Will Optogenetics Transform Cell Biology?

Vol. 14 / No. 8 / September 2015

Will optogenetics transform cell biology?

CONTENTS

NEWS FEATURES PERSPECTIVES

2 18 31 EDITOR'S NOTE LET IT SHINE GENERATIONS Is optogenetics ready to cause My scientific lineage 5 a revolution in cell biology? NEWS FROM THE HILL 25 34 A measured response HOBBIES TEENAGE COLLEGE GRAD IS to reproducibility problems The 1,200-pound dance partner DETERMINED TO HELP OTHERS 6 36 MEMBER UPDATE 28 OUTREACH THE BACTERIA SHOW 36 An online course on the art 8 of science communication NEWS 18 37 Drawing added to Aspirnauts’ toolkits 8 NSF grant to expand Chief science ASBMB mentorship program correspondent Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay reports 38

9 Sickened by sickle-cell disease on how a light-based EDUCATION technique seems to be poised to revolutionize If you build it ... 10 cell biology. Cover art by JOURNAL NEWS Vikram Mulligan. 40 10 The normal function of BRCA1 MINORITY AFFAIRS 11 Baba wins Tabor Award 40 Meet Cecilia Martinez 12 Why are some recluse spider bites 28 42 New ASBMB scholarship recognizes much worse than others? students' commitment to diversity 13 Exploring the effects of morphine on the nerve synapse 14 Compartmentalizing the complex 31 system of acyl-CoA metabolism 15 The pivotal role of phospholipases 16 LIPID NEWS 16 Reaction diffusion waves of phosphoinositides in the membrane 34 11

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 1 EDITOR’S NOTE

THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Changing places

OFFICERS COUNCIL MEMBERS Steven McKnight Squire J. Booker President Karen G. Fleming and perceptions Gregory Gatto Jr. Natalie Ahn Rachel Green New series to feature scientists in flux President-Elect Susan Marqusee Karen Allen Jared Rutter Secretary Brenda Schulman Michael Summers s we set to work to your favorite heavy Toni Antalis sketching ideas metal bands? We were Treasurer ASBMB TODAY EDITORIAL A for ASBMB moved when you told ADVISORY BOARD Today’s 2015-2016 us what it was like to EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS Charles Brenner Squire Booker Chair publishing calendar, we have a baby in graduate Wei Yang Michael Bradley at the magazine keep school, how your fam- Co-chairs, 2016 Annual Floyd “Ski” Chilton coming back to your ily of big thinkers and Meeting Program Cristy Gelling Committee Peter J. Kennelly contributions. We love healers instilled in you Peter J. Kennelly Rajini Rao covering our members’ the joy of discovery, Chair, Education and Yolanda Sanchez achievements, bringing to light new or why your hippie past continues to Professional Development Shiladitya Sengupta Committee Carol Shoulders developments that are chronicled in shape the values you hope to pass on the society’s journals or happening in to new generations. Daniel Raben Chair, Meetings Committee ASBMB TODAY the lab and the classroom, and record- Hearing your voices has inspired Angela Hopp Takita Felder Sumter ing the strides that outreach, minority us to keep you writing and as the Executive Editor, Chair, Minority Affairs [email protected] affairs and policy professionals are Hobbies and Generations series come Committee Lauren Dockett making in the name of a stronger and to a close – we will run the last of the Thomas Baldwin Managing Editor, more inclusive scientific community. essays in December – we are excited Chair, Outreach Committee [email protected] On top of all of that, during this to be introducing two new essay Wes Sundquist Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay Chair, Public Affairs Chief Science Correspondent, last year, when we asked you to share series. Set to start in January and run Advisory Committee [email protected] more of yourselves with our readers through December of 2016, the two Blake Hill Valery Masterson through our Hobbies and Genera- series, “Coordinates” and “Transi- Chair, Publications Designer, Committee [email protected] tions essay series, we were delighted tion States” will feature your experi- Lauri Pantos by a particular element of intimacy ences with movement and change. F. Peter Guengerich Manager of Publications Interim editor-in-chief, JBC Technology, [email protected] that made it into the stories you sent The Coordinates series will focus on Herbert Tabor Ciarán Finn our way. Who knew you would be place and the effect it has on personal Co-editor, JBC Web Publication Assistant, passionate hunters of arrowheads and professional lives and Transition [email protected] A. L. Burlingame and damselflies? That States on what it’s like Editor, MCP Allison Frick Media Specialist, you’d learned to play to switch gears for a Edward A. Dennis [email protected] the viola as an adult career change. Check Joseph L. Witztum Barbara Gordon when others said it was out our advertisement Co-editors, JLR Executive Director, [email protected] too late, or took time on page 33 for more you didn’t really have details about the two to DJ radio shows, or series and how and For information on advertising, contact Pharmaceutical Media Inc. at 212-904-0374 or [email protected]. created video homages when to submit.

www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday PRINT ISSN 2372-0409 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Articles published in ASBMB Today reflect solely the authors’ views and not the official positions of Steven McKnight's column the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated. Mentions of products or services are will resume next month. not endorsements.

2 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 Making STEAM The growing interplay of art and STEM

– T – E – M. The for installations. ubiquity of the Sculptors are build- S STEM acronym – ing homages to the now on the lips of every magic of kinesis. science outreach profes- Professional theater sional and educator from and dance produc- K to 20 – has become tions are enjoining a sign of commitment audience members to fields that once were to experience the perceived to be too drama and beauty of dull or difficult for the molecular processes general population to by staging them at get behind. President a macro level. Sci- Obama makes liberal entist-musicians are use of the four letters, writing symphonies collectively champion- that reflect biologi- ing science, technology, cal processes or rock engineering and math lyrics derived from as the country’s way for- lab trials. ward to a brighter, more Intermittently, competitive future. over the course of Part of the hard sell this next year, we behind STEM, which will feature stories has taken the form of a about STEAM “science is fun” mantra, ZACHARY COPFER works that impress is an attempt to chip STEAM (STEM plus art) talk about and intrigue us. We away at the misconception that fields the ways in which the artistic and sci- will talk to the creators about their involving scientific discovery and entific processes echo each other. They own processes of creativity, discovery technological innovation are full of emphasize shared values like creativ- and innovation and delve into the people who’ve rejected pleasure – that ity, experimentation and a desire for science that underlies their work. We becoming a scientist, engineer or discovery, and they suggest that the begin this month on page 28 with mathematician means putting oneself inherent connections between the two Zachary Copfer, a former pharmaceu- at a remove from the revelry and worlds are balanced by enough differ- tical researcher whose “bacteriographs” beauty and comparative accessibility ence to produce the right tensions for have become a bio art hit. If what of the humanities or the arts. innovation. Copfer is doing reminds you of a In the past few years, however, at- STEAM is remaking classroom STEAM project you’ve seen recently, tempts by institutions and individuals experiences and creating collabora- get in touch with us. Help us share to break apart these misconceptions tions between artists and scientists on more of the wonder of these science- and the academic silos they help to a professional scale. Bio artists, some inspired artistic experiments. underpin have resulted in a weaving of of whom have scientific backgrounds, Lauren Dockett arts and design into STEM curricula. are incorporating living organisms ([email protected]) is the The resulting integration has its own into gallery shows or working with managing editor of ASBMB Today. acronym: STEAM. Champions of geneticists to produce new life forms

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 3 4 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 NEWS FROM THE HILL A measured response to reproducibility problems By Chris Pickett

he research enterprise has been 1:1 correlation between irreproduc- accounted for in this analysis. Thus, enduring a crisis of confidence. ibility and investment is simplistic and this paper undersells the effective- T Many reports have been pub- ignores the possibility that many of ness of NIH-funded research and the lished over the past several years the findings in a paper are reproduc- contributions made by the scientific suggesting the biomedical research ible and useful. By using such a broad community. enterprise is generating irreproduc- definition for irreproducible research, Reports such as the two described ible research and wasting billions of the authors surely mislabel useful find- above do little to improve research taxpayer dollars. In June, the National ings and inflate their estimate of how reproducibility and efficiency. The Institutes of Health released two no- much research is irreproducible. American Society for Biochemistry tices describing new policies and pro- Another paper published in and Molecular Biology is concerned cedures the agency would implement August, in the Proceedings of the that the hype surrounding these in 2016 to improve reproducibility National Academy of Sciences, sug- papers and other reports and opin- in research (1, 2). While improving gested research efficiency, determined ion articles will provoke Congress or reproducibility in research is a laud- by dividing the number of new drugs research-funding agencies to imple- able goal, papers that make sweeping approved in a year by the NIH dollars ment policies that are overly prescrip- generalizations or conduct incomplete spent in that year, has fallen in recent tive. Another concern is the potential analyses about science have the poten- decades (4). This report makes its case misperception by the general public tial to slow the pace of research. on new drug approvals being the pri- that generating new drugs is the sole One paper published in June in mary output of NIH-funded research. purpose of NIH-funded research. the journal PLoS Biology suggested However, NIH-funded research can This could put pressure on the agency the United States spends roughly $28 improve human health by more than to make a more deliberate transition billion each year on irreproducible just the discovery of new drugs. Dis- from funding basic to translational research (3). This paper used fairly coveries that result in new diagnostics science. broad criteria to determine whether that promote early disease detection It is important to ensure the re- research was irreproducible. Using or technologies that improve drug search enterprise is producing the best these criteria, the authors suggested delivery methods can have profound possible research, and the ASBMB that roughly half of all research is effects on human health. Additionally, long has supported efforts to im- irreproducible and then extrapolated drugs approved for use in humans prove reproducibility and efficiency. to say that roughly half of all money decades ago can be repurposed to Scientists long have been excellent invested in biomedical research is treat different diseases. These benefits stewards of the taxpayer investment in spent on irreproducible findings. The of NIH-funded research were not biomedical research, and the scientific community should constantly be REFERENCES working to ensure it generates useful, 1. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-15-102.html well-founded knowledge. But only 2. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-15-103.html with measured analyses of the func- 3. Freedman, L.P. et al. PLoS Biol. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002165 tioning of the research enterprise can 4. Bowen, A. & Casadevall, A. Proc Nat Acad Sci. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1504955112 policies be made that improve research reproducibility and efficiency.

Interested in science policy? Chris Pickett (cpickett@asbmb. org) is a policy analyst at the Follow our blog for news, analysis and commentary on policy issues ASBMB. affecting scientists, research funding and society. Visit policy.asbmb.org.

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 5 MEMBER UPDATE

Kimble to lead National animal development, focusing on stem physiology at IU, earned his M.D./ cells and differentiation. Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. Medal of Science Written by Erik Chaulk He did his residency and fellowship committee at the University of California, San President Mirmira to head Francisco, and received the Physician Barack Obama diabetes research center Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from chose Judith the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Raghu Kimble to lead and a Research Career Award from the G. Mirmira, the President’s National Institutes of Health. Lilly Founda- Committee on tion professor in the National Nunnari to edit JCB KIMBLE pediatric diabetes Medal of Sci- at Indiana Uni- Jodi Nun- ence. Kimble is the Vilas professor versity, will direct nari, professor of biochemistry at the University of MIRMIRA a new, federally designated diabetes and chair of the Wisconsin–Madison and a Howard research center at IU. One of 16 such department of Hughes Medical Institute investigator. centers in the country, the Indiana molecular and She served on the committee from Diabetes Center aims to accelerate cellular biology 2012 to 2014. According to the Na- diabetes and metabolic research and NUNNARI department at tional Science Foundation, Congress will be funded by a $4.5 million, five- the University of California, Davis, established the National Medal of year grant from the National Institute is the new editor-in-chief of the Science in 1959 to recognize individu- of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Journal of Cell Biology. She took the als “deserving of special recognition by Diseases. Mirmira says, “This award helm in August. Nunnari will be the reason of their outstanding contribu- expresses the confidence of the NIH first female editor-in-chief of JCB, a tions to knowledge in the physical, and NIDDK that we have assembled peer-reviewed journal owned by the biological, mathematical, or engineer- a world-class program of diabetes Rockefeller University Press. A former ing sciences.” Congress eventually research at IU.” The center is to sup- academic editor of the journal, Nun- expanded the medal’s recognition to port several research cores that will nari is an internationally recognized include contributions to the social and look at microscopy imaging services, leader in the field of mitochondrial behavioral sciences. This prestigious insulin-producing cell clusters, new dynamics. “Jodi has shown tremen- award has been given out to nearly models in swine, and the translation dous dedication and enthusiasm as 500 scientists and engineers for their of lab discoveries into human disease an editor over the past decade to contributions to scientific research and understanding. Dr. Mirmira, who is a help guide the editorial process and development since its inception. Herman B. Wells Center for Pediatric maintain JCB’s high standards and A member of the National Acad- Research scientist and professor of reputation,” said Susan King, execu- emy of Sciences, Kimble’s research medicine and cellular and integrative tive director of the press. explores the fundamental controls of Written by Kamalika Saha

