The 17th annual Stupka Undergraduate Research Symposium will be held on Thursday, March 30, 2023.  Please visit https://stupka.bb.iastate.edu/ for details!

BioWIP Seminar; Dr. Gaoyuan Song - Acetylation-triggered ZmMYC2 activation for maize defense response

Abstract: The necrotrophic pathogen Cochliobolus carbonum infects maize through its main virulence factor, HC-toxin (HCT), a lysin deacetylase inhibitor. The transcription factor ZmMYC2 is one of the many targets of HCT, which will be hyperacetylated upon C. carbonum infection, or HCT direct application on maize. We found that acetylation triggers ZmMYC2 downstream signaling by enhancing its dimerization and DNA binding activity. ZmMYC2 ChIP-seq data show that a large part of ZmMYC2 targets are genes belonging to multiple phytohormones, especially JA and IAA. Moreover, approximately 75% of ZmMYC2 targets show differential transcript expression in maize seedlings treated with either HCT or C. carbonum, compared to mock-treated samples.

BBMB Seminar - Justin Walley, Associate Professor, ISU; Unraveling Signaling Networks using Integrated Omic Profiling

BBMB Seminar - Jeroen Saeij, UC-Davis - Identification of novel Toxoplasma virulence factors using CRISPR/Cas9 screens

BioWIP Seminar; Ning Zhang - Differences in the glycosyltransferases stabilities suggest compositional dynamics of xyloglucan-synthesizing complexes

Abstract: Xyloglucans (XyGs) are critical components of the plant cell wall. XyG-synthesizing glycosyltransferases (GTs) have been identified to localize in the Golgi. Their protein–protein interactions suggest the formation of multiprotein complexes; however, the mechanism of complex formation and their stoichiometry is unclear. The transient co-expression of all XyG-synthesizing enzymes and Golgi/ER markers in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) protoplasts prepared from various mutants of XyG glycosyltransferases demonstrated that protein interactions are not required for delivery to the Golgi. The stability of the proteins can affect the protein–protein interactions and the co-existence of the protein in multiprotein complexes.

Bioscience Work-in Progress (BioWIP), Peiduo Liu - mTORC2 Protects the Heart From High-fat Diet-induced Cardiomyopathy through Mitochondrial Fission In Drosophila

Abstract: High-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity has become the major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we use Drosophila as a model to study the role of mTORC2 in HFD-induced mitochondrial fission and cardiac dysfunction. We find that knockdown of mTORC2 subunit rictor blocks HFD-induced mitochondrial fragmentation and Drp1 recruitment. Knockdown of rictor further impairs cardiac contractile function under HFD treatment. Surprisingly, knockdown of Akt, the major effector of mTORC2, did not affect HFD-induced mitochondrial fission. Similar to mTORC2 inhibition, knockdown of Drp1 blocks HFD-induced mitochondrial fragmentation and induces contractile defects.

BBMB Seminar - Alan Culbertson, Roivant Sciences, Boston Massachusetts; Title: Structure, Function, and Dynamics of P-Glycoprotein

BBMB Seminar - Juan Rodriguez-Molina, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England; Title: A pre-mRNA binding sensor to rule all of 3’-end processing

BBMB Seminar - Chen Zhao, The Rockefeller University ; Title: Structural and functional analysis of ion channel TRPM3 and its regulation by G protein-coupled receptors

BBMB Seminar - Meghna Gupta, University of San Franciso, San Francisco; Title: Structural biology and biochemistry of peroxisomal membrane proteins

BBMB Seminar- Agnieszka Kendrick, University of California San Diego; Title: Time-resolved CryoEM captures snapshots of dynein’s activation pathway

Sahiba Siddiqui - Mechanism of Fyn kinase-mediated microglia activation and inflammatory associated neurodegeneration

Abstract:   Cellular kinases play a central role in protein aggregation in dementia and neurodegeneration and their involvement in inflammatory signaling in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and related neurodegenerative diseases (ADRD) is now emerging. The Src family member Fyn kinase mediates AD amyloid b and tau protein pathophysiology. More recently Fyn was identified as a Parkinson’s Disease (PD) risk locus and in vitro has been shown to regulate microglia PKC-d/NF-kb inflammatory signaling in response to a-synuclein aggregate uptake. While protein aggregation and microglia activation reinforce neuroinflammation, the cellular mechanism at the intersection of these pathways is incompletely understood.

BBMB Seminar - Adam Barb, Associate Professor, UGA- Are antibody-dependent responses of natural killer cells and macrophages regulated by N-glycan processing?

Tamara Moretti - KLHL41 is a regulator of SERCA1 and RYR1 in skeletal muscle

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BBMB Seminar - Asma Hatoum, Assistant Professor, UIUC -TBD

BBMB Seminar - Tanya Sysoeva, Assistant Professor, UAH - Resistance of urinary microbiome: commensal bladder lactobacilli inhibit major uropathogens (VIRTUAL)

BBMB Seminar - Ravindra Singh, Professor, ISU - Employment of a super minigene to uncover multiple aspects of gene regulation

Andrew Ruppier - DAM! Impacts of Beaver Dams on In-Stream Sediment and Nutrients

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BBMB Seminar - Robert McGinty, M.D. Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry; University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy - Molecular mechanisms of chromatin recognition

BBMB Seminar - Kenneth Campellone, Associate Professor, UCONN - Branching out in different directions: New functions for the actin cytoskeleton