You are invited to attend this seminar hosted by the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology:
Date: Monday, 5 February 2024
Time: 11.00AM – 12.00PM
Venue: IMCB Seminar Room 03-46, Level 3 Proteos, Biopolis, Singapore 138673 (Physical)
Speaker: A/Prof Fred Bunz, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Host: Prof. Hai Yan, IMCB
Roles of the unfolded protein response in health and disease
Abstract
Many disease states, including cancer, infection and neurodegeneration, result in the cellular accumulation of unfolded and misfolded proteins. A coordinated unfolded protein response (UPR) activates parallel intracellular signaling pathways that downregulate translation and otherwise function to restore proteostasis. The UPR is activated during tumorigenesis, but the effects on tumor growth remain unclear. The most evolutionarily conserved of the three UPR pathways is mediated by the IRE1α ribonuclease and the downstream transcription factor XBP1. IRE1α activates XBP1 by a noncanonical splicing reaction. Translation of the unspliced XBP1 transcript generates a protein called XBP1u (unspliced). Excision of a 26 base intron by IRE1α results in a frameshift, and translation of the active transcription factor XBP1s (spliced). We have used CRISPR methods to create a human cell panel in which the IRE1α-XBP1 pathway is turned ON or OFF, in isolation and in the absence of exogenous stressors. This system has allowed us to examine in detail the unique functions of XBP1u and XBP1s, and gain new insights into the importance of IRE1α-XBP1 signaling in health and disease.
Biography
Dr. Fred Bunz is a cancer biologist at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His team is engaged in studying the signaling molecules and pathways that are activated by DNA damage and viral infection. The goal of this work is to better understand how current therapies work and to develop new and improved cancer treatments.
Dr. Bunz earned his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Stony Brook University. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at Johns Hopkins and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and is currently an Associate Professor in the departments of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences and Oncology.
In addition to being the head of a cancer biology laboratory, Dr. Bunz serves as a co-director of the Oncology Tissue and Imaging Core facility and co-director of Admissions for the program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, the largest PhD training program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is a co-founder of Hunterian Medicine, LLC, a startup focused on CRISPR delivery for in vivo gene editing therapy.
ALL ARE WELCOME (No registration required)