Raines wins ACS award

Ronald T. Raines won the 2016 Ralph F. Hirschmann Award for Peptide Chemistry from the American Chemical Society. The biennial award recognizes and encourages outstanding achievements in the chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics of peptides. Raines, professor of biochemistry and chemistry at the University of Wisconsin– Madison, has used synthetic peptides to reveal that an unappreciated force — the n-to-pi* interaction — stabilizes proteins. His team has also used peptides to create hyperstable and large collagens. Raines has made numerous contributions to peptide chemistry. He will receive his award at the ACS annual meeting in March in San Diego. RAINES

6 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 Tjian to step down as president of HHMI

Citing a desire to return to research, Robert Tjian will leave his post as president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the end of 2016. Tjian, who will continue as an HHMI investigator, became the third president of the institute in April, 2009. The HHMI operates with a $19 billion endowment and is the nation’s largest philanthropic funder of academic biomedical research. During his term, Tjian introduced initia- tives to support early-career scientists, expand science communication and emphasize diversity and inclusiveness, especially in how universities teach science. Tjian revamped existing programs including increasing postdoctoral BARBARA RIES HHMI funds, revitalizing graduate-student Robert Tjian awards to include more international students and incorporating voluntary phase-out awards ber of the National Academy of Sciences, Tjian earned for senior and accomplished investigators. He also col- his bachelor’s degree at Berkeley and Ph.D. at Harvard laborated with other foundations, in one case helping to University and has done pioneering work on genes. He launch the open-access journal eLife. discovered transcription factors and shined light on how Tjian has been a faculty member at the University of disruptions in the transcription process are involved in California, Berkeley, since 1979 and will return to his diseases like diabetes and cancer. He also operates a lab HHMI-supported lab on the Berkeley campus. A mem- at HHMI focused on single-cell imaging. Written by Shaina Hasan

IN MEMORIAM: oils. It is now part of the Smithsonian In the early 1970s, Waller served collection. on a task force that was active in George R. Waller Jr. Born in Clinton, N.C., on July 14, the creation of the Environmental George R. 1927, Waller developed an interest Protection Agency. He helped the Waller Jr., who in biochemistry as a young boy and state of Oklahoma start environmen- introduced mass raised bantam chickens to fund his tal education and research programs spectrometry formal education. He served in the and shared environmental concerns to the field of Navy during World War II, did his with his students. In the late 1970s, biochemistry, undergraduate work in agriculture Waller pioneered work on sustain- WALLER died in March. and biological chemistry at North able agriculture and allelopathy. He He was 87. Carolina State University and received served as founder and president of the While a National Institutes of a master’s degree in chemistry from International Allelopathy Society from Health fellow at the Nobel Medi- the University of Delaware. In 1956 1994 to 2001. cal Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, Waller joined Oklahoma State Uni- Waller, an avid traveler and photog- Waller assisted in the development versity as an assistant professor in the rapher who lived on three continents, of the LKB-9000 gas chromatograph newly-forming biochemistry depart- married Hilda Marie Lominac of mass spectrometer prototype. The ment and was named full professor Asheville, N.C., in 1947. The couple GC/MS, which can identify organic when he completed his Ph.D. Waller had three daughters and were married compounds from an unknown sample, published prolifically during his for 64 years until Hilda passed away was installed at Oklahoma State Uni- academic career, contributing to more in 2011. versity in 1965. Waller used it to iden- than 400 articles. He was made profes- Written by Sarah Yahoodik tify plant compounds and essential sor emeritus in 1987.

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 7 NEWS NSF grant to expand ASBMB mentorship program

he National Science Foundation annual workshop in 2013. Since then, faculty from primarily undergraduate awarded the American Society for 93 percent of mentees have reported and minority-serving institutions. T Biochemistry and Molecular Bi- that participation in the workshop Central Michigan University As- ology a grant of $500,000 to support increased their confidence in applying sistant Professor Benjamin Swarts re- a comprehensive mentoring program for funding, and nearly 56 percent of searches tuberculosis and participated for postdoctoral fellows and early- alumni from the 2013 workshop have in the program in 2013. career faculty members. The program obtained funding. The NSF grant will “Inspired by the workshop, I have a focuses on grantsmanship skills and support IMAGE for the next three living five-year plan document that, in career-development strategies. It also years. addition to keeping on track with ad- promotes diversity in the scientific Marion Sewer, a professor at the ministration, has helped me organize workforce by supporting underrepre- University of California, San Diego, my overarching plans into something sented minority postdoctoral scientists and deputy chair of the ASBMB’s that is tangible,” said Swarts. and new assistant professors in their Minority Affairs Committee, says IM- The ASBMB’s Minority Affairs efforts to secure research funding. AGE organizers try to create a diverse Committee expressed confidence that Members of the ASBMB’s Mi- cohort each year by targeting recruit- the NSF’s support of IMAGE will nority Affairs Committee started ment of underrepresented minorities. enrich the scientific community by the training program, now called They also look for participants from helping scientists develop the skills Interactive Mentoring Activities for a variety of geographic locations, try they need for long-term professional Grantsmanship Enhancement, as an to create a gender balance, and recruit success. Written by Allison Frick

8 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 NEWS Sickened by sickle-cell disease By Indumathi Sridharan

n 1910, an American physi- I cian named James Herrick described a young patient whose red blood cells were elongated and curved like a sickle. Herrick's report was the first clinical description of sickle cell disease in the U.S. Sickle-cell disease, or SCD, is an inherited blood disor- der that affects 90,000 to 100,000 people in the U.S., particularly those of African and also are too rigid to squeeze through at the site of the mutation. The stem Hispanic heritage. Current treatments, blood vessels. Pain, infections, anemia, cells' natural repair mechanisms then such as blood transfusions, focus organ damage and stroke are brought inserted the correct code at the site. on managing symptoms rather than on as obstructed blood flow leads to These gene-corrected version of stem curing SCD. The American Society poor oxygen levels at the cellular level cells produced normal erythrocytes (1). for Hematology marks September and cell death. SCD also increases sus- Fetal globin is a form of hemo- as "National Sickle Cell Awareness ceptibility to malaria; however, those globin that has a better affinity for Month" to highlight the need for bet- with only one copy of the mutation in oxygen. Earlier this year, a study dem- ter treatment options for SCD. the gene are protected from malarial onstrated that fetal globin production infections because macrophages of the can be induced in erythroid cells using What is a sickle cell? immune system attack infected genome editing. The method intro- Red blood cells, or erythrocytes, sickle cells. duces a mutation that increases the are typically shaped like discs. They activity of TAL-1, an activator of the contain the oxygen-carrying protein What are the latest fetal globin promoter sequence. The hemoglobin, which has two alpha and increased TAL-1 activity concomi- two beta subunits. SCD occurs when approaches for SCD tantly increased fetal globin a single mutation causes the substitu- treatment? production (2). tion of valine for glutamic acid in Although stem-cell transplantation the beta subunit of the hemoglobin can cure SCD, the treatment is lim- REFERENCES molecule. The mutated hemoglobin ited by the availability of compatible molecules aggregate into filaments 1. Hoban, M.D. et al. Blood. 125, 2597 – 2604 donors. Instead of relying on donor (2015). that stretch the cell membrane and stem cells, researchers at the Universi- 2. Wienert, B. et al. Nat Commun. 6, 7085 create the characteristic sickle shape. ty of California, Los Angeles, reported (2015). earlier this year that they had derived What are the symptoms of stem cells directly from SCD patients. Indumathi Sridharan (sridharan. [email protected]) did her SCD? They rectified the mutation in the Ph.D. in molecular biochemistry at hemoglobin gene by using enzymes the Illinois Institute of Technology, Sickled erythrocytes have a shorter called zinc-finger nucleases, which cut Chicago and her postdoctoral work life span and die quickly. The cells in bionanotechnology at Northwestern University.

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 9 JOURNAL NEWS The normal function of BRCA1 By Caitlin Hanlon

fter learning she was a carrier for the breast cancer A susceptibility gene 1, actress Angelina Jolie opted for a preventative double mastecto- my and later wrote an essay for the New York Times about her decision. The widely read and disseminated article, published in the spring of 2013, helped BRCA1 enter the common lexicon and gain recognition as a leading risk factor for breast and ovarian cancer. However, the normal function of BRCA1 Domainstructure of BRCA1-BARD1 and key interacting partners in the BRCA network. often is missing from these discussions. In “Deciphering the terminal helicase 1, a DNA helicase repair pathways that may be viable BRCA1 tumor suppressor network,” that is required for DNA crosslink therapeutic targets. Two examples are a recent minireview in the Journal repair. The third complex is BRCA Rad52, a protein involved in single- of Biological Chemistry, Qinqin and C-terminal binding protein strand annealing repair, and Polθ, Jiang and Roger A. Greenberg of the interacting protein, an endonuclease which is involved in micro-homology- Abramson Family Cancer Research also known as retinoblastoma-binding mediated end joining. Additional Institute at the University of Pennsyl- protein 8. This complex speeds end targets include proteins that increase vania discuss the role that BRCA1 and resection, the process of removing replication stress, which already its associated proteins play in noncan- bases around a double-strand break so is heightened in BRCA1 mutant cerous cells. that homologous-directed repair can cells. Further development of these BRCA1 is well studied for its in- occur. therapies represents a step forward for volvement in DNA damage response. BRCA1 and its binding partners the treatment of breast and ovarian At its C-terminus, BRCA1 contains often are located at transcriptionally cancer. two BRCA C-terminal domains, active sites and at regions of replica- Although an enormous amount of which enable its binding to proteins tion fork stress. The authors point out knowledge has been generated from involved with DNA repair. With its that BRCA1 is influencing genome studying BRCA1 mutations, much partner protein, which is called BRCA stability for the cell itself and its work remains to be done to under- associated RING domain 1, BRCA1 daughter cell by localizing to these stand fully what endogenous BRCA1 is able to bind to nucleosomes and regions. is doing. For example, it is not localize to damaged regions of DNA. Mutations in BRCA1 cause fully known why BRCA1 mutations BRCA1 then facilitates homology- failures in homology-directed DNA specifically cause a susceptibility to directed DNA repair, an error-free repair and prompt the cell to use breast and ovarian cancer. Moreover, method that restores DNA to a non- more error-prone repair methods. In the exact mechanism for what BRCA1 mutated state. BRCA1 mutant cells, blocking these is doing during DNA repair remains BRCA1 is a member of three error-prone pathways using molecular unknown. Understanding BRCA1’s separate protein complexes that each inhibitors causes an accumulation of molecular function may lead eventu- play a role in DNA repair. BRCA1 cytotoxic complexes and results in cell ally to better methods for treating interacts with the tumor-suppressor death. Inhibition of these pathways BRCA1 mutations. protein Abraxas, and this complex is a popular therapeutic target since it specifically favors cancer cell death. then binds ubiquitylated lysine resi- Caitlin Hanlon (chanlon3@jhmi. dues at DNA double-strand breaks. In Because cancer cells are developing edu) earned a BS from Ursinus a separate complex, BRCA1 interacts resistance to the current class of in- College and a Ph.D. from the hibitors, the authors discuss alternate Department of Cell Biology at the with BRCA1 interacting protein C- Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

10 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 JOURNAL NEWS Baba wins Tabor Award for transcription research By Erik Maradiaga

akashi Baba, an assistant profes- National Institute for Basic Biology in sor at Kyushu University in Japan, he continued researching the T Japan, is the recipient of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor by analyz- Journal of Biological Chemistry ing the protein in knockout mice. Herb Tabor Young Investigator Award After finding that AhR cooperates for his research on the function of the with Ad4BP/SF-1 in the regulation of transcription factor Ad4BP/SF-1 and a gene involved in estrogen synthesis, its significance for the regulation of he became intrigued by the unique metabolism. function of Ad4BP/ SF-1, which had Baba has shown that Ad4BP/SF-1 already been discovered to regulate regulates overall metabolic processes all genes involved in steroid hormone at the transcription level. In genome synthesis. wide experiments, he both identified Baba will continue his work with all of the target genes of Ad4BP/SF-1 at Kyushu University Ad4BP/SF-1 and discovered that each and plans to further elucidate the gene involved in glycolysis and choles- Takashi Baba received the Tabor Award from the JBC significance of the orchestration of terol biosynthesis was regulated by interim editor-in-chief, F. Peter Guengerich of Vanderbilt metabolism regulation by a single University at the 19th International Conference on Ad4BP/SF-1. Cytochrome P450 in June in Tokyo, Japan. transcription factor. Baba earned his bachelor's degree otic metabolism, also known as drug Erik Maradiaga (em3914a@ and Ph.D. at Tohoku University in student.american.edu) is a Japan, where he studied the gene modification, by the aryl hydrocarbon biology major at American regulation involved in xenobi- receptor. During a postdoc at the University.

