Research Initiation Award: Uncovering the Role of Germline-Specific MAGE-B2 Protein in Maintenance of Cellular Identity

研究启动奖为传统黑人学院和大学的初级和中期职业教师提供支持，他们正在建立新的研究项目或重新指导和重建现有项目。期望该奖项有助于提高教师的研究能力和效率，改善所在机构的研究和教学，并使本科生参与研究经验。授予菲斯克大学的奖项将为学生提供一个优秀的场所，让他们在更传统的学科领域获得能力和信心。该研究提议通过引入哺乳动物细胞培养、表观遗传学和基因表达计算分析的工具，拓宽与其他菲斯克学院的合作研究机会。该项目的目标是确定驱动MAGE-B2（这个神秘基因家族的成员）表达（转录）的基本生物学过程，并验证MAGE-B2异常表达扰乱细胞周期控制、增殖和/或分化的假设。黑色素瘤抗原基因（mage）编码的蛋白质是内体运输、神经元发育、细胞周期进展和生殖细胞发育的关键调节因子。MAGE蛋白的一个子集（I型MAGE）在生理上限制在雄性生殖细胞中的表达。在任何其他细胞中的异常表达导致与细胞增殖有关的各种细胞功能障碍。这项工作涉及分子和细胞生物学方法，以及参与当代生物学研究的关键计算分析。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at the home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. The award to Fisk University will provide an outstanding venue for students to gain both competence and confidence across more traditional disciplinary lines. The research proposed broadens collaborative research opportunities with other Fisk Faculty, by bringing the tools of mammalian cell culture, epigenetics and computational analyses of gene expression. The goal of this project is to determine the fundamental biological processes that drive expression (transcription) of MAGE-B2, a member of this enigmatic gene family, and test the hypothesis that aberrant expression of MAGE-B2 perturbs cell cycle control, proliferation and/or differentiation. Melanoma antigen genes (MAGEs) encode for proteins that are critical regulators of endosomal trafficking, neuronal development, cell cycle progression and germ cell development. A subset of the MAGE proteins (Type I MAGEs) is physiologically restricted in expression to male germline cells. Aberrant expression in any other cells leads to a wide-variety of cellular dysfunctions pertaining to cell proliferation. The work involves molecular and cell biological approaches as well as computational analyses critical for engaging in contemporary biological research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.