Investigating the Role of Nuclear Transport on Transcription — 54a — Hannah Dykstra             

The nuclear envelope is a double membraned extension of the endoplasmic reticulum  that separates and compartmentalizes the nucleus and cytoplasm. Nuclear pore  complexes sit within holes in the nuclear envelope and enable regulated transport of  molecules between the nucleus and cytoplasm in a process called nucleocytoplasmic  transport (NCT). We recently discovered that the rate of NCT in cells is variable,  depending on the amount of available cellular energy, which can alter levels of tRNA  and rRNA exported from the nucleus thus impacting protein synthesis. Now we seek to  discover if altered rates of NCT regulate the activity of transcription factors whose  activity is regulated by nuclear import. To this end, we have begun to build a toolbox to  induce the nuclear import of fluorescently tagged transcription factors, and  simultaneously visualize transcription and subsequent translation induced by this transcription factor import in live cells. We have generated and tested multiple pairs of  transcription factors and transcriptional response elements. We have begun to test the  MCP/MS2 system to visualize transcription, and created a fluorescent readout of protein  translation of these induced transcripts. Based on our preliminary findings, we are  making several modifications to our toolbox prior to initiating studies to study how altered rates of NCT impact the dynamics of transcription and translation.

Grinnell College
Kyle Roux