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 11 JOURNAL NEWS Why are some recluse spider bites much worse than others? Substrate specificity of toxins offers clues By Mollie Rappe

rown recluse spiders are common in the southern B United States and have potent venoms. Bites from this family of spiders can cause ne- crotic ulcers and, in rare cases, the destruction of red blood cells, kidney failure and death. In a recent Journal of Biological Chemistry paper, Matthew Cordes, a biochemistry professor at the University of Arizona, and co-workers uncovered why recluse spider venoms are so complex. “The venom is really like a complicated cocktail – like a martini with five different brands of gin and vermouth in it,” Cordes explained. “Not only is it a particular kind of ingredient in the venom cock- A BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER. IMAGE COURTESY OF CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION'S PUBLIC HEALTH IMAGE LIBRARY tail that makes brown recluse ity for the different toxins is only one attacking the cell membrane or pre- bites harmful to people, it seems that step in the path to understanding why venting the downstream cascade trig- certain ‘brands’ of that ingredient are some recluse spider bites are much gered by their products are possible more likely than others to be poison- worse than others. Where the spider methods for treating recluse spider ing people.” bite is located, the age of the person bites. This new research undertaken Brown recluse spider venom con- bitten, how much venom is injected by the Cordes lab sheds light on the tains many toxins, including a variety and the composition of the venom are complexity and redundancy of the of phospholipase D enzymes, which all important factors that affect how venom, informing future work toward attack the phospholipid cell mem- severe the bite is. Interestingly, Greta treating brown recluse bites. brane. Daniel Lajoie, a graduate stu- Binford, a biology professor at Lewis One interesting spinoff from this dent and the first author on the JBC & Clark College, discovered that in research is a new idea for an insecti- paper, and co-workers discovered why addition to the species of the spider, cide. One of the toxins found in the recluse spider venoms have so many the spider’s age and sex affect the six-eyed sand spider is very effective different phospholipase D enzymes: precise composition of venom. at attacking ethanolamine-containing Some of the toxins have evolved to There is still work to be done to sphingolipid, a phospholipid common attack sphingomyelin, which is com- understand and treat brown recluse in insects but not found in humans. mon in mammals and some insects, spider bites. For instance, it’s still a while other toxins have evolved to mystery how cleaving the headgroup Mollie Rappe (mollie.rappe@ attack ethanolamine-containing off of the fatty acid portion of the sphingolipid, which is not found in gmail.com) earned her Ph.D. in phospholipid and forming a cyclic biophysics at the Johns Hopkins humans but is common in insects the ceramide phosphate triggers a cascade University. She will begin writing spiders prey on. of events leading to cell death. for Sandia National Laboratories shortly. Figuring out the substrate specific- However, stopping the toxins from

12 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 JOURNAL NEWS Exploring the effects of morphine on the nerve synapse By Alexandra Pantos

orphine is a of their brains subjected to highly effective cellular fractionation and M pain reliever that analysis by mass spectrom- acts on opioid recep- etry. Proteins that were tors in the brain to calm identified by the mass pain-signaling nerve cells. spectrometric analyses were But it is also notoriously further studied by using addictive. A recent paper bioinformatics approaches. in the journal Molecular Some of the proteins & Cellular Proteomics identified by Devi and col- looks at how addiction to leagues were notably more morphine affects the brain abundant in morphine- at the protein level. treated rats, including When Lakshmi Devi, ones associated with the who is at the Icahn School ubiquitin-proteasome of Medicine at Mount system. The finding sur- Sinai in New York City, prised Devi and her team, wanted to learn more because it showed that about how the brain ubiquitination occurring remembers a drug-induced at the synapse could affect experience of pleasure, protein function. These she began to think along results add to emerging the lines of changes that evidence that ubiquitina- occur in the brain during tion as a post-translational relapse from addiction. modification is more about Morphine was of particular signaling than simple pro- The morphine molecule. interest because it remains IMAGE COURTESY OF BENJAH-BMM27, tein degradation. the painkiller of choice in A WIKIMEDIA COMMONS USER The next step is to con- hospitals despite its addic- duct a study similar to the tive properties. one already done, except Devi says that there this time the investigators were two main issues with the synapse during memory. The limi- will look at the synaptic morphine that warranted investiga- tations of existing technology made it changes after taking the drug away tion. One issue was whether re- difficult to isolate the details of what for a while and then reintroducing it. lapses into addiction were essentially happens at synapses during memory Discoveries from these studies could memories of an addiction flaring up recall. be vital in identifying new therapeutic in the brain. Could it be that a relapse But proteomics technology had targets for debilitating pain. Even if occurs when someone’s brain recalls matured enough to allow Devi and morphine itself cannot be made less at the molecular level how it felt to her team to identify minute quantities addictive, these findings could aid in take the drug? This notion suggests of proteins in the brains of rats, which the development of new drugs that that changes brought about by an might reveal effects of the drug. The can manage pain in a nonaddictive addictive substance could occur at the team administered an increasing dose way. synapse at the molecular level. of morphine to lab rats over a few The other issue was tied to the first days, long enough for the rodents to Alexandra Pantos (apantos@ one: Little had been done to explore become dependent on the drug. The asbmb.org) is an intern at the the molecular changes that occur in ASBMB and a senior biology stu- rats were then euthanized and regions dent at the University of Maryland.

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 13 JOURNAL NEWS Compartmentalizing the complex system of acyl-CoA metabolism By Ulli Hain

recent minireview in the Journal CoA synthetase, or ACSL, isoforms, acyl-CoAs. The substrate specificity of Biological Chemistry dives which convert free long-chain fatty of PPARs also appears to be cell-type A into the complexity of the me- acids into fatty acyl-CoA thioesters, specific, affording another level of tabolism of fatty acids, important bio- appears to help define these pathways. complexity for fine-tuning metabo- molecules used for energy storage and For example, when ACSL4 was over- lism. Due to this complexity and the production, formation of membrane expressed at the mitochondria rather contrasting results found in similar phospholipids and signaling. than the ER, there was a 50 percent cell lines, the authors argue for the Fatty acids derived from a fatty reduction of its downstream product, importance of studying acyl-CoA meal, synthesized de novo within the the lipid phosphatidylinositol, or PI. metabolism in primary cells. cell or hydrolyzed from triacylglycerol, This suggests that the interaction of Even at a particular site in the cell, or TAG, must be linked to coenzyme ACSL4 with PI enzymes located at the multiple pathways can compete for A, or CoA, to form acyl-CoAs before ER is important for PI synthesis and acyl-CoAs. For example, glycerol- the cell can use them. From here, that acyl-CoAs produced elsewhere 3-phosphate acyltransferase 1, or in the cell are not freely available to GPAT1, needed for synthesis of the pathways at other sites. signaling molecule lysophosphatidic “(A)n acyl-CoA While many downstream pro- acid, and carnitine-palmitoyltransfer- teins for acyl-CoA metabolism have ase 1, or CPT1, needed to translocate molecule faces many well-defined positions in the cell, the fatty acids into the mitochondria, are authors note that location can change both present on the outer mitochon- possible fates..." in response to stimuli, such as insulin. drial membrane. The relative levels They also point out that more of these enzymes, which control this work needs to be done to character- partitioning, are regulated by the an acyl-CoA molecule faces many ize both the location and function of transcription factors SREBP1 and possible fates, including breakdown the ACSL enzymes. Current methods ChREBP for GPAT1 and PPARα for through β-oxidation to provide en- are problematic, as fractionation CPT1. ergy, esterification to form phospho- experiments can be contaminated with The authors bring to bear several lipids or storage as TAGs. other organelles, while overexpression remaining questions in the field: How How does the cell correctly parti- analyses may mislocalize proteins and are exogenously derived fatty acids tion acyl-CoAs into these pathways overwhelm downstream metabolic transported from the cytosolic face of to meet the physiological needs of the pathways. the plasma membrane to specific sites whole organism? Daniel Cooper and The minireview, titled “Physiologi- within the cell? How do multienzyme colleagues at the University of North cal consequences of compartmental- metabolic assemblies associate and dis- Carolina at Chapel Hill make the case ized acyl-CoA metabolism,” also perse in response to changing nutrient that in order acyl-CoA metabolism is describes key aspects of acyl-CoA and energy availability? What is the compartmentalized to organize and regulation. Studies suggest that ACSL role of post-translational increase efficiency of this complex isoforms have different substrate modifications? system. preferences, subcellular locations and It is vital to understand how acyl- Metabolism of acyl-CoAs occurs at functions. Complicating this is the CoA metabolism is regulated, the au- distinct locations in the cell: Elonga- observation that the location and thors assert, as it “represents a critical tion and desaturation of fatty acids, function of a particular isoform may node for understanding whole-body TAG synthesis, and esterification vary in different tissues and cell types. pathophysiology.” occur at the endoplasmic reticulum, The mRNA levels of several ACSL while β-oxidation for production of isoforms are regulated by peroxisome Ulli Hain ([email protected]) is a Ph.D. graduate in biochemistry the energy carrier adenosine triphos- proliferator-activated receptors, or from Johns Hopkins School of phate, or ATP, and thermogenesis PPAR, transcription factors, which Public Health, a freelance science occur within the mitochondria matrix. are activated by particular endog- writer, and a science policy fellow The location of long-chain acyl- enous and exogenous fatty acids and with Research America.

14 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 JOURNAL NEWS The pivotal role of phospholipases By Lauren Dockett

he digestive enzymes known as phosphate, and even the phosphates Eleven reviews that focus on what phospholipases are critical to on the inositol ring of polyphospho we do know about the enzymes will T most physiological processes and phosphatidylinositols. One or more appear in the series “Phospholipases play a central role in lipid signaling phospholipases seem to be implicated in Lipid Signaling and Disease.” An and disease. in virtually all diseases in some man- introduction and eight reviews are Edward Dennis, editor-in-chief ner including cardiovascular disease, currently available in the journal. of the Journal of Lipid Research, diabetes, mitochondrial disease, cancer Additional articles on phospholipase has pulled together a thematic review and certainly inflammation.” A1 and phospholipid remodeling are series about the influential enzymes. Despite their omnipresence, expected to appear before the series is He says, “Phospholipases constitute a phospholipases have not been easy to complete. surprisingly large class of enzymes that study. They challenge investigators, includes specific enzymes for all of the says Dennis, “because they act on Lauren Dockett (ldockett@asbmb. org) is the managing editor of hydrolytic targets of phospholipids in- phospholipids associated with mem- ASBMB Today. cluding the two acyl groups, the phos- branes rather than on substrates free phodiester bonds on both sides of the in solution.”

