MILWAUKEE — Dr. Emily Sontag, assistant professor of biological sciences in Marquette University’s Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences to study the basic cellular mechanisms that fail in protein misfolding diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases.
Sontag’s funded research will clarify how cells process misfolded proteins, leading to efficient refolding or clearance. The goal is to narrow the knowledge gap on the mechanism, its failure and learn how to promote the degradation of misfolded proteins through treatment and prevent cell death in the related diseases.
“Misfolded proteins acquire toxic shapes that disrupt essential cellular processes, leading to cell death in diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, or uncontrolled growth in cancer,” Sontag said. “Cells have developed different ways to manage misfolded proteins; however, these quality control mechanisms wear down over time. This results in the buildup of protein aggregates that are a hallmark of protein misfolding diseases. Identifying novel mechanisms for how cells sort misfolded proteins into quality control compartments will create numerous new therapeutic strategies to treat these devastating disorders.”
Sontag and her research team will use a panel of misfolded proteins to probe the interactions required for sorting misfolded proteins into protein quality control compartments, transporting compartments to specific cellular sites, and determining clearance mechanisms for the compartments. They will accomplish this by using a combination of genetic deletions, live-cell time-lapse fluorescence microscopy, and a suite of biochemical techniques for determining changes in the aggregation state of proteins previously developed by Sontag.
“This is an exciting award for Dr. Sontag, and we are so proud of her accomplishment! To be funded by a prestigious NIH grant for focusing on undergraduate research illustrates the value of Marquette’s teacher-scholar ideal,” said Dr. Heather Hathaway, acting dean of the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences. “Dr. Sontag’s research on how protein malformations can lead to diseases such as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s demonstrates the power of Marquette faculty’s research in fulfilling our mission to care for the world.”
This award was granted through NIH’s R15 program, a mechanism to fund meritorious small scale research projects which expose students to research and strengthen the research environment of the institution. Sontag’s grant will have an expected value of $569,258 over three years.
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences supports basic research that increases understanding of biological processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Its research mission is aimed at understanding the principles, mechanisms and processes that underlie living organisms, often using research models. NIGMS is part of the National Institutes of Health, the principal medical research agency of the federal government and a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
About Marquette University
Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university located near the heart of downtown Milwaukee that offers a comprehensive range of majors in 11 nationally and internationally recognized colleges and schools. Through the formation of hearts and minds, Marquette prepares our 11,100 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional students to lead, excel and serve as agents of positive change. And, we deliver results. Ranked in the top 20% of national universities, Marquette is recognized for its undergraduate teaching, innovation and career preparation as the sixth-best university in the country for job placement. Our focus on student success and immersive, personalized learning experiences encourages students to think critically and engage with the world around them. When students graduate with a Marquette degree, they are truly prepared and called to Be The Difference.
