Structural and Functional Investigation of Disrupted in Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1)

The research project involves investigating the structure and function of DISC1 subdomains. As DISC1 is a large protein with multiple functions, breaking it down into its subdomains will facilitate our understanding of its biology. The biochemical and biophysical properties of subdomains will be characterized. This 12-week project will allow the student to learn how to use a state-of-the-art protein chromatography system to produce large quantity of proteins needed for downstream structural biological investigation. The student will start working on purifying a protein construct that has been optimized in our lab in order to learn all the basic techniques involved. Then the student will have the opportunity to design and perform molecular cloning of a novel protein construct from scratch. In the process, the student will also learn the various protein designing strategies that structural biologists frequently employ.

Faculty Supervisor:

Adelaine Leung

Student:

Phuong-Nghi Nguyen

Partner:

Discipline:

Medicine

Sector:

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program:

Globalink