Come see Polina's presentation at URCAD this Wednesday!!
Location: 3:35pm in UC 204
Recovering from Hypoxia-Induced Metabolic Suppression: Role of NDRG1 in Na+/K+/ATPase Restoration to the Plasma Membrane
Polina Kassir
Mentor: Rachel Brewster, Biological Sciences
Oxygen’s critical role in ATP synthesis makes ischemia (lack of oxygen delivery) a potentially fatal injury. Zebrafish embryos, however, can survive nearly fifty hours in a zero-oxygen (anoxic) environment by entering a state of metabolic suppression characterized by metabolic arrest of ATP-demanding processes, such as ion pumping driven by the Na+-K+-ATPase (NKA). The Brewster Lab has previously shown that the N-myc Downstream Regulated Gene 1 (NDRG1) mediates NKA downregulation in the embryonic kidney and ionocytes; I demonstrated that this response is reversible and hence adaptive. Here, I explore the question of whether Ndrg1a promotes the return of membrane NKA levels upon re-oxygenation, using the proximity ligation assay (PLA) to detect whether these proteins interact in situ. My preliminary data reveal that the PLA signal intensifies in the anterior kidney and ionocytes with increasing time post re-oxygenation, which is consistent with a potential role for Ndrg1a as a versatile adapter protein and environmental oxygen sensor. Identification of the subcellular compartments where these proteins interact will further our understanding of the role of Ndrg1a in hypoxia adaptation. Overall, this research may lead to novel therapeutic approaches for the mitigation of hypoxic and reoxygenation injuries.
This work was funded, in part, by the Department of Defense and the National Institute of Health/NICHD.
For the full schedule of URCAD events, see: URCAD.umbc.edu