Submission Date
4-29-2020
Document Type
Paper- Restricted to Campus Access
Department
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Adviser
Dale Cameron
Committee Member
Lisa Grossbauer
Committee Member
Anthony Lobo
Department Chair
Eric Williamsen
Department Chair
Anthony Lobo
Project Description
Proteins are macromolecules that must fold correctly to perform their functions in cells. Cells use several quality control systems to ensure proteins fold correctly. For example, chaperones are proteins that help to prevent other proteins from misfolding. Prions are a subset of misfolded proteins that are self-propagating and are infectious, thus transforming correctly folded proteins into their prion counterparts. Yeast are used as model organisms since they share many genes with humans but are easier to manipulate experimentally. Whereas human prions cause diseases, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, yeast prions sometimes provide benefits to the cell. Previous studies in our lab have shown that when certain chaperones are functioning normally in yeast, prion formation is reduced. Whether the human homologs of these chaperones can similarly suppress prion formation is unknown.
Recommended Citation
Wike, Richard, "Investigating the Cellular Control and Biological Consequences of Prion Formation in Yeast" (2020). Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Honors Papers. 7.
https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/biochem_hon/7
