satellite cells. They are muscle stem cells which repair muscle upon injury. Satellite cells are important for use in stem cell therapies as they can self-renew and maintain their numbers following transplantation. Pax7 is a protein that has previously been reported to be uniquely expressed in satellite cells. As such, it is often used to verify the identity of cells collected from whole muscle biopsies. My project aims to show that Pax7 is […]
Wing Shing Yip
T. thermophilus RNase H (TthRNase H) is a protein that is stable at high temperatures. In my project, I will examine how the amino acid sequence of TthRNase H determines its folding properties that lead to its thermostability. To approach this question, I am going to construct two proteins, one containing the core of C. tepidum RNase H (a protein stable at moderate temperatures) and the periphery of TthRNase H and another containing the core of C. tepidum RNase H and the the periphery of E. coli RNase H (a […]
Carrie Su-Hwa Shiau
James Lee
Cataracts, caused by the aggregation of proteins inside lens cells, are the leading cause of blindness in the world. Alpha-crystallins, members of the small heat shock protein family, are essential for eye lens transparency in humans and mice. Using mouse models with different mutations in aA-crystallin, I am investigating the mechanisms for establishing and maintaining lifelong lens transparency. This summer I will be challenging these cells with a compound called Withaferin A, a chemical that causes changes in cell architecture. By observing the response of intracellular proteins to this compound, […]
Raymond Lam
Neural Prosthetics is a newly emerging field with many potential applications for patients who have lost one of their five senses. At the core of this technology, electrical microstimulation of neurons is used to artificially generate and restore lost senses. For my project, I will be targeting the visual cortex, and developing a rodent visual model for microstimulation in order to explore stimulation patterns that mimic natural neural activity. The goal of this project is to develop a more safe and effective way to elicit visual response and perception in […]
Alexander Parisky
This summer, I will find the precise location of a gene known as rmr4 in the Zea mays genome. This process is known as mapping, and will require me to spend time at the lab bench, in the greenhouse, and on the internet. I will use bioinformatics tools available online to design specialized markers in order to determine the recombination frequencies between known loci and my gene, enabling me to identify exactly where the gene resides. I will employ DNA extraction methods, PCR, and gel electrophoresis in order to gather […]
Paolo Solano Manzanillo
Baber Khan
Frontotemporal Dementia patients suffer behavioral disturbances which mimic primary psychiatric illnesses such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Unfortunately, awareness of this neurodegenerative disease is limited in the psychiatric world and often demented patients are misdiagnosed. The Memory and Aging Center (MAC) at the University of California San Francisco conducts one of the largest investigations into the frontal variant dementias in the nation. I plan to systematically review 450 patients research charts at the MAC in order to precisely quantify the rate of psychiatric misdiagnosis for each of the dementia subtypes. […]
Hai Le
It is essential that the cell preserves the integrity of its DNA by initiating a proper response when there is damage to its genome. As a fellow of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships, I am utilizing this summer and the senior academic year to study the DNA repair pathway in heterochromatin. Using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system, I propose to fluorescently tag different DNA repair proteins and conduct experiments to understand the kinetics of these proteins following DNA damage induced by X-ray treatment. This research is promising: knowledge of […]