Скачать или смотреть Anne Kenworthy, PhD discusses how proteins found at the surface of cells contribute to cell function

Anne Kenworthy, PhD, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics


Transcript:
So what I love about being a scientist is being able to solve puzzles, and nature has given us the most intriguing puzzles of all. What my lab is really interested in is trying to understand how the building blocks of cells come together to make the outer coat of the cell, called the membrane. And so, in particular, we're really interested in this kind of crazy- looking molecule looks almost like a UFO, a protein known as caveolin.

And to figure out how it contributes to the cells function.

So my name is Ann Kenworthy. I am a professor here at UVA School of Medicine in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, and I'm also associate director of the center for Membrane and Cell Physiology. We use a wide range of approaches, ranging from computer models to looking at cellular components, to studying the protein structure at atomic level to understand how proteins that are found at the surface of cells contribute to cell function.

So our studies are important for improving human health, because we know that this protein, caveolin, contributes to a wide range of diseases, including cancer, lipid dystrophy, muscular dystrophy and dysfunctions of the cardiovascular system. And so by understanding how it's put together at the molecular level, as well as understanding how it functions in the context of the surface of the cell, we hope to be able to come up with better ways to target this molecule therapeutically.