SIR Chemistry Investigation Abstract
THE EFFECT OF THE PROTEASOME-UBIQUITIN COMPLEX IN BACTERIAL CELLS
Presenter:
Sivaraman Iyer, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Advisor:
Dr. Andreas Matouschek, Northwestern University
Abstract:
Inside our cells, DNA is constantly being transcribed into RNA and translated into proteins. But what happens after a protein is used? The cell does not let the proteins float in the cytoplasm, which would lead to cluttering inside the cell, and the functions it normally carries out would be hindered by millions of extra proteins taking up room. The lysosome, the organelle that consumes the cell’s waste, is not the only complex responsible for destroying proteins. There is a mechanism inside the cell, the ubiquitin-proteasome mechanism, that uses a small protein named ubiquitin to mark these proteins for destruction. The mechanism prevents the proteasome from destroying random proteins. Research has shown that proteins’ accumulation inside the cell may be linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. My research uses several molecular biology and biochemistry techniques to investigate how the proteasome deals with these types of proteins.