Michael Kearse
Graduate Student
Lehigh University
Department of Biological Sciences
111 Research Drive, B217
Bethlehem, PA 18015
Ph.D. Advisor:
Vassie Ware, Ph.D.
Research
Ribosomes are essential organelles, required for protein synthesis in all cells. The structural plan for the ribosome is generally evolutionarily conserved; yet between organisms, structural variation has been noted in both ribosomal RNA and protein components. Within evolutionarily conserved ribosomal protein families, several examples exist where segments of conserved proteins are structurally divergent. My research interests focus on differences in the composition of ribosomes. Ribosome structural diversity may contribute to differences in how the protein synthetic machinery functions during development or in different tissues.
While the Ware lab studies both ribosomal RNA and ribosomal protein differences between species, my research concentrates exclusively on ribosomal protein family members L22 and L22-like proteins in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Recent evidence from my preliminary experiments suggests there may be alternate forms of these proteins in different stages of fruit fly development and in different fly tissues. My thesis work will explore the expression and role of putative novel ribosomal protein variants within the fly. Importantly, this work will lay a foundation for understanding how ribosomal protein variants (assembled into ribosomes) may give rise to unique populations of ribosomes that regulate gene expression by novel mechanisms, not only in flies but in other animal cells as well.
Publications
Coming soon…
Abstracts
Michael G. Kearse and Vassie C. Ware. “Tissue-specific Expression of the Putative Ribosomal Protein L22-like in Drosophila melanogaster: A Mechanism for Generating Ribosome Diversity?” 8th International Conference on Ribosome Synthesis. August 2009. Regensburg, Germany
Michael G. Kearse and Vassie C. Ware. “Novel Splicing Generates Unique mRNA Isoforms from Ribosomal Protein L22-like Gene in Drosophila melanogaster.” 14th Annual Meeting of the RNA Society. May 2009. Madison, WI, USA.
Vassie C. Ware and Michael G. Kearse. “Analysis of Yeast Chimeric rRNAs Harboring Drosophila D7a Expansion Segments within the Binding Site for Ribosomal Protein L25.” 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology. December 2008. San Francisco, CA, USA.
