{"648593":{"#nid":"648593","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Phd Defense by Zachery Deckner","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDoctor of Philosophy in Biology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EZachery Deckner\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWill defend his dissertation\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYEast model for seeding and cross-seeding of protein aggregation in proteopathies\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThursday, July 8\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E, 2021\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E11:00 AM\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bluejeans.com\/607594679\/4139\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/bluejeans.com\/607594679\/4139\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMeeting ID: 607 594 679\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EThesis Advisor:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYury Chernoff, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee Members:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKirill Lobachev, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrancesca Storici, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENicholas Seyfried, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDepartment of Biochemistry\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEmory University\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMatthew Torres, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EABSTRACT: A variety of human diseases, including Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease (AD) and tauopathies, are associated with the accumulation of misfolded protein aggregates. These protein aggregates are composed of amyloids, protein aggregates that contain highly ordered b-sheet structures that are very stable and quite insoluble. Yeast are also plagued by amyloids. In yeast, amyloids manifest themselves as infectious proteins, termed yeast \u0026ldquo;prions\u0026rdquo; that are heritable via the cytoplasm. While not necessarily considered a disease in yeast, our understanding in how and why yeast prions form and propagate have led to insights that have translated to our understanding of proteins associated with human diseases.\u0026nbsp; My thesis work has employed yeast as a model system to understand the specific sequence elements as well as other cellular factors that contribute to protein misfolding of proteins associated with disease in humans, including Ab\u003Csub\u003E42\u003C\/sub\u003E, MAPT, and U1-70k, all of which are associated with AD. Firstly, I have shown that the A\u0026beta;-based prion in yeast is controlled by the Ab\u003Csub\u003E42\u003C\/sub\u003E peptide. I also used this prion system to study Ab\u003Csub\u003E42\u003C\/sub\u003E isolated from patients suffering from AD to demonstrate that Ab\u003Csub\u003E42 \u003C\/sub\u003Eis capable of forming prion variants. Secondly, using high expression plasmids I have shown that MAPT, the repeat domain of MAPT, and the C-terminal domain of U1-70k are capable of forming detergent-resistant aggregates in yeast, a characteristic of amyloids. Lastly, I have used a novel yeast assay to study the nucleation capabilities of protein peptides that have recently been associated with diseases, as well as use it as a high-throughput screening platform to test newly synthesized compounds to determine if they can prevent the initial nucleation of Ab, the triggering event in AD. Overall, this work provides new information on the molecular mechanisms that drive protein aggregation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"YEAST MODEL FOR SEEDING AND CROSS-SEEDING OF PROTEIN AGGREGATION IN PROTEOPATHIES"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2021-07-07 13:17:30","changed_gmt":"2021-07-07 13:17:30","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2021-07-08T12:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2021-07-08T14:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2021-07-08T14:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2021-07-08 16:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2021-07-08 18:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2021-07-08 18:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"174045","name":"Graduate students"},{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}