Cytosolic phospholipase A2: physiological function and role in disease Christina C. Leslie, National Jewish Health, Denver

A new era of secreted phospholipases A2 (sPLA2)

Makoto Murakami, Hiroyasu Sato, Yoshimi Miki, Kei Yamamoto and Yoshitaka Taketomi, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science

Destructive effects of iPLA2-derived lipid signaling: a beta-cell perspective

Sasanka Ramanadham, Tomader Ali, Jason W. Ashley, Robert N. Bone, William Hancock and Xiaoyong Lei, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PLC) in health and disease Lucio Cocco, Matilde Y. Follo, Lucia Manzoli and Pann-Ghill Suh,

University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Physiological and pathophysiological roles for phospholipase D Rochelle K. Nelson and Michael A. Frohman, State University of New York, Stonybrook

Lipid phosphate phosphatases and their roles in pathophysiology

Xiaoyun Tang, Matthew G. K. Benesch and David N. Brindley, University of Alberta

Autotaxin, a lysophospholipase D with pleomorphic effects in oncogenesis and cancer progression Lorenzo Federico, Kang Jin Jeong, Christopher P. Vellano and Gordon B. Mills, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston

Introduction to Thematic Review Series: Phospholipases: Central Role in Phosphatidylinositolphosphate Phosphatase Activities and Cancer Lipid Signaling and Disease Simon A. Rudge and Michael J. O. Wakelam, The Babraham Institute, Edward A. Dennis, University of California, San Diego Cambridge, UK

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 15 LIPID NEWS Reaction-diffusion waves of phosphoinositides in the membrane By Chuan–Hsiang Huang and Peter N. Devreotes

hosphoinositides, phosphory- lipid kinases and phosphatases. For phosphoinositides is emerging from lated forms of phosphati- example, PI-4 kinases add a phos- advances in fluorescent biosensors and P dylinositol, or PI, are minor phate on the 4-position of the inositol imaging. For example, propagating components of the membrane lipids ring to generate PI(4)P, which can be waves of a PH-domain that binds to yet play important roles in the sig- phosphorylated further at the 5-posi- PIP3 were found at phagocytic cups naling of a broad range of cellular tion by PIP5Ks to generate PIP(4,5) and the basal surface of migrating cells processes including cell migration, P2, often referred to as PIP2. Phos- including Dictyostelium (2) and hu- phagocytosis, cell-cycle regulation phorylation of PIP2 on the 3-position man neutrophils (3). These activities and membrane trafficking. Derange- by PI3Ks generates PI(3,4,5)P3 or are closely aligned with reports of the ments in phosphoinositide signaling PIP3, whereas the lipid phosphatase activities of other signaling pro- are implicated in diseases ranging PTEN catalyzes the reverse reaction teins, such as Ras and Rac, and with from congenital malformations and to convert PIP3 back to PIP2. Tamas waves of markers for the actin-based metabolic syndromes to cancers. The Balla has provided a comprehensive cytoskeleton described earlier (4 – 7). various forms of phosphoinositides review on phosphoinositide chemistry PTEN dissociates from the active differ in the number and position of and biology (1). zone of the wave, contributing to the phosphate groups on the inositol ring An extraordinary new view of the local increase in PIP3. Importantly, of PI and can be interconverted by dynamic spatiotemporal regulation of cells devoid of cytoskeletal turnover

Ras external PI3K PTEN signal positive feedback PIP3 resting refractory active resting X feedforward negative connection feedback Ras PI3K PTEN Y PIP3 e resting refractory active resting m X Y

Ras PI3K PTEN level

PIP3 threshold resting refractory active resting

abcade Direction of PIP3 Wave Propagation time

In migrating cells, propagation of PIP3 and signaling proteins across the membrane has features of reaction-diffusion waves in an excitable medium including all-or- none activation followed by a refractory period. The phenomenon can be modeled by the coupling between an autocatalytic activator (X) and a delayed inhibitor (Y).

16 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 still display these spontaneous signal- diffuse in the medium, activated crossed as well as a delayed inhibitor ing events, indicating that they drive species trigger neighboring elements that not only turns off the response the cytoskeletal network to generate in succession, leading to wavelike but also makes the system transiently protrusions (3, 7 – 9). Guidance cues, propagation of responses. These waves refractory. Based on this scheme, such as chemoattractants that bias the leave behind a zone of refractori- several mathematical models have signaling activities, direct cell migra- ness such that the medium becomes been proposed (5, 8 – 10). Molecu- tion (3). unresponsive in both directions larly, Ras and PIP3 form a positive A prominent feature of these when two waves collide, leading to feedback (7), and a Ras-TorC2-PKB signaling waves is their annihilation the annihilation. In support of their negative feedback loop has been upon collision, suggesting that they excitable nature, the signaling activi- described (11). However, cells without are reaction-diffusion waves in an ties of Dictyostelium and neutrophils PIP3 can still migrate, albeit less ef- excitable medium. The term “excit- also display all-or-none and refractory ficiently, suggesting redundancy in the ability” often is associated with the characters (3, 7). signaling network. Further studies also action potential of neurons, which The molecular basis of this excit- are required to understand how the is characterized by large responses to ability is not known. In general, excit- signaling network couples to the cyto- suprathreshold stimuli, followed by a able systems are thought to contain skeletal machinery. Answers to these refractory period of unresponsiveness an autocatalytic process that becomes questions not only will reveal funda- to further stimuli. When the reactants activated fully when a threshold is mental insights into cell migration but also will open up new opportunities REFERENCES for the treatment of human diseases, 1. Balla, T. Physiol. Rev. 93, 1019 – 1137 (2013). such as metastatic cancers. 2. Asano, Y. et al. Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 65, 923 – 934 (2008). 3. Tang, M. et al. Nature Communications 5, 5175 (2014). Chuan-Hsiang Huang 4. Vicker, M.G. FEBS Lett. 510, 5 – 9 (2002). ([email protected]) is a 5. Weiner, O.D. et al. PLoS Biol. 5, e221 (2007). researcher in the cell biology 6. G. Gerisch, G. et al. Biophys. J. 87, 3493 – 3503 (2004). department at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. 7. Huang, C.H. et al. Nat. Cell. Biol. 15, 1307 – 1316 (2013).

8. Taniguchi, D. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 110, 5016 – 5021 (2013). Peter N. Devreotes (pnd@jhmi. 9. Arai, Y. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107, 12399 – 12404 (2010). edu) is director of the cell biology 10. Xiong, Y. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107, 17079 – 17086 (2010). department at the Johns Hopkins 11. Charest, P.G. et al. Dev. Cell 18, 737 – 749 (2010). University School of Medicine.

NATIONAL POSTDOC APPRECIATION WEEK

Celebrate Your Postdocs! Join the National Postdoctoral Association in celebrating its fifth annual National Postdoc Appreciation Week (NPAW) Sept. 21-25 . NPAW is a chance for you and your institution to celebrate the achievements and contributions of your postdoctoral scholars and researchers.

For more information, visit: http://nationalpostdoc.org/index.php/meetings-and-events-4/appreciation

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 17 FEATURE LET IT SHINE Is optogenetics ready to cause a revolution in cell biology?

By Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay

18 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 “No one lights a lamp in order to hide it behind the door: the purpose of light is to create more light, to open people’s eyes, to reveal the marvels around.” – NOVELIST PAULO COELHO

he light-based technique opto- 1,100 papers in PubMed with the genetics has revealed marvels word “optogenetics.”) T in neuroscience. In the past 10 The Nature Neuroscience paper, years, researchers have used the tech- authored by Ed Boyden, now at Mas- nique to, among other things, make sachusetts Institute of Technology, lab animals stop binge drinking, forget Karl Deisseroth at Stanford University bad memories and elicit the flight-or- and others, described the introduc- flight response, all on command. tion of a gene for an algal ion channel The method has been hailed as a called channelrhodopsin-2 into rat revolution in neuroscience. In 2010, hippocampal neurons. The light-sen- the journal Nature Methods declared sitive ion channels opened up when optogenetics to be the method of the researchers shone light on the neurons year. In 2013, the prestigious Grete and triggered synaptic transmission. Lundbeck European Brain Research The investigators effectively were in Prize went to six researchers whose control of when the neurons fired. work is considered to have laid the The work made neuroscientists sit foundations for the technique (see up: This was a way to selectively con- box). Optogenetics even made its trol neurons of their own choosing, way into the Obama administration’s which they couldn’t do with other ap- BRAIN Initiative and the pages of the proaches. After watching experiment New Yorker. after experiment come out in neuro- Now some scientists want to see if science based on optogenetics, Jared optogenetics can repeat its magic in Toettcher at Princeton University says, understanding how cells, beyond the cell and molecular biologists “looked ones in the brain, work. “The hope is at all that success and reasoned, if you that optogenetics is going to enable can activate specific neurons in a large transformations in cell biology as it’s population, maybe… you can also already enabled in neuroscience,” says activate a specific signaling protein in Orion Weiner at the University of a large complicated network that acts California, San Francisco. within a cell.” Biologists are starting to test out optogenetics to understand the nu- Like needle-nose pliers ances of basic cellular processes, such It has been tough to understand the as migration, polarity, transcription contributions of individual com- and signal transduction. “We’ve seen ponents in complicated molecular an explosion of interest in the idea of networks. While many experimental controlling biological activity with perturbations of cells have yielded light,” says Michael Lin of Stanford important information about biology, University, whose laboratory is creat- in most cases their mode of action is ing light-controlled proteins to study much like that of a hammer smashing nucleotide exchange and protease the entire cell. activities. Electrodes for electrical stimuli As recognized by the Brain Prize, poke into cells; the mere poking can several groups contributed to the trigger a response even before the development of optogenetics. But experiment begins. Some chemical most people mention a 2005 Nature stimuli can bind indiscriminately to Neuroscience paper as the one that untargeted molecules and often are launched a thousand optogenetics experiments. (There are more than CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 CREDIT: VIKRAM MULLIGAN

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 19 way of approaching science than just knocking proteins out or overexpress- ing them with a green fluorescent protein tag on them,” says Weiner. It “enables us to plug in the intermediate steps of a cascade so we can isolate a given module with spatial and tempo- ral control.” The ability to reach in and play with a single molecule among a mishmash of hundreds of molecules is one of optogenetics’ most appealing attributes. Because light beams can be directed to specific locations in the

LAURA B. MOTTA-MENA, ELIZABETH ORTH AND KEVIN H. GARDNER, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, ADVANCED SCIENCE RESEARCH CENTER cell, optogenetics gives scientists the Human cells grown in 6-well plate for an optogenetics experiment in an incubator fitted with an LED panel. ability to investigate the influence of a protein’s coordinates. Experts interviewed for this story cited the ability CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 to study cell dynamics as another irreversible. Gene knockouts perma- major appeal. nently prevent production of related Information on location and timing proteins, sometimes causing dramatic of cellular events makes optogenetics effects that aren’t physiologically rel- different from other light-based ana- evant. Knockout experiments also are lytical methods. In optogenetics, light slow, allowing cells time to com- acts “more as the actuator than as the pensate for the missing gene before sensor,” driving the pace and place of scientists can characterize the effects of the experiments, says Chandra Tucker the knockout. at the University of Colorado. “You Light is different. Researchers really can’t do that through any other can place a light source a distance approach. That’s where I feel optoge- away from the experimental system, netics has a lot of power.” Other light- eliminating the effects of touch. Most based approaches rely on the light for importantly, with lasers and LEDs, sensing, in that fluorescent reporter researchers can control the amount molecules passively emit photons, of light and the duration of light reporting cell behavior. exposure, which lends greater preci- Experts interviewed for the story sion to protocol measurements. Light point to experiments that have been exposure also is reversible, as research- hard to do or impossible by other ers can switch back and forth between means but that now seem doable light and dark. with optogenetics. Toettcher gives the When researchers combine light, example of p53, a well-known tumor with all these useful attributes, with suppressor that’s turned on in response the expression of specific genes in cells, to several stimuli. But researchers real- they get a technique with the exactness ized that the protein doesn’t turn on of a pair of fine-tipped, needle-nose and stay on in response to a particular pliers: Researchers make a group of stimulus. For something like ionizing cells artificially express photosensitive radiation, p53 fluctuates in pulses over proteins. When these cells are exposed time. In fact, the number of pulses of to light, photosensitive proteins p53 is proportional to the amount of activate, allowing researchers to see damage the cell receives. Unfortunate- directly what effects these proteins ly, most molecular biology techniques have on a set of cells or even a whole gloss over the time-dependent expres- animal. sions of proteins. Western blots simply The technique “is such a different detect the average expression of pro-

