{"id":312452,"date":"2018-04-17T13:44:51","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T17:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=312452"},"modified":"2018-04-18T10:44:30","modified_gmt":"2018-04-18T14:44:30","slug":"thesis-competition-winner-describes-protein-translation-3-minutes-or-less-312452","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/thesis-competition-winner-describes-protein-translation-3-minutes-or-less-312452\/","title":{"rendered":"Thesis competition winner describes protein translation in 3 minutes or less"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Modify or Die: When Protein Translation Goes Awry<\/h3>\n

Jillian Ramos, Biology<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

There\u2019s one thing you need to know to understand biology. it\u2019s the central dogma here. And this is the idea of how information flows through cells.So, start with DNA. DNA contains our genes. It\u2019s what makes you, you, and me, me. I like to think of it as the Book of Us.<\/p>\n

RNA is transcribed from DNA. So, if DNA is the book of life, RNA is what is read out loud.\u00a0 Protein is translated from RNA. So, if RNA is what is said out loud, protein is the impact it makes. And the reason I\u2019m saying this is because protein is more often the functional unit of the cell.<\/p>\n

Another vital component in this process is tRNA. \u00a0tRNA is necessary for protein translation. In recent decades, it has come to light that our genome is littered with modifications put on by proteins called enzymes. Now, these modifications have been shown to influence gene expression from DNA or influence the function of a protein.<\/p>\n

So, you can see these modifications changed how things are read, said, and the impact.<\/p>\n

My lab studies tRNA modification and how it influences protein translation.<\/p>\n

Specifically, I work with a population of people in Iran where 24 individuals in eight families have been identified as having intellectual disabilities due to a mutation in an enzyme that modifies tRNA.<\/p>\n

Intellectual disability is defined as having a low IQ with a limited set of life skills, with an age of onset being under 18. So, the question remains: Why is it that a single mutation of this enzyme that modifies tRNA contributes to such a severe defect?<\/p>\n

Well, I found in my research that this mutation causes enzymes to aggregate, meaning they like to stick together, and you can imagine that If a protein is sticking to itself, it is probably not performing its function correctly. And this was supported by isolating cells from the blood of these individuals.<\/p>\n

I found that by testing this enzyme on tRNA made in the lab, that it wasn\u2019t as active and when I looked their tRNA, it wasn\u2019t as modified.<\/p>\n

So, if you can go back to what I was telling you before: \u00a0If you have reduced modification of tRNA, you\u2019re probably not getting accurate protein translation. And that\u2019s the next goal of my thesis, to determine which proteins are specifically impacted, and is it possible this could lead to a therapeutic, so we can make sure these proteins are making an impact?<\/p>\n

So, going back to what I told you before: If DNA is being read, and RNA is being said, and protein is the impact, let\u2019s not lose that impact and have it lost in translation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Jillian Ramos showed exactly how to capture an audience\u2019s attention \u2013 and hold it \u2013 at the URochester\u2019s third annual Three Minute Thesis Competition finals.<\/p>\n

As a result, the PhD student in assistant professor Dragony Fu\u2019s biology lab walked away with not only the $750 first place prize awarded by a panel of faculty judges, but the $250 people\u2019s choice prize awarded by an audience that filled all but a few seats in the Class of \u201962 Auditorium.<\/p>\n

Not bad, considering this was Ramos\u2019s first such competition, which limits presenters to just three minutes and a single slide. The object is to be able to clearly explain their work to a general audience. (Read more here.)<\/a><\/p>\n

How exactly did Ramos do it?<\/p>\n

She started with a catchy title: \u201cModify or Die \u2013\u00a0When Protein Translation Goes Awry.\u201d<\/p>\n

She then proceeded to explain, step by step, in novel ways that a general audience could appreciate and understand, the interactions of DNA, RNA, tRNA, proteins, and enzymes.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

\u201cDNA contains our genes. It\u2019s what makes you, you, and me, me. I like to think of it as the Book of Us,\u201d Ramos explained. RNA is transcribed from DNA. If DNA is the book of life, RNA is what is read out loud. Protein is translated from RNA. So, if RNA is what is said out loud, protein is the impact it makes.\u201d<\/p>\n

She described how a mutation in an enzyme that modifies tRNA has caused intellectual disabilities in 24 people in eight Iranian families. And how a goal of her thesis work is to find out exactly which proteins this impacts, and whether that could lead to a treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf DNA is being read, and RNA is being said, and protein is the impact, let\u2019s not lose that impact and have it lost in translation,\u201d she concluded \u2013 2 minutes and 57 seconds after she started.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to do this because I wanted to gain this skill,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cI actually went into this just for fun, thinking this is something that\u2019s beneficial to my scientific career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have parents and friends who are not in science,\u201d she adds, \u201cand I oftentimes have to try to communicate to them what it is that I do. This finally got me to sit down and lay it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramos says she got \u201ctons, and tons, and tons of help\u201d from \u201cso many people in my department\u201d who helped her practice her talk.<\/p>\n

Parker Riley, a PhD student in computer science, received the second-place prize of $500 for his presentation, \u201cCan a computer learn to translate without being taught?\u201d<\/p>\n

The competition is sponsored by <\/em>the School of Medicine and Dentistry Center for Professional Development<\/em><\/a>; <\/em>the Arts, Science & Engineering Graduate Studies Office<\/em><\/a>; <\/em>the Graduate Student Society<\/em><\/a> (School of Medicine and Dentistry); and <\/em>the Graduate Student Association<\/em><\/a> (AS&E).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jillian Ramos showed exactly how to capture an audience\u2019s attention \u2013 and hold it \u2013 at the third annual Three Minute Thesis Competition finals, winning both first place and the people\u2019s choice prize.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286,"featured_media":312512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[18722,29742,16072],"class_list":["post-312452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-department-of-biology","tag-dragony-fu","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThesis competition winner describes protein translation in 3 minutes or less<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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