RFA5800-Seminar Series on Basic to Translational Sciences

O-GlcNAc is a glycan modification of thousands of intracellular proteins such as transcription factors, kinases, and cytoskeletal proteins. O-GlcNAc has been implicated in regulating cellular processes including protein folding, localization, degradation, activity, post-translational modifications, and interactions. The cell coordinates these molecular events, on thousands of cellular proteins, in concert with environmental and physiological cues, to fine-tune epigenetics, transcription, translation, signal transduction, cell cycle, and metabolism. The cellular stress response is no exception: diverse forms of injury result in dynamic changes to the O-GlcNAc subproteome that promote survival. Research in Dr. Zachara's laboratory is broadly focused on answering two questions in cell models of oxidative stress and ex vivo models of cardiac ischemia reperfusion injury: Firstly, which proteins are dynamically O-GlcNAc modified in response to injury and how does this simple sugar modify protein function to promote cell survival. Secondly, how are the enzymes that add and remove O-GlcNAc regulated at times of injury. Her group utilizes traditional biochemical and molecular biology based techniques in combination with high throughput technologies and genetic manipulation to address these questions.