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Biology

James Madison University

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

C. elegans

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Quantification Of Neuronal Specific Responses To Depletion Of The Nascent Polypeptide-Associated Complex In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Harrison Hall Dec 2019

Quantification Of Neuronal Specific Responses To Depletion Of The Nascent Polypeptide-Associated Complex In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Harrison Hall

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Cells experiencing misfolded protein stress can become debilitated and die, consistent with this stress being linked to numerous diseases. When misfolded proteins accumulate in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the unfolded protein response (UPR) initiates mechanisms that resolve this stress or trigger apoptosis, dependent on the severity and/or duration of the stress. The nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) is a heterodimeric chaperone that mediates proper protein folding and localization during translation; depletion of the NAC promotes misfolded protein stress in the ER, resulting in the initiation of the UPR in affected cells. The relationship between the NAC and the UPR is not …


Characterization Of Cell-Type Specific Responses In C. Elegans Experiencing Misfolded Protein Stress: How Do Some Cells Save Themselves While Others Die?, Courtney A. Matson, Erin N. Wallace May 2015

Characterization Of Cell-Type Specific Responses In C. Elegans Experiencing Misfolded Protein Stress: How Do Some Cells Save Themselves While Others Die?, Courtney A. Matson, Erin N. Wallace

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

To maintain viability, cells must resolve misfolded protein stress; the inability to do so often triggers cell death, most notably in neurons during neurodegenerative disease. The NAC is a highly conserved translational chaperone essential for protein folding and localization to organelles throughout the cell. In C. elegans, depletion of the NAC initiates misfolded protein stress specifically in the endoplasmic reticulum, inducing a response that upregulates the HSP-4 chaperone in an attempt to prevent cell death. This upregulation is robust but not uniform, and deficient in regions containing neurons. We are characterizing this non-uniform stress response to determine if HSP-4 upregulation …