Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects
Date of Award
2021
Document Type
Honors Paper
Degree Name
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology-BS
Department
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Advisor
Dr. John Tansey
First Committee Member
Dr. John Tansey
Second Committee Member
Dr. Karen Steigman
Third Committee Member
Dr. Brandon T. Sinn
Keywords
Perilipin, Perilipin 5, Protein, PAT Family, Structure, Bioinformatics
Subject Categories
Biochemistry | Molecular Biology | Structural Biology
Abstract
With an increase in lipid-related diseases in countries all over the world, it has become crucial to study these diseases at the molecular level. Studying the molecular mechanisms of these diseases is necessary in order to develop treatments and preventative measures. The perilipins are the best characterized lipid droplet associated proteins and their function in regulating lipid metabolism is important. Gaining a deeper understanding of the perilipin family of proteins will lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of neutral lipid metabolism. In terms of structure, there is very little known about the perilipins as only a partial structure of one family member, perilipin 3, has been determined. This project seeks to analyze the perilipin family of proteins using structural and bioinformatic techniques. This study has made progress toward structural determination of perilipin 5’s PAT domain, which is part of the N-terminus. The PAT domain of perilipin 5 was fused with a 6 His tag, but the overexpression vector was unable to be fully analyzed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Using bioinformatic techniques, differential expression of an in silico transcriptome containing three Mus musculus perilipin 5 isoforms in 6 tissues was determined. A de novo transcriptome for M. musculus adipose tissue was assembled. The de novo transcriptome perilipin 5 BLAST hits were mapped against the in silico transcriptome. There was differential expression of one isoform in several tissue types and 2 reads were mapped to the in silico transcriptome. Perilipin 5 will benefit from further structural and bioinformatic analyses.
Recommended Citation
Stahl, Morgan A., "The Perilipin Family of Proteins: Structural and Bioinformatic Analysis" (2021). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects. 125.
https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/stu_honor/125