Molecular Biology Commons^™

Utilizing Fluorescence Microscopy To Characterize The Subcellular Distribution Of The Novel Protein Acheron, Varun Sheel

Masters Theses

All cells carry the genetic machinery required to commit cell suicide; a process known as programmed cell death (PCD). While the ability to initiate PCD serves a number of useful purposes during development and homeostasis, misregulation of PCD is the underlying basis of most human diseases, including cancer, autoimmunity disorders and neurodegeneration. Using the tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta as a model organism, the Schwartz lab at UMass has demonstrated that PCD requires de novo gene expression and has cloned many death-associated genes. One of these genes encodes a novel protein that was named Acheron after one of the rivers of …