Audrey Hoelscher
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Rachel Niederer
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Biological Chemistry / Medicine
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 5 (2:40pm – 3:30pm)
Authors: Audrey Hoelscher, Rachel Niederer
Abstract
It is known that mRNA translation plays an important role in gene expression and the amount of protein produced by a given cell, which influences cellular diversity and other processes such as stress response. However, the characteristics of mRNA which control protein output are not yet well understood, although it is suspected that 5’ UTR sequences may contain regulatory features which could account for these differences. Using a luciferase reporter, I measured the effects of both long and short isoforms of 5’ UTR yeast gene sequence YHR020W on protein output. I then mutated sequences of the long isomer to find which sequences were responsible for the differences between the short and long isomer outputs, indicating the location and role of regulatory features in the UTR gene sequence. I expect to see one or more of the mutations I make in the long isomer to result in a significant increase or decrease in luciferase protein production. This would suggest that the mRNA code where that specific mutation occurred plays an important role in translational control. It is possible that mutations in translational control elements like these play a role in human disease. The YHR020W gene has a human conjugate gene, EPRS1, which is linked to hypomyelinating leukodystrophy when mutated. Discovering which mutations of the UTR influence this disease would allow mRNA therapeutics to be designed to target those control elements to attempt to treat the disease.
