Kristine Dye, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences and Biology
Identification of a Non-Canonical Nuclear Localization Signal in the Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Small Tumor Antigen Necessary for the Development of Merkel Cell Carcinoma
Merkel Cell Polyomavirus (MCPyV) is the most recently discovered human oncogenic virus, and the etiologic agent of Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC), a skin cancer three times more deadly than melanoma. Previous work at Stetson found the small tumor antigen (ST) of MCPyV to be responsible for the development of MCC. Using an innovative dissimilarity approach, it was found that MCPyV ST is uniquely oncogenic when compared to the ST antigens of other human polyomaviruses. Furthermore, it was found that MCPyV ST uniquely localizes to the nucleus despite the absence of a nuclear localization sequence (NLS) and that this localization is necessary for oncogenesis. Future studies aim to identify the novel NLS of MCPyV ST, and determine whether this non-canonical NLS is responsible for the unique oncogenic abilities of MCPyV, necessary for the development of MCC. Consequently, these findings may support the development of novel MCPyV targeted therapeutics necessary for the treatment of MCC.
Lynn Kee, Associate Professor of Biology
Investigating TOR ell Signaling and the Effects of Rapamycin on Painted Lady Caterpillar and Butterfly Development
TOR signaling has been studied extensively in other organisms, and collectively, studies show that TOR regulates cell growth, aging, and survival in many organisms. In mice, treatment with rapamycin, a chemical that inhibits TOR signaling results in mice that lived 28% to 38% longer than the control group, which is about 6 to 9 years in human years. Studies in other organisms have shown similar effects of rapamycin on aging, a phenomenon conserved from yeast to worms to flies to mice. Our initial studies have shown that rapamycin treatment with Vanessa Cardui caterpillars lead to longer lived caterpillars with 30% increase in lifespan. The caterpillars form a chrysalis but we observed a failure of butterflies to hatch out of the chrysalises. Whether the butterflies cannot escape due to impaired or delayed wing development is not known. Here, we aim to investigate rapamycin’s effect on caterpillar and butterfly development, and TOR signaling. We propose to test different concentrations of rapamycin on caterpillar and butterfly development. In addition, we aim to measure the effect of rapamycin treatment on TOR signaling components through biochemical protein assays. Collectively, these studies will be the first study to investigate how TOR inhibition with rapamycin affects the development and lifespan of caterpillars and butterflies.