20 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 teins, and gene knockout experiments annihilate all expression or artificially jack up expression. “There is a much more sophisticated code at work in cell biology than people originally thought,” says Toettcher. “That’s really where these optogenetic tools in cell signaling are going to make a big impact. They allow us, for the first time, to dissect the contributions of different dynamic responses.” LOV and more At the core of optogenetics are the genes for light-sensitive proteins that researchers plop into cells. The field heavily relies on photosensitive molecules, such as channelrhodop- sins and other opsins, derived from ANNA READE, STEPHANIE WOO AND ORION WEINER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO. microorganisms and plants. One Gene expression can be spatially controlled by optogenetics in the zebrafish embryo. set of molecules has come from the different parts of cells. For example, light-oxygen-voltage-sensing domains, Kapitein and colleagues demonstrated better known as LOV domains, which that the local positioning of recycling are found in plants, algae, fungi and endosomes influenced the growth of bacteria. neurons. Kevin Gardner at The City Univer- Another optogenetics approach is sity of New York Advanced Science to turn a protein that’s oblivious to Research Center and colleagues have light into a version that responds to engineered a bacterial LOV-con- light. Klaus Hahn at the University of taining protein called EL222. When North Carolina and his group did just illuminated with blue light, EL222 that in 2009 with photoactivatable binds to DNA in less than 10 seconds Rac. “Instead of harnessing the func- in several mammalian cell lines and tions of naturally occurring molecules, intact zebrafish embryos. molecules can now be manipulated to This timescale of seconds is im- do things that nature never engineered portant. “When you knock proteins them to do,” says Hahn. down or out, (the experiment) takes The GTPase Rac regulates the actin on the order of days, weeks or months cytoskeleton. The photoactivatable to perform. Cells have ways of upregu- version of Rac changes conforma- lating compensatory pathways,” notes tion when illuminated with light and Weiner. “But if you can take them out becomes active. Researchers now can on a timescale of seconds, you can see see in detail how photoactivated Rac phenotypes that are invisible with the influences different parts of the actin slower perturbations.” cytoskeleton. Because Rac controls cell LOV domains also have been movement, researchers have been able used to study the influence of place. to use photoactivatable Rac to guide Lukas Kapitein at the University of living cells to precise positions inside Utrecht and his team showed that living animals and to start to work LOV domains could be used to attach out how cell placement influences cytoskeletal motor proteins to peroxi- phenomena such as development and somes, mitochondria and recycling the trafficking of immune cells in and endosomes to move them around to CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 21 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 harder than that.” out of tumors. Inspired by the photo- One reason optogenetics has been activatable Rac, researchers have made less plug-and-play in molecular biol- other proteins light sensitive, such as ogy than it has been in neuroscience kinases and G-protein–coupled recep- is that every neuron is “activated tors. by the exact same kind of stimulus, With these engineered light-sensi- which is membrane depolarization,” tive proteins, explorations inside cells says Toettcher, but, in other cells “it’s become more sophisticated. Weiner not at all the case that every signaling gives the example of the Ras/MAP protein is activated by the same kind kinase cascade, which regulates a range of input.” of biological processes, such as cell dif- Another problem dogging the field ferentiation, proliferation and arrest. is inconsistency: One LOV domain Researchers have been puzzled by how may work like gangbusters in a partic- one cascade can regulate such differ- ular cell line or on a particular protein ent biological outcomes. But with but drop dead in another. “I hate to optogenetics, researchers can drive say it, but there’s a ton of variability the activation of the cascade directly right now,” says Gardner. “Those of us and begin to figure out how sustained who are developing these tools and are and transient activations and dosages the first adopters really need to start regulate cell biology. thinking about addressing this a little In 2013, Weiner, along with more comprehensively.” Toettcher, who was his postdoc- Gardner applauds colleagues who toral fellow at the time, and UCSF’s have published papers, which he Wendell Lim, used the plant Phy-PIF describes as “not sexy,” that systemati- system to delve deeper into the Ras cally work through different photosen- cascade. Phy, a phytocytochrome, sitive proteins to see what exactly they photoswitches between two different can do. Some of the proteins “work states; PIF binds to one of those two great everywhere. Some work great in states. The investigators attached Phy some cell lines in some settings and to the membrane and fused PIF to not others,” says Gardner. “Some have various activators, such as a protein been tough to adopt by people not called SOS, of the Ras pathway in the born out of the discoverer’s lab.” cytoplasm. When they hit Phy with a Then comes the question of red light, it was able to interact with physiological relevance. As with any PIF; when they hit Phy with infrared method that is based on changing the light, the interaction went away. cell, how do researchers know that By playing around with different they are not rendering the system use- doses and timed pulses of light, the less by the simple act of introducing a investigators determined, for example, foreign light-controlled protein? “You that the transcription factor STAT3 is have to make sure you’re not altering activated by only a particular part of the physiology of the cells before you the cascade after photoactivatable Ras turn on the light,” says Hahn. “That’s is active for more than an hour. challenging.” There is also the issue known as “leakiness.” That’s when a light- Removing the kinks sensitive protein is residually active For all their enthusiasm for optoge- without light, causing changes in the netics, experts recognize the glitches. cell even before the experiment begins. “The initial hope with optogenetics Hahn says the issue can be addressed was it was going to be as easy as GFP. by measuring the level of activity of You just slap it on the end of your the protein as it gets different doses of favorite molecule and regulate its light so a researcher knows how much activity,” says Weiner. “It turns out it’s activity is present in the absence of

22 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 light or, better yet, can build a protein for a few days or a week to learn how that has a large difference in activity it works. It’s much easier to learn and when lit and when not lit. take back the technique from our lab Once researchers are armed with than reading protocols and trying to better photosensitive modules, the troubleshoot over the phone.” aim will be to integrate several of Adopters of optogenetics feel that them into a single experiment. The the effort invested into the technique multiplexing aspect “in theory, sounds will pay off simply because it allows great because there are already proteins nuanced, delicate measurements out there with different colors,” says within complicated systems. Besides Hahn. But it hasn’t been possible so the ability to tease out the effects of far because “none of them are really place and timing, researchers can perfect.” Hahn and others state that analyze the effects of doses of protein improving the proteins so that they activity by exploiting the amount of turn on and off cleanly with a specific light fed into an experimental system. wavelength of light is valuable, but “That’s one thing the field isn’t taking grunt, work. much advantage of yet is the fact Investigators using optogenetics in that it’s titratable,” says Weiner. “You molecular biology say the kinks will can not only acutely control signals be ironed out as more people try out in time, but you can dose them in a optogenetics in their experimental titratable, reversible fashion for more systems. They say no special skills are quantitative biology.” needed, although engineering new So experts feel their enthusiasm for optogenetics approaches does require optogenetics is warranted. “The num- specialization in protein engineer- ber of applications is just screaming ing and optics. Some savviness with for attention. A lot of people are get- cloning and protein expression, a ting very creative here,” says Gardner. bit of microscopy savoir faire, and There is no doubt in his mind that the you’re able to harness the powers of next five years “will be an interesting optogenetics. There isn’t even a need period.” for highly specialized microscopes or complicated lasers. Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay ([email protected]) is Experts are willing to lend a helping the chief science correspondent hand. Weiner puts out the welcome for the American Society for Bio- mat: “I hope people interested in us- chemistry and Molecular Biology. ing optogenetics will fly out to our lab Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/rajmukhop.

The Brain Prize

The Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize, ting it to work in live animals. also known as the Brain Prize, recognizes original and in- Colin Blakemore, chairman of the foundation’s selec- fluential advances in any area of neuroscience. In 2013, tion committee, said in a press release: “Optogenetic the prize went to Gero Miesenböck, Ernst Bamberg, control of nerve cells is arguably the most important Peter Hegemann, Georg Nagel, Ed Boyden and Karl De- technical advance in neuroscience in the past 40 years. isseroth. The award announcement cited these six men It offers a revolution in our understanding of the way in for laying the foundations of optogenetics. which circuits of neurons carry out complex functions, The prize recognized Bamberg, Hegemann, Miesen- such as learning and controlling movement. And it could böck and Nagel for making the fundamental observa- provide an entirely new approach to the restoration of tions and discoveries about light-sensitive molecules function in blindness or brain degeneration, and to the and developing them so they could be introduced into treatment of a variety of other neurological and psychiat- specific types of neurons. It acknowledged Boyden and ric disorders.” Diesseroth for developing the technique further and get-

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 23 24 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 FEATURE Teenage college grad is determined to help others By Allison Frick

Last spring, at the age of 17, Ismail Gunacar graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in biochemistry. Gunacar started taking college classes when he was 13, and according to UC, is the second-youngest student ever to earn a bachelor’s degree from the university.

smail Gunacar moved with his just out of pure interest. One of my family from his native Turkey to dad’s friends is a professor, and he told I Cincinnati when he was 5 years us about the Postsecondary Enroll- old and says it was his passion to ment Options Program (now called help others and his exuberant love of the College Credit Plus program), and learning that powered him through I thought it would be pretty good for advanced coursework at such a young me … I took some placement exams age. Known to friends and family at the University of Cincinnati Blue as “Ish,” Gunacar says he is “taking Ash College. I applied to that pro- a break” after his senior year. So far gram, and I placed into calculus just during this break he’s studied for from studying myself. And that was and taken the MCAT, applied early sort of like the first door … After that, decision to UC’s medical school, and I just sort of branched out, started celebrated his eighteenth birthday. looking more into sciences and stuff. Our interview with him has been edited for length and clarity. What did your parents When did you know you think about all this? My parents have always been wanted to pursue more very supportive. My dad always has advanced school work? emphasized the importance of educa- It got to the point where, in middle tion. Ever since I was little, probably school, it was just not challenging his biggest advice was “Make sure you anymore … I was already looking up really pay attention. Make sure educa- higher level math concepts for myself CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 25 IMAGES COURTESY OF ISMAIL GUNACAR Ismail and his father, Guy Gunacar, in his father’s dental office in Ohio CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 challenging to be in a tion is the most important thing.” The different age range? power behind knowledge is his biggest Not at all. The community of Uni- piece of advice to me. versity of Cincinnati and especially the Blue Ash Campus – I’m so thank- What was it like to be so ful to them. It’s such a warm commu- much younger than your nity there. Everybody just adopted me classmates at UC Blue as their younger brother. Ash? What inspired you to study I always tell this story, and it’s quite biochemistry? funny. My mom actually led me to the class. The professor was kind of I sort of got to biochemistry by shocked, like, “Are you the student? just exploring different things … But Or he’s the student?” And my mom eventually I started looking at DNA told him, “He’s the student; I’m just and big macromolecules. Lipids are dropping him off.” Once I started very interesting to me. Nucleotides, getting more comfortable starting up proteins, amino acids – just very conversations, some of my friends interesting stuff. I would go past the would tell me, “You know, Ish, the required reading a lot of times, and I first time that you sat down in that just stuck with it. class, I thought that you had a par- ent or something – your mom or What was it like working in something was taking a class and she the lab? couldn’t find a babysitter.” Of course, I have to thank Uni- versity of Cincinnati again for that, Did you ever find it especially Dr. Pat Limbach. They were

26 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 very supportive, very trusting in my abilities. They saw my potential, and he let me come and work in his lab, and it was a phenomenal experience … just being in there, working in the lab … was a huge advantage for me. How did it feel to graduate from college at 17? My last year was the freshman year of the kids that I grew up with, so I was in college my senior year with all of my old friends. It was a very different experience to interact with people my own age. I had to graduate while they get to continue on and just have fun together. But I definitely don’t regret it. Some people say that I won’t ever experience the true college experience, but I think that I did really, because I got very involved. I was on campus a lot of the time. My first three or four years, I couldn’t even get off campus until my mom picked me up, because I couldn’t drive, so I definitely did get a college experience … I got to experience something that I think very few people have ever ex- perienced. I’m very thankful for that. I wouldn’t change anything.

