2013 UCLA Amgen Scholar!

For the summer of 2013, I am spending ten weeks at UCLA conducting research under Dr. James Wohlschlegel in the Department of Biological Chemistry as a Amgen Scholar.  My project description (click on my name: Mr. Matthew McBride) is as follows:

Matthew's research at UCLA investigates the biological importance of the E3 Ubiquitin Ligase KCTD7 in DNA replication, cell cycle progression, and Fe-S cluster biogenesis. KCTD7 has been identified by mass spectrometry as interacting with specific proteins known to be involved in these biological processes important for DNA maintenance and repair. The impairment of the function of these protein complexes identified as interacting with KCTD7 can result in the loss of DNA repair mechanisms leading to increased genomic instability, a hallmark of cancer. Little research has been conducted on the KCTD7 protein and the goal of this research is to validate these KCTD7 protein-protein interactions by transfection in Human Embryonic Kidney 293 cells followed by protein complex immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and western blotting. The function of KCTD7 will be examined by siRNA depletion experiments and it will be assessed how depletion of KCTD7 affects the stability, ubiquitination status, and biochemical function of the MCFB complex (Fe-S cluster biogenesis), DNA polymerase delta (DNA replication), and PLK1 (cell cycle progression). The hope is to elucidate the role of KCTD7 and gain insight into diseases involving KCTD7 defects.