Brian Woo
The Toll-like receptor (TLR) family is a key component of the host innate immune response to foreign microbes. In the cell, TLRs localized to endolysosomes (termed intracellular TLRs) recognize microbial nucleic acids, and recognition of these microbial products then invokes an immune response to a myriad of bacterial and viral pathogens. One regulator of intracellular TLR activity that my project aims to characterize is Unc93B1, a chaperone protein that is currently understood to traffic intracellular TLRs to their correct endolysosomal compartments. This summer, my goal is to elucidate the role […]
Ian Tayler
An essential component to better understanding cellular electrical signaling is to address how the resting membrane potential in neurons is established and modified to affect excitability. Two-pore domain potassium (K2P) ion channels are directly involved in this process and comprise a unique protein family that is essential for the maintenance of this resting membrane potential. The TWIK-related spinal cord K+ channel (TRESK) is considered a major contributor to background K+ currents and is expressed abundantly in DRG neurons. This K2P channel is thought to be involved in pain sensation and […]
Griffin Rodgers
P-N junctions are the basis of most modern electronicsthe foundation for the diodes and transistors that make up our computers. Current research in low dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterostructures aims to make these junctions smaller. TMD p-n junctions are made of atomically thin, stacked TMD layers and have been hailed for their novel properties, diverse applications, and potential to revolutionize electronics. My research project will provide improved understanding of the performance, functionality, and limits of atomically thin, stacked TMD p-n junctions. I will use Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM)a […]
Bridget Hua Bui
Since the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune system in prokaryotes, Cas9 proteins have been used as a genome editing tool in a wide variety of organisms and promise to provide new solutions to long-standing, unsolved problems in human disease. However, despite the great potential CRISPR technology holds, concerns remain about the risk of unwanted edits in the human genome that could lead to genetic disease. Therefore, my project aims to find anti-CRISPR proteins that serve as off-switches for Cas9 activity to ensure gene editing safety and prevent malicious use […]
Manraj Gill
Human chromosomes end in a repetitive sequence called the telomere. The inability of the DNA replication machinery to fully replicate chromosomes results in progressive telomere shortening with each cell division. Critically short telomeres serve as a signal to stop cellular replication. In this manner, telomeres act as a buffer sequence to prevent loss of genetic information on the chromosomes; a process that is associated with cellular and organismal aging. However, telomerase, a reverse transcriptase, can restore lost telomeric sequence and increase the length of the telomere. In humans, adult stem […]
Andrew C. Lu
Many tandemly repeated histone gene clusters exist in the Drosophila Melanogaster genome and are subjected to complex regulation during the cell cycle. However, the exact mechanism of this regulation remains elusive. Using a variant of the CRISPR/Cas9 system, we have developed a DNA-pulldown technique that, when coupled to mass-spectrometry, is capable of identifying bound proteins on a given promoter, enhancer, or any other regulatory DNA sequence. Applying this technique to the D. Melanogaster histone cluster, the pulldown samples interestingly showed an enrichment of a particular protein domain – LisH. Found […]
Colleen Murphy
The ability to understand and predict how landscapes will evolve enables us to mitigate the effects of natural disasters and to act as stewards of the land by taking appropriate conservation and restoration measures when necessary. Currently, the geomorphic transport laws that we use to express this evolution do not quantitatively consider variations in rock types and the vegetative communities that they host. This project aims to further our understanding of the role that lithologic heterogeneity plays in landscape evolution by mapping and characterizing lithologic variability at two sites in […]
Edwina Tran
Dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes up to 390 million infections every year, resulting in 96 million cases of disease globally. Infection with any of the four serotypes of dengue can result in inapparent infection, dengue fever, or severe forms of the disease associated with vascular leak leading to shock. DENV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) plays a role in viral replication and immune evasion, as well as pathogenesis. More specifically, DENV NS1 has been found to trigger permeability of human endothelial cells in vitro and systemic vascular […]
Anandita Mathur
Autophagy is a fundamental pro-survival cellular process by which superfluous proteins and damaged organelles are delivered to the lysosome for degradation and reuse.. Numerous human disorders have been linked with dysfunction in autophagy including heart disease, cancer, and neurodegeneration. The molecular mechanisms of autophagy are currently not well understood. My project goal is to study how the autophagosome, the double membrane vesicle which contains cargo and fuses with the lysosome membrane, is generated. Based on previous studies, we hypothesize that the CTAGE5 protein plays a role in autophagosome biogenesis. I […]
Annika Anderson
Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is a set of genetically inherited neurodegenerative disorders that leads to degeneration of photoreceptor neurons and loss of vision. While onset of RP can be detected early, there are currently no treatments to prevent disease progression. Cellular reprogramming is a promising approach to replenishing photoreceptors after retinal degeneration. In zebrafish, Mller glial cells can dedifferentiate and reprogram into photoreceptor cells upon retinal damage. However, this restorative activity of Mller glial cells is limited in mammals. A CAS9 mediated genome wide activation screen offers the potential to identify […]