Why did you choose med Gunacar poses for a graduation photo last May with his father, Guy Gunacar, and mother, Aygen Gunacar, at school? the University of Cincinnati. My father has always been a person pretty young. I don’t know the exact that I looked up to. He’s a dentist, and standing, but that’d make me a pretty just seeing him work, seeing how he young MD. interacts with patients, his character, his integrity were very inspiring to me, What do you do when so I always had that health care idea in you’re not studying? my head. Then volunteering in hospitals, volunteering in schools, tutoring, Work isn’t really work to me … trying to help the community as much because it’s very enjoyable. I really as I could and shadowing doctors, I do like doing all the things that I do, really developed the passion that I re- whether it is studying or learning or ally do want to do medicine instead of doing research or my hobbies. My anything else. whole life is free time that I’m really What lies ahead for you? enjoying. The biggest goal is to get into Allison Frick ([email protected]) is the ASBMB’s print and digital medical school, and the long-term media specialist. goal is to graduate. I think I’d be 22 at that point, so I guess that’d make me

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 27 STEAM

The bacteria show By Nicole C. Woitowich

rradiating bacteria into cool single colonies appear as neighboring shapes. Making E. coli with GFP- stars against the night sky. I encoding plasmids glow under “People can be passionate about art fluorescent light. These are not the and science and be interested in both,” late-night shenanigans of a couple of says 33-year-old Copfer, who has bone-weary lab mates. In the hands degrees in biology and fine arts and of popular bio artist Zachary Copfer, worked as a pharmaceutical researcher they are the tools of creation. until his passion for art, theater and A Milky Way of E. coli A self-titled “microbiologist photography won out. masquerading as an artist, or an artist “When I first went to (fine arts) masquerading as a microbi- grad school I put science ologist,” Copfer has gained on the shelf for a while,” popularity in the world of bio he says. But while brain- art by doing unique work with storming ideas for a project, bacteria. Coper makes “bac- Copfer came across Sagan’s teriographs,” images of iconic television series “Cosmos” scientists and celebrities that on Netflix. look, on first inspection, like “The introduction to pop-art altered photographs the first episode is beautiful or lithographs but are in fact COPFER and amazing,” he says. “(It colonies of bacteria manipulated on shows that) science can be poetry. I’ve agar plates. always been amazed by that and tried In his “My Favorite Scientist” col- to figure how to get that into my art.” lection, Albert Einstein and Charles Bio artists like Copfer are often Darwin receive the bacteriographic champions of scientists and of com- treatment, their faces appearing in tan municating science to the general agar against a background of maroon public. “Science is very creative and Serratia marcescens. Individual colo- that is something that people who nies of the bacteria dot the periphery aren’t in science wouldn’t expect,” he of the plates as if ready to be plucked says. “They think of it as dry, people up by an inoculating loop. S. marces- in lab coats crunching numbers, very cens produces the tripyrrole pigment removed and sterile, when it couldn’t prodigiosin and gives the images their be more of the opposite! People are deep red color. excited and emotional about their Another of his collections, entitled research.” “Star Stuff” as a nod to Carl Sagan, Copfer says when he first started features images taken from the Hubble making bio art he was most interested telescope that are grown in E. coli in sharing the beauty in science. That containing GFP-encoding plasmids. intention is still there, but it’s shifted a When visualized under ultraviolet bit over time. Now he’s also trying to light, the Milky Way comes to life have fun with science. The Einstein bacteriograph in fluorescent spirals of E. coli. The Choosing bacteria as a medium has

28 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 kept things fun. “(Bacteriography) is so much more rewarding than regular photography; by looking at it, you re- alize that this image is living,” he says. But inventing a means of growing a live photograph wasn’t easy. There was a significant period of trial and error before the bacteriographic process really gelled. “The only thing I had to go from was dark room photography. No one had ever done this,” he says. Copfer uses halftone images of his subjects as a type of negative that he places above a full plate of bacteria. He then irradiates the negative and plate with short-wavelength ultraviolet light that kills any bacteria left exposed by the halftone image and leaves the bacteria in the shadow to grow. This results in bacteriographs that look like pixelated photographs of his subjects. Copfer has made bacteriographs of Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, the British actor Stephen Fry, celebrity mathematician Carol Vorderman and the queen of England. Challenges are similar to those found in a lab: determining optimal growth temperature, time and con- centrations of growth media ingre- dients. In stark contrast with regular photographs, Copfer’s bacteriographs require extensive preservation methods, which he says was one of the biggest technical blocks to creating this kind of art. It was tricky finding an appropriate resin to preserve but not dehydrate the bacteria and agar so that the plates could be safe to handle and display. After significant experimenta- Charles Darwin emerges from Serratia marcescens. IMAGES COURTESY OF ZACHARY COPFER tion, Copfer found ideal sealants that he applies after he’s irradiated a piece’s things differently and to put things in remaining bacteria. This allows his art a different context.” to travel nationally and internationally His advice for anyone with a back- to science expos and galleries. ground like his who is interested in Copfer doesn’t see himself as an pursuing the arts? “You can’t be afraid art-world anomaly. He believes that to screw up or pursue every dumb scientists are intrinsically artistic in na- idea. It is about having fun, letting go ture and can find the creative process and being absorbed by the things that therapeutic. “Most good research isn’t make you excited … Don’t see it as a Nicole C. Woitowich (nicole. [email protected]. cut and dry. It requires creativity,” he waste of time. Give it the same time edu) is a member of the public says. While art “allows people who are and energy that you would give your outreach committee and a Ph.D. struggling or stuck in a routine a great research because it is just as valid and candidate at Rosalind Franklin outlet … (and a chance) to look at just as important.” University of Medicine and Science.

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 29 Scientific family tree of the author traced by doctoral degrees awarded. Postdoctoral links are indicated with broken lines.

30 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 My scientific lineage A biochemist traces his academic geneaology By F. Peter Guengerich

hen considering scientific graduate school at Vanderbilt Univer- biochemical journal, Hoppe-Seyler’s influences, one can talk about sity. Broquist was a graduate student Zeitschrift für Physiologische Chemie, W genealogies of background or of Esmond Snell, the pre-eminent which is today published as Biological of training. None of my own relatives researcher in pyridoxal chemistry at Chemistry. Hoppe–Seyler, an M.D., were scientists, so my science lineage the University of Wisconsin. Snell had had trained with Lehmann in Leipzig is composed primarily of who trained received his Ph.D. at Wisconsin with and also later with Rudolf L. C. Vir- who in my academic history. In recent William H. Peterson, who received chow. Virchow, widely acclaimed as years, the creation of academic family his Ph.D. at Wisconsin with Edwin B. the father of modern pathology, wrote trees, which trace the influence of Hart. Hart spent some time training more than 2,000 papers; founded an academic’s mentors and degrees in Germany in the 1890s in several several journals; wrote textbooks; and granted at institutions, has grown in labs, particularly with Nobelist L. K. first described the diseases leukemia, popularity. They are more common M. H. Albrecht Kossel in Marburg chordoma, ochronosis, embolism and in chemistry than biochemistry, but and Heidelberg. thrombosis. His colleagues in Berlin I was curious about my own and Hart, it seems, never received a referred to him as the “pope of medi- consulted some electronic search tools doctoral degree, because Kossel moved cine.” Virchow, in turn, trained with (see box) that helped me put a tree to- from one institution to another. Johann Schölein (Berlin). Schölein gether fairly easily (Fig. 1). It extends Nevertheless, he became a profes- was physician to Frederick William back 200 years and crosses continents. sor at Wisconsin, trained 46 Ph.D. IV, discovered the cause of ringworm The tree begins with my two students, and was a member of the and named tuberculosis. He trained outstanding mentors for my graduate National Academy of Sciences — in Würzburg with Ignaz Döllinger, and postdoctoral training, Harry “The achievements I do not think it would who obtained an M.D. (Würzburg) in Chief” Broquist and Minor J. “Jud” at all be possible today without a 1794 and made early contributions to Coon. Beyond them, it branches doctorate. Working with his student comparative anatomy. back through a few American schools Harry Steenbock at Wisconsin, Hart The other side of my scientific (mainly Illinois, Wisconsin and Yale) determined that iodine deficiency was lineage is traced through my postdoc- and then crosses the Atlantic Ocean the cause of goiter. toral adviser, Jud Coon. Coon is best to Germany and Sweden. My research Researching Kossel meant discover- known for his pioneering research gleaned interesting details about these ing links to Europe. An M.D. from in amino acid metabolism and individuals and showed me that some Strasbourg, Kossel received the Nobel cytochrome P450 enzymology. He individuals — and institutions — can Prize in physiology or medicine for received his Ph.D. from Illinois with have remarkable influences in the his discovery of the nucleic acid bases. William Rose, who discovered threo- lives of many people in this world of This is of note in light of my own in- nine and elucidated the requirements science. terest in this area, i.e. DNA polymer- for amino acids in rats and humans. First, let me consider the Ph.D. ases and DNA adducts. The American Society for Biochem- thesis side, beginning with Broquist, Kossel was a student of Ernst F. istry and Molecular Biology's Rose who contributed research in the areas Hoppe–Seyler (Leipzig), who may be Award is named for him. I was fortu- of folic acid, lysine, carnitine and al- considered one of the fathers of Ger- nate to receive this award in 2005, as kaloid biosynthesis. He was a Wiscon- man biochemistry. He published ex- did Coon and Snell before me. sin graduate and my mentor first as an tensively on hemoglobin and founded This branch of my lineage then undergraduate at Illinois and then in what was then the leading German CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 31 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 Sweden. Important applications in fields goes through Yale University for sever- Bergman received his Ph. D. (Up- including agriculture, nutrition and al generations. Rose received his Ph.D. psala) working with Bengt Ferrner, drug metabolism are part of my with Lafayette Mendel, a prominent an astronomer. I was able to trace lineage. Isaac Newton said, “If I have biochemical nutritionist (the Ameri- his lineage back for at least five more seen a little further, it is by standing can Institute of Nutrition awards the generations (not shown) to learned on the shoulders of giants.” This ap- Osborne–Mendel Award each year). men mostly in the areas of mathemat- plies here and probably to the family Mendel received his Ph.D. (Yale) ics and physics from all over Europe trees many of you will find if you ever with Russell Chittenden, sometimes including Basel, Switzerland, Leiden, do this. Another important point referred to as the father of American the Netherlands, Jena, Germany to make is that these people were biochemistry. Chittenden received his and Paris, France. At this time, our undoubtedly good mentors, or this Ph.D. (Yale) with Samuel Johnson, a own field was little advanced beyond lineage would not exist. I know from pioneering agricultural scientist, who alchemy — or perhaps we should call firsthand experience that Broquist and received his Ph.D. at Yale with John it “albiochemy.” Coon certainly were, and I have tried Norton. Norton, also an agricultural A few universities dominate in my to emulate them. science pioneer with a Ph.D. from tree — Vanderbilt, Illinois, Wisconsin, This is not just boring history about Yale, trained with James Johnston. Yale, Uppsala and Würzburg — and some old guys. It is evidence that we Crossing the Atlantic on this side, my lineage underlines the European should all make the most out of our now to Sweden, Johnston received a roots of the sciences in the United opportunities in science. What we do Ph.D. from Uppsala working with States. is important in the scheme of things. Jöns Jakob Berzelius, who is gener- If one considers more details of the Twenty people created a heritage that ally considered a father of modern 20 individuals on this list (Fig. 1, not will last for centuries in terms of the chemistry, along with Robert Doyle, including Ferrner or me), it is really influence they had in science and in John Dalton and Antoine Lavoisier. remarkable how much they contrib- training others to do science — sci- He discovered the elements cerium uted to science in terms of advancing ence that truly matters in the lives of and thorium and also developed the the field we now call biochemistry. everyday individuals. We are not just table of atomic weights. Another of Chittenden was one of the founders treading water until we can collect our Berzelius’s students was Friedrich of the ASBMB (then the American pensions. Individuals and institutions Wöhler, who first synthesized urea Society of Biological Chemists, or can make a difference in the lives of in 1828. Thus, one can see that our ASBC, which is what it still was when others. We can be part of a legacy that biochemical ancestors were trained in I became a member in 1978) and our changes the world. first president. Mendel, Rose, Snell medicine and chemistry; they more or F. Peter Guengerich less invented biochemistry. and Coon were also presidents of the society. Kossel was a Nobel laure- ([email protected]) Berzelius received his degree with is the Tadashi Inagami professor Johann Afzelius (Uppsala), who had ate (1910). Snell, Hart, Coon, Rose, of biochemistry at Vanderbilt trained with Torbern Bergman, con- Mendel, Chittenden and Johnson University. He is interim editor-in- chief of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and in sidered the first analytical chemist in were (are) members of the U.S. Na- tional Academy of Sciences. 2005, received the ASBMB's William Rose Award.

Academic geneaology resources

The author pulled together his academic family tree with the help from online sources, including: • The Chemical Genealogy Database • The University of Illinois at Urbana– Champaign’s geneaology resources • The University of Texas at Austin’s academic geneaology of chemistry faculty • Wikipedia

32 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 33 The 1,200-pound dance partner By Alexandra Pantos

etting a Ph.D. in molecular and of dancelike movements like trotting country.” She had a horse mobile over cellular biochemistry doesn’t in place with hoofs high, moving her crib as a baby, and as soon as she G leave you with much free time. sideways and pirouettes. could sit up, her mother put her on But Sarah Martin, a newly minted “It’s considered the highest form a horse that knew voice commands. Ph.D. with a policy fellowship at the of training of the horse,” says Martin. She remembers riding him for hours American Society for Biochemistry “Originally it was cavalry maneuvers at a time. and Molecular Biology, found a way for warhorses, so a lot of the things But Martin says the riding life was to make time between lab hours and we do are to show the agility and the never forced upon her. “I was always piles of research for what she loves athleticism of the horse and your pestering my parents to get me (a most: dressage. ability to communicate with the horse horse).” Dressage, which means “training” seamlessly.” Martin began her riding career as a in French, is sometimes referred to Martin grew up in Lexington, hunter-jumper but switched to dres- as horse ballet. Horses learn a series Kentucky, or, as she calls it, “horse sage when she grew very tall, eventu-

Sarah Martin and her horse, Garth.

