Susan Armstrong Henry - US grants

An analysis of genetic regulation of phospholipid synthesis will be conducted in the unicellular eukaryote, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A major goal is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory cascade that controls transcriptional regulation of phospholipid biosynthetic structural genes in response to precursor availability and ongoing phospholipid synthesis. The studies will involve isolation and characterization of mutants with defects in the synthesis and/or regulation of phospholipids. The proposed research also involves a detailed analysis of the transcriptional regulation of structural genes encoding phospholipid biosynthetic enzymes. Four structural genes and three regulatory genes have been isolated and will be used in this analysis. The interaction of the trans-acting regulatory gene products with cis-acting elements in the promoters of the structural genes will be characterized in detail. The cloned structural genes will also be used to facilitate studies of the assembly of the phospholipid biosynthetic enzymes into their specific locations in the cellular membranes. Little is known about the mechanisms by which eukaryotic cells control the synthesis of membrane lipids in coordination with ongoing membrane biogenesis. Yet phospholipids, particularly inositol-containing phospholipids, have been implicated in complex signalling processes which play a role in controlling cell growth and proliferation in higher eukaryotes. Yeast cells synthesize a typically eukaryotic mixture of phospholipids, using pathways which are similar to those in higher eukaryotes. The organism is genetically tractable, and can be manipulated using powerful molecular genetics. Therefore, S. cerevisiae, provides an unusual opportunity to develop a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory mechanisms controlling phospholipid synthesis during membrane biogenesis and cell growth.

health science research support; university;

This project is facilitating the development of major curriculum innovations in Computational Biology and Computational Chemistry for advanced undergraduates by providing training in the application of computational methods to experimental sciences. The purchase of computer workstations with advanced graphics capability enable the teaching of molecular dynamics and modeling, the addition of a fluorescence detector to an extant HPLC System allow expansion of the types of molecules that can be analyzed, and a computer-based digitizer and image processing system are used for the acquisition of DNA sequence data.

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from investigator's abstract) The generation of biomedical scientists currently enrolled in secondary schools will be required to use the computer with ease and confidence as a tool for data collection, data manipulation and modeling of complex biological phenomena. To increase that pool of future biomedical scientists who are able to use computers in this fashion, the teachers of these students must have a sense of confidence in the use of computers as scientific tools. The use of computers in secondary education is growing rapidly; however, the familiarity of the teachers with its use has not grown at the same pace as has the placing of the computers in the classroom. This proposal has four major objectives designed to address these issues. The first objective is to present the teachers with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the latest in computer technology and to improve their ability to make use of the computers which they already have available in their schools. The second is to provide them with the opportunity to focus on individual scientific disciplines. This training will enable teachers to make educated choices of appropriate software to use in lesson plans using computers already available in their schools. Third, the teachers will be assisted in adapting existing scientific software for simple data analysis so that students can learn to use computers to analyze actual laboratory data. Finally, new, state-of-the-art equipment will be demonstrated to the teachers and they will be exposed to software under development so that they will become aware of future trends in educational computing. This program will focus on the faculty of entire science departments from a single secondary school. The investigaors have found that the simultaneous instruction of a group of teachers from a single school produces an interactive and self-reliant unit able to use and operate computers in the classroom. This last objective includes the additional benefit of enhancing the interdisciplinary nature of discovery and science teaching. This proposal is based upon the implementation of a pilot program, made possible by the cooperation and coordination between Carnegie Mellon University and the Pittsburgh Public Schools with funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the New Futures Program of Pennsylvania.