Investigating the signaling mechanism of GPER via BRET
Female sex and history of prior pregnancies are associated with favorable melanoma outcomes, and past research from the Ridky Lab has shown that this melanoma protective effect likely results from estrogen signaling through the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) on melanocytes. While the signaling mechanism is thought to be through cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) activation of protein kinase A (PKA), as GPER is thought to be a Gs-coupled receptor, there is still some uncertainty regarding the alpha subunit of GPER’s associated G protein. This project seeks to answer this question through the cloning of GPER into a PRRL vector and the use of bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) to confirm or reject the idea that GPER is Gs-coupled. Deeper knowledge of the nature of this receptor could lead to better understanding of this melanoma protective effect and, consequently, optimized treatment options for melanoma and other cancers.
Comments
Advantages of using BRET
Very interesting project, Hayden! What do you think are the advantages of using BRET over other techniques such as Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)?
Extracting DNA from Gel
This is so cool Hayden!
I'm just curious: why did you choose to cut the DNA out of an agarose gel instead of directly using the PCR product? Was it to remove extraneous DNA that could be separated out by the gel?
Really cool stuff!!
Really great job, Hayden! What were some limitations of your research and what are some ways in which you could eliminate them in the future?
Incredible!
Hayden provided a very in-depth explanation about his work and truly did an amazing job :)
Great poster, Hayden! Just…
Great poster, Hayden! Just wondering if there is any correlation between this estrogen signaling and breast cancer pathogenesis?