Sophia Peiser
Research Mentor: Yatrik Shah
Mentor Department: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, Medicine
Author(s): Sophia Peiser, Yatrik Shah, Shannon McCollum
Session: Session 5 (2:00 PM – 2:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 51
Abstract
This project was created on the basis of understanding that iron is a central micronutrient that is kept in balance by competition in order to keep microbial populations in check. Cells use proteins called Ferritin (FTN) to store iron molecules and we can use FTN levels to measure how much iron is being stored in a given cell or organism. The previously published study Microbial Metabolite Signaling is Required for Systemic Iron Homeostasis, has demonstrated that microbial metabolite signaling is required for systemic iron homeostasis, but the specific intracellular pathways that regulate FTN storage remain poorly defined. When 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) is introduced to a cell, the cell is unable to complete glycolysis and FTN levels drop significantly. However, we found when N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is added the cells can resume glycolysis and FTN levels are restored. The successful identification of FTN recovery post GlcNAc addition demonstrates the feasibility of a dependent relationship between FTN and glycolysis. This suggests justifying broader application in the metabolic role of FTN to validate these preliminary findings at scale.
