Transcriptional Regulation by Two-Domain HLH Proteins

在多细胞生物中，碱性螺旋-环-螺旋（bHLH）家族的成员控制着单个细胞类型产生许多不同细胞类型的能力。 它们还影响大脑和其他感觉器官的发育。 在bHLH家族中，模式生物秀丽隐杆线虫的REF-1蛋白利用细胞和环境信号通过调节基因表达来控制发育。 该项目旨在探讨该家族成员如何履行其职能，以及其独特的结构是否对调节机制产生重大影响。 该项目有三个具体目标。 首先，约翰逊博士和她的实验室成员将鉴定出与REF-1家族蛋白一起控制C. elegans发育 其次，他们将确定由REF-1蛋白家族成员调控的基因。 第三，他们将确定REF-1蛋白是否通过与DNA结合来控制基因表达。 这项研究将有助于为REF-1家族成员的发育调节机制建立一个基线。它还将进一步了解主要的细胞信号通路如何通过细胞和组织特异性蛋白来控制主要的发育事件。更广泛的影响：1）所描述的研究将在格鲁吉亚州立大学进行，这是一所城市大学，目前为大量少数民族学生和传统上在科学和数学方面代表性不足的学生提供服务。 2)这些活动将用于为三名研究生和两名本科生、高中教师暑期实习和专业发展经验以及大亚特兰大地区的中学生制定培训项目。3)约翰逊实验室的所有成员，包括本科生和K-12教师，将继续参加地方，国家和国际研究研讨会。 这将有助于增加实验室成员对更广泛的科学界的接触，并传播实验室的研究和教育活动。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).In multicellular organisms, members of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) family control the ability of a single cell type to give rise to many different cell types. They also influence the development of the brain and other sensory organs. Within the bHLH family, REF-1 proteins of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans use cellular and environmental signals to control development by regulating gene expression. This project addresses how members of this family carry out their functions, and whether the mechanism of regulation is significantly affected by their unique structure. There are three specific aims in this project. First, Dr. Johnson and the members of her laboratory will identify other proteins that act with the REF-1 family proteins to control C. elegans development. Second, they will identify genes that are regulated by members of the REF-1 protein family. Third, they will determine if the REF-1 proteins control gene expression by binding to DNA. This research will help to establish a baseline for the mechanisms of developmental regulation by the REF-1 family members. It will also further the current knowledge of how major cell signaling pathways act through cell- and tissue- specific proteins to control major developmental events.Broader impacts: 1) The research described will be carried out at Georgia State University, an urban university that currently serves a large population of minority students and students traditionally underrepresented in sciences and mathematics. 2) These activities will be used to formulate training projects for three graduate and two undergraduate students, for high school teachers during summer internship and professional development experiences, and for middle school students in the greater Atlanta area. 3) All members of the Johnson laboratory, including undergraduates and K-12 teachers, will continue to participate in local, national, and international research symposia. This will serve to increase the laboratory members' exposure to a broader scientific community and to disseminate the research and educational activities of the laboratory.