PhD Student
Research Project
Elucidation of a novel role for Hsp70/Hsp90 organising protein (Hop) in mRNA processing
The Hsp70/Hsp90 organising protein (Hop) is involved in a diverse array of cellular functions both in healthy and diseased states. It is the co-chaperone of the major chaperones Hsp70 and Hsp90, playing an important role in the productive folding of Hsp90 client proteins. It affects a number of key signaling pathways and serves as a receptor for the prion protein, PrPC when secreted extra-cellularly. Though Hop has important role in embryonic development and is also implicated in cancer, a lot of its cellular and biological functions still remain unknown. Recent reports indicate that Hop may be involved in cellular activities by mechanisms independent of either chaperones or PrPC. The present study aims at identifying a completely novel role for Hop in cellular mRNA processing. There are currently no published reports on the role of Hop in mRNA processing. This fact, together with the fundamental importance of mRNA processing to all aspects of cellular function, mean that this project has the potential to generate new knowledge of high impact.
Publications
Olsen E.K., de Cerf C.K., Dziwornu G.A., Puccinelli E., Ansorge I.J., Samaai T., Dingle L.M.K., Edkins A.L. and Sunassee S.N. (2016). South African Journal of Science: Cytotoxic activity of marine sponge extracts from the sub-Antarctic Islands and the Southern Ocean.
Life outside the lab...
Outside the lab I enjoy swimming and all water sports. I like to sing in my spare time and am a passionate fisher woman! If not in the lab you will find me on a river whenever I get a chance whether it be fishing or just to be out on the water.
Contact
g11d1612@campus.ru.ac.za
Last Modified: Mon, 19 Jun 2017 10:17:35 SAST