Margaret (Meg) Ketterer, Research Assistant in the Wallrath Lab, was awarded the 2020 Mary Jo Small Staff Fellowship Award. The award is given to University of Iowa staff members to further their professional development. Meg will use the award to help defray the costs associated with attending the Allied Genetics Conference in Spring of 2020.
Congratulations Meg!
Bryan Allen, a MD, PhD graduate from Dr. Daniel Weeks lab, was appointed to be leader of the Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Experimental Therapeutics (ET) Program. Allen is an associate professor and associate chair of translational research in the Department of Radiation Oncology. Dr. Allen is featured in noon news here.
“Supporting the careers of these successful faculty members and providing them with an opportunity to serve in leadership roles will ensure even greater success for Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center,” Weiner says. “All of them have demonstrated their dedication to keeping Holden at the forefront of patient care and a leader in the search for new ways to prevent and cure cancer.” -George Weiner, MD, director of the cancer center
Congratulations Dr. Allen!
Sean Tompkins, a MSTP student in Dr. Eric Taylor’s lab, had his thesis published by Cell Reports. His thesis is entitled, “Disrupting Mitochondrial Pyruvate Uptake Directs Glutamine into the TCA Cycle away from Glutathione Synthesis and Impairs Hepatocellular Tumorigenesis.”
“Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) driven by obesity and diabetes is the fastest growing cause of liver cancer in the developed world and new therapies are needed to curb its growing burden. This manuscript demonstrates and helps explain how impairing the ability of liver mitochondria to use a glucose byproduct called pyruvate decreases liver tumor development. Using a mouse model of liver cancer, Tompkins et al. and Taylor discovered that liver-specific disruption of the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC), the protein complex that transports pyruvate into mitochondria, led to two thirds fewer tumors that were smaller and had a higher cell death rate. Using RNA-sequencing and biochemical assays, they determined that MPC-deficient tumors had impaired glutathione metabolism. Continued experiments using stable isotope tracing and metabolomic analysis demonstrated hepatocyte MPC disruption increases mitochondrial glutamine utilization at the expense of glutathione synthesis, which is critical for tumor development. These results identify modulation of mitochondrial pyruvate uptake as a potential strategy to prevent obesity- and diabetes-driven liver cancer development.”
Congratulations!
Dr. Charles Brenner, co-senior author in an article published in Nature Communications, may have identified a class of drugs that could lead to new treatment of a childhood brain cancer.
According to The Daily Iowan ,”the researchers focused on diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas, or DIPG, an inoperable brainstem tumor found in children. The team concluded that a specific class of drugs have the potential to kill mutant tumor cells.” The team made use of Dr. Brenner’s expertise in synthesis and characterization of NAD, the central regulator of metabolism, to specifically target this glioma.
“My mom taught me that life is not always fair–this is an example where an innocent child is receiving a death sentence in his or her first decade,” Brenner said. “We want to be able to do something for these children.”
Congratulations, Dr. Brenner!
Dr. Shelia Baker (Associate Professor, Biochemistry, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences) was featured on KCRG. Dr. Baker is working with a group of scientists around the world in hopes of getting closer to finding a cure for blindness, specifically in older adults.
Congratulations Dr. Baker!
Dr. Charles Brenner was recognized on the July 2019 list of notable awards receiving special recognition from the dean’s office. The first notable award was received for a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation titled, “Testing NAD Precursors as Galactagogues.” A grant from ChromaDex, Inc. titled, “Evaluating the Oral Bioavailability of NAD Boosters” was also listed as a notable award for Dr. Brenner.
Congratulations Dr. Brenner!
The Biochemistry Department held its 10th Annual Scientific Retreat at the Old Capitol Centre on August 24, 2019. Keynote speaker, Professor Craig Kletzing, delivered an energetic talk on the interactions between the Sun and the Earth. The retreat consisted of seven oral presentations and twenty-four posters from faculty, staff, and students. The best oral presentation from graduate students/post-docs, went to Chris Ball (Price Lab). In the graduate student poster category, Colleen Caldwell (M. Spies Lab), won first place and Julio Sanchez (Musselman Lab) won second place. In the post-doctoral/fellow poster category, Shivangi Inamdar (Baker Lab) won first place. In the undergraduate/research intern/medical fellow/scientific professional category, Rebecca Cupp (Geyer Lab) won first place and Margaret Ketterer (Wallrath Lab) won second place. Thanks to everyone who participated!
Hannah Campbell, a Biochemistry PhD student mentored by Dr. Kris DeMali, received a PhD on August 2, 2019. Her thesis was entitled, “Mechanisms of E-cadherin Force Transmission.”Hannah is currently a Scientific Applications Specialist at Integrated DNA Technologies.
Lalita Oonthonpan, a Biochemistry PhD student mentored by Dr. Eric Taylor, received a PhD on August 2, 2019. Her thesis was entitled, “Two human mitochondrial pyruvate carrier mutations reveal distinct mechanisms of molecular pathogenesis.” Lalita is currently a scientist at Comet Therapeutics.
Congrats Hannah and Lalita!!
Dr. Charles Brenner, a co-senior author in an article published in Nature Communications, may have identified a class of drugs that could lead to new treatment of childhood brain cancer. See full article here.
A recent study led by Joseph Laird from the Baker Lab is featured in a Carver College of Medicine press release. The study entitled, “Rescue of rod synapses by induction of Cavα1F in the mature Cavα1F knockout mouse retina,” is published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.