When:
Monday, February 20, 2017
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM CT
Where: Robert H Lurie Medical Research Center, Searle Seminar Room, 303 E. Superior, Chicago, IL 60611 map it
Audience: Faculty/Staff - Student - Public - Post Docs/Docs - Graduate Students
Contact:
Alexa Ann Nash
(312) 503-4893
Group: Department of Pharmacology Seminars
Category: Lectures & Meetings
Please join the Department of Pharmacology for a Works-in-Progress presentation by Andrew Chiu and Marisol Tejeda
Andrew Chiu - Graduate Student in Antonio Sanz-Clemente's Laboratory
“Regulation of NMDARs by Protein Phosphatase 1”
N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) play key roles in controlling processes such as synaptic plasticity and synaptic maturation. An important aspect of NMDAR regulation is tight control over receptor trafficking. We have previously investigated how phosphorylation within the PDZ-binding domain of the GluN2B subunit of NMDARs results in the disruption of NMDARs from scaffolding proteins, which allows for their redistribution from the synapse. More recently, we sought to understand the dephosphorylation of this site and have identified protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) as being responsible for dephosphorylating GluN2B’s PDZ-binding domain. Because PP1 is constitutively active, we are working towards identifying the molecular mechanisms governing PP1’s activity against GluN2B’s PDZ-binding domain. Understanding how PP1 regulates this posttranslational modification and its consequence on NMDAR trafficking and localization will help to understand how physiological NMDAR trafficking occurs and how this is altered in disease.
Marisol Tejada - Graduate Student in Paul Burridge's Laboratory
“Cardiac Precision Medicine through Direct Reprogramming”
Drug-induced cardiomyopathy is a serious concern when prescribing chemotherapy drugs. While there is currently no way to determine if a particular patient will develop drug-induced cardiac symptoms, human induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes have shown promise for use as a predictive model of drug-induced cardiotoxicity. However, patient-specific cells take months to generate and are thus not ideal for informing the development of treatment plans. This project aims to make the use of induced cardiomyocytes in personalized medicine feasible by developing a rapid method of directly deriving cardiomyocytes from blood cells, bypassing the pluripotent state.