Minority PostDoctoral Research Fellowship for FY2008

Rouhana Labib, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2008. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Labib Rouhana is "Analysis of mRNA regulation required for regeneration and stem cell maintenance in planarian flatworms." This research will be conducted at the University of Illinois under the sponsorship of Dr. Phil Newmark, and the University of Kyoto under the sponsorship of Dr. Kiyokazu Agata. Planarians are simple bilateral flatworms with nervous, digestive and reproductive systems, capable of regenerating and remodeling entire organisms from small body fragments. This amazing capability is attributable to a population of stem cells which make up approximately 30% of their body. Studies in planarians are relevant to human stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, as over 80% of genes known to be required for proper regeneration and stem cell maintenance in planarians are also present in the human genome. This research is seeking to understand the crucial role that this level of regulation plays during planarian regeneration by: 1) identifing the mRNAs associated with proteins (named Bruno, Pumilio, and Nanos) that are required for proper regeneration in planarians; 2) determining the effects of the RNA-binding proteins on their respective mRNA targets; and 3) testing the role of their targets in regeneration. The training objectives include increased understanding of planarian biology and molecular biology. The broader impacts include increasing the number of minorities at the pre-doctoral and post-doctoral level through innovative outreach programs in addition to the new knowledge to be gained about this organism and regeneration.