34 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 ally reaching a height of six feet and one inch. Being tall is not great for “the kind of person who goes over fences,” says Martin. But in dressage, “being tall is useful. Your legs hang down longer on the horse, and you can control them better.” Martin made the switch to dressage at age 14. The change of focus was a relief to her mother, who wasn’t happy watching her daughter occasionally fall during increasingly higher jumps. Martin’s horse competes as SRC Parrot Bay, but that isn’t the name he was given when he was born. Martin calls him Garth, which is a Nordic name that means “quiet brook” or “mead- ow.” She chose the name because he is half Friesian, which is a Nordic breed, and because he is quiet but attentive. She talks about Garth as one would about a human dance partner. IMAGES COURTESY OF EMILY HUFF She does her best to make Martin and Garth at his new home in Maryland. Martin blogs about science and dressage at equestrianbiochemist.wordpress.com. sure his gaits are presented healthy animals and not sick animals,” lab ready after working with animals. well but says sometimes this gets com- she says. “Graduate students look like a hot plicated. “Your 1200-pound dance When she first started graduate mess anyways, so I don’t think anyone partner never agrees with what you school, she studied nutrition and ever noticed,” she laughs. have to say,” she says. worked on the urological disease She made it through with the Garth and Martin currently are interstitial cystitis. Her Ph.D. research help of a “wonderful support sys- focused on getting back into shape was in prostate cancer chemotherapy, tem,” including a trainer who rode after taking some time off so Martin specifically on taxanes, which have Garth three to four days a week and a could finish up her dissertation. The been used in the treatment of both husband who was also willing to pitch break gave Garth some much-needed prostate and breast cancers. in. Martin has now moved Garth to a relaxation, as the two had competed According to Martin, juggling the farm that is near her office in Mary- through most of Martin’s time in demands of dressage and graduate land, and she and Garth are gearing graduate school. Among their most school was a huge challenge. “My up to compete again in the fall. recent wins are the American Warm- horse was really primed. It was a really When she accepted the policy blood Society 2013 second level good time for him to be out on the fellowship, there was never a doubt national championships in both the circuit, and that means training five or that Garth would move with her. “My adult amateur and open categories. six days a week.” horse is my soul mate,” she says. After considering becoming a vet- Training involved a lot of early erinarian as an undergraduate, Martin Alexandra Pantos (apantos@ mornings. Martin went to the barn asbmb.org) is an intern at the did her Ph.D. in biochemistry and and had a lesson or did barn chores ASBMB and a senior biology stu- molecular biology at the University and then needed time to clean up and dent at the University of Maryland. of Kentucky. “I figured out that I like change clothes to ensure that she was

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 35 OUTREACH An online course on the art of science communication By Geoff Hunt

ublic speaking is a challenge. resources, the course Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once content covers the P observed that most funeral rationale for effective attendees “would rather be in the science communication casket than giving the eulogy.” Such and provides practical discomfort extends to the scientific tips and insight into how community, and research has found to construct and then that scientists often shy away from deliver a presentation. participating in public outreach and Expert mentors guide in- engagement activities because of a teractive, live discussions lack — or perceived lack of ability to that help ensure you Course presenter Susanna Greer, Director, Clinical Research and Immu- nology at the American Cancer Society. communicate with non-expert remain engaged and fo- audiences (1). cused. The final product? free registration for the 2016 ASBMB For many scientists, presenting and Your very own polished presentation, Annual Meeting, to be held April 2 – communicating is a job requirement. ready to be delivered to an audience 6 in San Diego. You also will receive a But training scientists to perform of your choosing, whether in a K – 12 certificate from the ASBMB indicating these tasks receives very little atten- classroom, in a science café, or at your that you have completed the course tion. How many scientific talks have family’s Thanksgiving dinner. and demonstrated proficiency in sci- you been to that were ruined because That being said, there is no one ence communication — something the speaker spent the entire presenta- right way to present. We are not handy for the résumé. tion reading his or her slides or talked trying to turn everyone who takes Interested? The course will start exclusively in jargon? this course into a televised science early October and run through No- To help make scientists more effec- communication superstar like Neil vember. We expect that participants tive communicators, the members of deGrasse Tyson. Our goal is to raise will spend three to four hours a week the American Society for Biochem- your ability level to the point that you on the course going through the mate- istry and Molecular Biology Public are comfortable with and proficient in rial, engaging in discussions with their Outreach Committee, each of whom communicating science. Beyond that, peers and mentors, and working on has extensive personal experience with it will be up to you to determine how final presentations. Note that there is communication and public engage- you want to apply (and continue to a $25 charge to take the course, and ment, have developed a course called improve) your communication skills. participation is limited to 25 “The Art of Science Communication.” Many of the concepts and tech- individuals. This online course trains you in the niques presented during the course, To apply for a place in the course, art of presenting science to a variety of such as how to construct a presenta- please visit our website: audiences using nontechnical lan- tion or the use of proper body lan- www.asbmb.org/outreach. guage. The course walks participants guage, are effective for settings within See you online! through the who, what, where, why, and beyond the scientific community. when and how of science They work in poster presentations REFERENCE communication. and formal seminar talks, in front of 1. Ecklund, E.H., et al. , PLoS ONE. 7(5), e36240 (2012). The online format allows you university classes and in the midst to take part in class from wherever of public engagement activities that Geoff Hunt ([email protected]) is you are, whenever you are available. bring science beyond the lab. the ASBMB’s outreach coordinator. Follow him on Twitter at twitter. Consisting of a weekly set of virtual If that isn’t enough, participants com/thegeoffhunt. lectures, readings and other online who complete the course will receive

36 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 OUTREACH Drawing added to Aspirnauts’ toolkits By Lauren Dockett

t’s been 10 years since kidney-disease researcher Billy Hudson, who I grew up in rural Arkansas and now directs the Center for Matrix Biol- ogy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and his wife, Julie Hudson, Vanderbilt's assistant vice chancel- lor for health affairs, dreamed up the Aspirnaut program. Established to help rural K – 20 students achieve careers in the STEM fields, the program officially launched in 2007 with a wired school bus that provided middle- and high-school students with laptops and a broad- band connection, allowing them to log into science, technology, engineering and math lessons during their SUSAN URMY, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY long rides to and from school. Then Summer 2015 Aspirnauts came the weekly beaming of STEM program called Drawing in Science. works include portraits of Popes labs into rural American elementary Emphasizing the ways in which art Benedict, Francis, and John Paul, and middle-school classrooms and can inspire scientific creativity and is Vladimir Putin, Rudolph Giuliani and a summer STEM-related research also an important tool for translating Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mul- program mentoring high-school and and summarizing complex scientific roney — sketched Jeff Balser, dean of undergraduate interns from rural and ideas, Hudson strongly encouraged his Vanderbilt’s medical school. underrepresented backgrounds on the interns to develop drawing skills. Many former mentees of the Apir- Vanderbilt campus. The Drawing in Science event nauts program have chosen to remain This year’s summer Aspirnaut launched with a visit from interna- in the STEM fields and have also been interns, who spent six weeks con- tional portrait artist Igor Babailov. involved with a string of discoveries ducting research at Vanderbilt, Forty Aspirnaut interns watched as at Hudson’s lab. A mixed-age cohort were introduced to yet another new Babailov — whose commissioned of 83 Aspirnauts published a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the evolution- ary origin of a chemical bond, and other work by program participants has been featured in Cell and Nature Chemical Biology.

Lauren Dockett ([email protected]) is the STEVE GREEN, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY managing editor of ASBMB Today. Portrait artist Igor Babailov sketches Jeff Balser, the STEVE GREEN, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY dean of Vanderbilt’s medical school. Aspirnauts Lauren May and Sheila Johnson

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 37 EDUCATION If you build it … Accreditation, year 2 By Peter J. Kennelly

hen the American Society one pilot question being validated for Looking ahead for Biochemistry and Mo- use in future exams. The questions W lecular Biology launched an were arranged by Bloom’s taxonomy Accreditation is an evolving accreditation program for bachelor’s of learning domains (1). Students program that we are working actively degrees in 2013, the underlying goal who earned scores of “proficient” or to improve. The last two years have was to promote excellence in under- “highly proficient” on six of the nine taught us much. Additional volunteers graduate education in biochemistry higher Bloom’s-level questions and have enriched the program with new and molecular biology by providing three of the four lower Bloom’s-level ideas and perspectives. As we look students with the opportunity to earn questions were recognized as ASBMB ahead to 2016, we have set our sights a nationally recognized credential and certified. Those certified students who on the following goals: faculty with informative, independent were proficient or highly proficient on • Reviewing and improving the assessment data. eight or more of the higher Bloom’s- program-accreditation criteria. From its inception, the success level questions were recognized as or failure of accreditation has rested being certified with distinction. • Enhancing the clarity of the pro- on the issue of community buy-in. Of the 465, 194 students — 42 gram application process. Would the program be valued as percent in all — exhibited the breadth • Constructing and validating new something that served the needs of of knowledge and the depth of critical questions and rubrics for future assess- educators and students? While it had thinking necessary to qualify for AS- ment examinations. been conceived, designed and imple- BMB certification of their degrees. Of mented by faculty volunteers, we those 194, a total of 62 were recog- • Developing means for online deliv- had no way of being certain that our nized as certified with distinction. ery of future assessment examinations. colleagues shared our vision. It is thus extremely gratifying to report that Grassroots involvement • Streamlining the scoring process. in year two of the program we have One of the distinguishing charac- witnessed a dramatic growth in both Join us teristics of the ASBMB’s accreditation interest and participation in accredita- program is its grassroots nature. At The volunteers who participate in tion and its assessment examination. its heart, this is a community-owned- the ASBMB’s accreditation program and-operated program. Every aspect not only are vital to its success but Growing numbers of accreditation — from conception also are stakeholders who help shape In year two, the total number of and design to application screening the program as we move forward. To accredited programs rose from six and question development, answer get involved in constructing future to 30, while applications from eight key construction and scoring — is questions, scoring student responses additional schools were approved reliant on the time, effort, ideas and and so forth, contact Andrew on June 1. The list of accredited community spirit of our volunteers, Mcintyre at [email protected]. programs is diverse. It encompasses who are ably assisted by a handful of REFERENCE public, private, research-intensive, pri- ASBMB staff members. 1. Bloom, B.S. Ed. Engelhart, M.D., Furst, marily undergraduate, and large and The ASBMB is extremely grateful E.J., Hill, W.H., Krathwohl, D.R., Taxonomy small colleges and universities located for the support of our many volun- of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The in 25 states scattered from Maine to teers, and it is with pride and pleasure Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc. (1956). California. that we acknowledge the contribu- This year, 465 students from 27 ac- tions of these ASBMB education Peter J. Kennelly credited programs took the ASBMB’s fellows by listing their names on the ([email protected]) is a professor 2015 certification examination. The following page. of biochemistry at Virginia Tech. exam contained 13 questions, plus

38 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology education fellows

Benjamin Alper Allison Goldberg Joseph Provost Sacred Heart University Yale University School of Medicine University of San Diego Ellen Anderson Joy Goto Nancy Rice University of St. Joseph California State University, Fresno Western Kentucky University Cindy Arrigo David Gross John Richardson New Jersey City University University of Massachusetts Amherst Austin College Cheryl Bailey Ephraim Gwebu Karen Rippe Mount Mary University Elizabeth City State University Columbus State Community College Suzanne Barbour Jennifer Hennigan Peter Rubenstein National Science Foundation Holland School of Sciences & University of Iowa Mathematics Ana Maria Barral Robin Rylaarsdam Wabash College Weiping Jiang Birck Hall of Science Biolegend J. Ellis Bell Kara Sawarynski University of Richmond Sara Johnson Oakland University Purdue University Jessica Bell Kristopher Schmidt Hardin-Simmons University Carol Jones Goshen College Central Connecticut State University Michael Borland Cheryl Sensibaugh Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Kelley Keenan University of New Mexico Stockton University Cory Brooks Alyson Smith California State University, Fresno Peter Kennelly Scripps Institute Virginia Tech Benjamin Caldwell Amy Springer Missouri Western State University Anne Kruchten Sienna College Linfield College Zachary Campbell Ann Stock University of Wisconsin - Madison Jim Lawrence Rutgers University University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Michael Carastro., Jr. Blair Szymczyna The University of Tampa Stefanie Leacock Western Michigan University University of Texas at Austin Timothy Carter John Tansey St. John's University Eric Lewis Otterbein University Clarion University Danielle Cass Ann Taylor Reed College Anthony Madu Department of Chemistry Virginia Union University Joseph Chihade Candace Timpte Carleton College Debra Martin Georgia Gwinnett College Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota Diane Dean Pam Trotter University of St. Joseph Michael Mendenhall Augustana College University of Kentucky Gergana Deevska Ludmila Tyler University of Kentucky Rachel Milner University of Massachusetts University of Alberta Rebecca Dickstein Melanie Van Stry University of North Texas Victoria Moore Lane College Elon University Daniel Dries Quinn Vega Juniata College Sarah Mordan-McCombs Montclair State University Franklin College Edward Ferroni Sarah Wacker Benedictine University Christopher Myer Harvard University California State University, Fullerton Kirsten Fertuck D. Scott Witherow Northeastern University James Nolan University of Tampa Georgia Gwinnett College James Forney Adele Wolfson Purdue University Erika Offerdahl Wellesley College North Dakota State University Scott Gabriel Ann Wright Viterbo University Amy Parente Canisius College Veronica Godoy-Carter Mercyhurst University Janet Xiao Northeastern University Morrison & Foerster LLP

