Presenter: Harshlye Pierre-Louis

Faculty Sponsor: Joslyn Mills

School: Bridgewater State University

Research Area: Biology

Session: Poster Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM, 163, C25

ABSTRACT

 Protein homeostasis (proteostasis) inside the cell is essential for survival under environmental stressors. The ubiquitin proteasome system is central in this process by targeting damaged proteins for degradation. F-box proteins are key components of this system. Although many F-box genes have been identified in C.elegans, there is currently no published research describing the specific function of fbxb-69 in the context of stress response. This gap in knowledge led me to examine whether fbxb-69 contributes to how C.elegans responds to stress.

The goal of this project was to investigate whether the fbxb-69 gene plays a role in regulating responses to oxidative or heat stress in C.elegans. To investigate this, fbxb-69 expression was knocked down using RNAi in the N2 wild-type strain of C.elegans, and the animals were exposed to oxidative or heat stress conditions. Stress responses were evaluated through the recovery and survival of animals after the stress assay was performed.

Preliminary results suggest that the knockdown of fbxb-69 has a differential effect on the stress response compared to control animals. This outcome is likely due to the role fbxb-69 has in proteostasis pathways, where F-box proteins regulate targeted protein degradation through the ubiquitin–proteasome system. Ongoing analyses will further define how fbxb-69 contributes to stress regulation in C.elegans.