Medical Molecular Biology Commons^™

Cyclin C Is Sufficient For Myoblast Differentiation-Induced Mitochondrial Fragmentation, Alicia N. Campbell, Randy Strich

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

One of the largest and most dynamic tissues in the body, skeletal muscle, requires constant regeneration and upkeep. Dysregulation of this regeneration process has been implicated in many neuromuscular diseases and myotonic dystrophies. Regeneration requires the differentiation of myogenic lineages including exiting the cell cycle, gene expression changes, and fusing of myoblasts into multinucleate myotubes. Part of this reconstruction requires the breakdown and repopulation of mitochondrial networks. At the early onset of myoblast differentiation, there is an upregulation of dynamin-related protein, Drp1, and an increase in mitophagy mediated by sequestosome (SQSTM1) removal of mitochondria.

Previously, our lab has shown that …

Cdk8 Kinase Module Modifies Expression Of Specific Translation-Related Proteins Before And After Stress, Brittany Friedson, Katrina Cooper

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Translation is tightly coupled to growth status. Efficient protein synthesis is necessary for cell growth in nutrient rich environments, while global translation inhibition combined with selective translation of stress-responsive mRNAs helps limit growth in times of stress. Environmental stress cues which inhibit the nutrient-sensing complex TORC1 are known to reduce general translation, but how does the cell alter protein synthesis machinery to adapt to these conditions? A few mechanisms to promote cell survival in nitrogen starvation include post-translational modification and selective degradation of specific mRNA-binding translation factors, as well as inhibition of activators of genes whose products are required for …