Líffræðifélag Íslands
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2015
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E30
Sigríður Rut Franzdóttir, Zophonías O. Jónsson, Kristín E. Alansdóttir, Arnar Þór Björgvinsson
Institute of Life- and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland.
Kynnir / Presenter: Sigríður Rut Franzdóttir
Tengiliður / Corresponding author: Sigríður Rut Franzdóttir (sirrut@hi.is)
Pontin and Reptin are conserved essential proteins known to associate with various macromolecular complexes of diverse functions, although their exact roles in these complexes are largely unknown. In this project we use the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system to study molecular interactions and intracellular dynamics of the proteins in vivo, and the developmental expression and roles of Pontin and Reptin. We will use the CRISPR system and homology directed repair to express fluorescent Pontin and Reptin fusion proteins and reporters from the native loci, enabling us to study their expression, intracellular dynamics and interactions at a high resolution in vivo. Using standard reverse genetics approaches we have observed a range of phenotypes upon loss of either pontin or reptin expression in the Drosophila nervous system. We are currently refining our approaches to knock down expression only in subsets of neurons, paying special attention to the dendritic arbor and neuro-muscular junctions. We have found Pontin and Reptin associated with tubulins and motor proteins, and knockdown affects axonal microtubules. Recent evidence also suggests a role for the two proteins in preventing and removing protein aggregates (including Amyloid-beta). We will use the recombinant proteins along with other genetic tools to study the connection between Pontin/Reptin, microtubule transport and protein aggregation in detail.