NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2017: Regulation of microtubule structure and function by post-translational modifications

2017 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：翻译后修饰调节微管结构和功能

• 批准号: 1709418
• 负责人: Sarah Schreiner
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Schreiner Sarah M
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1709418&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

This is an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, under the program Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellow, Sarah Schreiner, is conducting research and receiving training that is increasing the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The fellow is being mentored by Jeffrey Moore at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus. The fellow aims to uncover how cells build a diverse set of structures and transport networks out of the same protein building blocks called microtubules. If a city highway is built improperly, it causes traffic jams that can disrupt the basic functioning of the city. Similarly, if microtubule networks are built improperly, it can disrupt basic biological functions including cell division and tissue development. The results of this proposal will improve our understanding of how cells build microtubule networks into diverse structures and transport networks, and how these contribute to normal cell function. Additionally, the fellow is broadening participation of underrepresented groups by developing and delivering a public lecture series for local libraries and high schools.The research goals of this proposal are to determine how specific tubulin subunits are selectively targeted for post-translational modifications (PTMs) and the effect that these PTMs have on microtubule assembly and network organization. In order to study PTMs on microtubules, a source of unmodified tubulin is necessary; however, there are currently no methods to produce unmodified tubulin in an in vivo setting. The project aims to create a new experimental system in which PTMs can be studied on microtubules in a 'clean slate' system in yeast to study the targeting and effect of PTMs on microtubules. The proposed research is starting to tease apart the very complex process of how the cell can differentially regulate the same building blocks to accomplish many diverse and essential biological processes. The lecture series is providing the public with a better understanding of the current issues they hear today by de-mystifying the science behind them, and training young scientists on how to communicate complex scientific issues in a fun and engaging way to a public audience.

这是美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金，属于“扩大生物学领域代表性不足群体的参与”计划。这位名叫莎拉·施赖纳 (Sarah Schreiner) 的研究员正在开展研究并接受培训，以提高生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与度。该研究员正在科罗拉多大学丹佛安舒茨医学校区的杰弗里·摩尔 (Jeffrey Moore) 的指导下进行。该研究员的目标是揭示细胞如何利用称为微管的相同蛋白质构建块构建多种结构和运输网络。如果城市高速公路建设不当，就会造成交通拥堵，扰乱城市的基本功能。同样，如果微管网络构建不当，可能会破坏基本的生物功能，包括细胞分裂和组织发育。该提案的结果将提高我们对细胞如何将微管网络构建成不同结构和运输网络，以及它们如何促进正常细胞功能的理解。此外，该研究员还通过为当地图书馆和高中开发和提供一系列公开讲座来扩大代表性不足群体的参与。该提案的研究目标是确定如何选择性地针对特定的微管蛋白亚基进行翻译后修饰（PTM）以及这些 PTM 对微管组装和网络组织的影响。为了研究微管上的 PTM，需要未修饰的微管蛋白来源；然而，目前还没有在体内环境中产生未修饰的微管蛋白的方法。该项目旨在创建一个新的实验系统，在酵母的“干净的石板”系统中研究 PTM 的微管，以研究 PTM 对微管的靶向和作用。拟议的研究开始梳理细胞如何差异化调节相同构建模块以完成许多不同且重要的生物过程的非常复杂的过程。 该系列讲座通过揭开背后的科学神秘面纱，让公众更好地理解他们今天听到的当前问题，并培训年轻科学家如何以有趣且引人入胜的方式向公众观众传达复杂的科学问题。