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 39 MINORITY AFFAIRS Meet Cecilia Martinez By Andrew Macintyre

Tell us about your current Her mentoring style made her so ap- proachable, and it was an experience career position. that allowed me to be engaged in the I am an assistant professor at project and feel part of a team. After Michigan State University in the this experience, I knew that I wanted Department of Microbiology and to be like her – that I wanted to mo- Molecular Genetics. My lab group tivate young students to do research focuses on studying how one-carbon while encouraging them to work as a compounds, such as methane and team. methanol, are used by bacteria as a sole source of carbon and energy Were there times when you (methylotrophy). We are very excited because by studying the biochemistry failed at something you of this specialized but fundamental felt was critical to your type of metabolism, we are identifying path? If so, how did you the role of uncharacterized cofac- tors such as lanthanides, commonly regroup and get back on known as rare-earth elements. Our track? long-term goal is to solve fundamental Yes, for sure. One major project questions of how carbon distribution family and friends and joined the mi- I had when I was a graduate student is regulated, enabling us to engineer crobiology program at the University was to characterize an S-adenosylme- bacteria for the production of value- of Wisconsin–Madison. It was a deci- thionine (known as SAM for short) added compounds, such as plastics sion that allowed me to expand my radical enzyme named ThiH, and I and biofuels. training and learn from the very best. This is a place where working hard is was scooped by a competing lab. I felt What are the key highly rewarded, and that is refreshing defeated. There was always the ques- and highly motivating. tion, “Did I not work hard enough? experiences and decisions Am I not skilled enough? Am I not How did you first become smart enough?” My mentor, Diana you made that have helped Downs, motivated me to continue to you reach your current interested in science? work hard and not to get discouraged. position? I liked science since I was a child. In the end, she said, I was getting My mom and I would talk about amazing training and the skills neces- I think the most fundamental deci- immunology while cooking dinner sary to succeed. She was right. Her sion for my current position was to together when I was young, and I lab does such elegant genetic work come to the USA to get my Ph.D. in remember thinking that the human for microbial metabolic studies. By microbiology. I was an undergraduate body was the most amazing and analyzing the genetic data of sev- student at the National University of enigmatic thing to study. I decided eral graduate students of her lab, we Mexico majoring in chemistry, and I that I wanted to become a principal hypothesized that ThiC, then a poorly already had an offer to work in a lab investigator when, in junior high understood enzyme in thiamine in the biochemistry department for school, I spent a summer doing biosynthesis, could be a SAM radical my graduate studies. Even though research with Edelmira Linares in the enzyme even when no canonical motif I loved my undergraduate project biology department at the National was evident. I used the same knowl- and the program in Mexico, I always Autonomous University of Mexico. edge and training I had acquired wondered how research was done I was involved in a project studying with ThiH and was able to purify the in developed countries such as the the medicinal plant Arnica. Linares’ enzyme in an active form, something United States. I decided to leave my passion for research was so inspiring. that researchers had tried to do for

40 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 more than 50 years. We were able to What are your hobbies? and it is not only her art that inspires expand this family of enzymes and me. It is her path. I think she is a provide the framework to characterize Ha! Unfortunately, I do not have Mexican woman who broke so many one of the most enigmatic reactions in hobbies at this time. I have two little barriers, socially and professionally, biology. kids (ages 2 and 6) at home, so I try and she did so even when she was very to spend as much of my free time as sick. She inspires me to work for my What advice would you possible with them and my husband. goals and not to find excuses. Every- We play so much together. It is so thing is possible when you work for it. give to young people refreshing to act like a kid in my from under-represented free time. When they become more independent, I would love to go back What is it that keeps you backgrounds who want to to training for triathlons, which was working hard and studying pursue a career in science my hobby when I did not have kids. science every day? Hopefully very soon. similar to yours? The excitement for potential dis- Never to get discouraged and to What was the last book covery and service. It is a privilege to work hard. Sadly, it is inevitable that be paid to test ideas. It is also a privi- a peer will eventually make com- you read? lege and great responsibility to have ments that will devalue your work, The last book I read was by the opportunity to teach young minds insinuating that an award, fellowship Mario Benedetti titled “La Tregua” what others have discovered and how or job was granted because you are or, in English, “The Truce.” It was a they have discovered it. Finally, this is a minority. Those comments are so reminder of how life should not be the best time of my life. I finally get to destructive. In the past, they made monotonous and meaningless. run my own team, and they are young me doubt myself, and they affected and motivated to expand our under- my self-esteem. However, that is not Do you have any heroes, standing of methylotrophy. This is the the case anymore. If anybody says fun part! something like that now, I choose not heroines or role models? If Andrew Macintyre (amacintyre@ to waste my time on such a comment, so, describe how they have asbmb.org) is an education and instead I move on. I keep working influenced you? and professional development hard and pay attention to what I love manager at the ASBMB. to do: research. Yes, Frida Kahlo is one of them,

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 41 MINORITY AFFAIRS New ASBMB scholarship recognizes students' commitment to diversity Meet the 2015 recipients of the Distinguished Undergraduate Scholarship By Andrew Macintyre

he rich variety of perspectives The enthusiasm and caliber of the elementary-age children in science. and experiences that make up scholarship applicants were impres- “BASE will start to decrease the edu- T a diverse scientific community sive, but most striking was the range cation disparities in inner-city Colum- tend to enhance innovation. Indeed, of activities undertaken to promote bus schools and ignite in the students we can all learn from those with dif- diversity. Applicants organized a a natural curiosity and passion for the ferent skill sets and different cultural, science-exposure program for inner- sciences,” says Newsad. BASE was educational and social backgrounds. city children, tutored first-generation piloted in two schools this summer In recognition of the importance of college students in science, technol- by a diverse group of Ohio State diversity to the scientific and biomedi- ogy, engineering and math, supported students and reached more than 100 cal workforce, the American Society lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children. The program will expand for Biochemistry and Molecular and disabled students on campus, to additional schools in the fall. After Biology’s Minority Affairs Committee organized women-in-science network- graduation, Newsad plans to pursue recently launched a new diversity-in- ing events, ran a Hispanic scholarship a master’s in bioinformatics and a science scholarship. The Distinguished fund, mentored biochemistry students Ph.D. in biochemistry. Describing Undergraduate Scholarship was first from underrepresented minorities, her long-term goal, she says: “I hope announced at the 2015 annual meet- and volunteered at head start pro- to eventually create my own researching in Boston and provides financial grams for economically disadvantaged and-development company focusing support to students who actively children. The applicants’ commit- on the synthesis of new antibiotics.” promote diversity in biochemistry or ments to fostering diversity were even Craig McLean molecular biology. more notable given the challenges (University of All ASBMB undergraduate mem- many of them faced pursuing their Arkansas) bers are eligible to apply for the schol- own educations. In the spring of arship. Applicants have to explain how Five Distinguished Undergradu- MCLEAN 2012, McLean worked they help to build diversity on campus ate Scholarships were awarded for the with faculty members at the Univer- or in the wider scientific community, academic year 2015 – 2016, with each sity of Arkansas to found a Hispanic describe challenges they have over- recipient receiving $2,000 toward the Scholarship Fund scholar chapter. come in pursuit of their education cost of tuition. Outlining his work with HSF, and outline how the scholarship could Mclean says, “I was responsible for help them achieve their career goals. The 2015 scholarship the creation of over 40 on-campus A panel drawn from both the MAC recipients and off-campus workshops designed and the Student Chapters’ steering to promote the education develop- committee reviewed applications for Shelby Newsad ment of students in the area and the 2015 scholarship. The panel was (Ohio State University) demystify college to parents who led by MAC members Lana Saleh Newsad and a fellow never had the opportunity to attend.” and Stacey Slijepcevic, who together student from Ohio State After he graduates, McLean intends spearheaded the development of the NEWSAD developed Beginner’s to pursue a Ph.D. while developing award. Access to Science Education to engage new techniques to measure accurately

42 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 metabolites in marine environments years, Cheung has acted as a peer panic neighborhoods to explain how and eventually run his own research mentor to more than 100 students as research works and community col- group. part of the Health Sciences Learning leges to talk to underrepresented stu- Community at St. Louis University, dents about continuing their educa- Syrena Bracey and shortly he will be returning to tion. Outlining his future ambitions, (University of Mary- the program as a resident adviser. Reyes says, “I plan to attend a United land, Baltimore After graduation, Cheung plans to States medical school and continue County) pursue an M.D. /Ph.D. and become taking part in research while pursuing BRACEY Through her par- a physician-scientist. This was not a Doctor of Medicine degree. After ticipation in the Meyerhoff Scholars the path that he initially envisioned receiving this degree and completing Program, Bracey performs science for himself. “I originally wanted to my residency with a focus in internal outreach with school children in become a physician and only began medicine, I hope to practice medicine Baltimore County. “We work to create working in a lab as a way of ruling out while simultaneously performing programs for these students, show the idea of research,” says Cheung. research.” them everything cool about science to “Little did I know that this is where Congratulations to all the 2015 keep them interested and help them I would find my interest: in basic sci- scholarship recipients! The MAC excel academically,” she says. Bracey ence and clinical research.” will invite applications for academic wants to pursue “an M.D. /Ph.D. year 2016 – 2017 scholarships in the degree in an area between chemical Jose Reyes (Texas State University) spring of 2016. For more information, biology and clinical pharmacology, visit www.asbmb.org/minorityaffairs/ which will later be applied to a career In his time at Texas State, Reyes has vol- undergraduatescholarship/. in research.” REYES unteered with several Andrew Macintyre Matthew Cheung programs to promote science careers (St. Louis University) ([email protected]) is an to the Hispanic community. He has education and professional devel- Over the past two visited schools in predominantly His- opment manager at the ASBMB. CHEUNG

SEPTEMBER 2015 ASBMB TODAY 43 44 ASBMB TODAY SEPTEMBER 2015 Upcoming ASBMB events and deadlines Sept. 10: Oral abstract deadline for ASBMB Special Symposium Kinases and Pseudokinases: Spines, Scaffolds and Molecular Switches, San Diego SEPT Sept. 17 – 20: ASBMB Special Symposium: Membrane-Anchored Serine Proteases, Potomac, Md. Sept. 18 – 19: ASBMB Science Communication and Outreach Career Symposium, San Antonio, Texas Sept. 22: Early registration deadline for ASBMB Special Symposium Kinases and Pseudokinases: Spines, Scaffolds and Molecular Switches, San Diego Sept. 27 – 30: 14th Human Proteome Organization World Congress (HUPO 2015), Vancouver, Canada, Molecular & Cellular Proteomics booth #413

Oct. 14: Poster abstract deadline for ASBMB Special Symposium Kinases and Pseudokinases: Spines, Scaffolds

OCT and Molecular Switches, San Diego Oct. 27: Registration deadline for ASBMB Special Symposium Kinases and Pseudokinases: Spines, Scaffolds and Molecular Switches, San Diego Oct. 29 – 31: Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) National Conference, Washington, D.C.

Nov. 5: Abstract submission deadline for ASBMB 2016 Annual Meeting, San Diego

NOV Nov. 12: Travel award application deadline for the 2016 Annual Meeting, San Diego Nov. 11 – 14: Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Booth #900, Seattle

Dec. 1: Deadline for 2017 Special Symposia proposals

DEC Dec. 5 – 8: ASBMB Special Symposium Kinases and Pseudokinases: Spines, Scaffolds and Molecular Switches, San Diego

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