CAREER: Defining the Role of Lipid Perturbations in Cell Survival

University Of Illinois At Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2) This project seeks to understand how lipid dynamics are crucial for cellular survival. Lipids are essential components of all fats, some vitamins, and many signaling molecules between different cell types in all multicellular creatures, including mammals. The studies here will focus on lipids related to brain-cell function and survival. By changing the levels of cholesterol and other lipids in cells and measuring cell survival, the findings will show how these lipids affect normal mammalian brain-cell function. In addition, the researchers will carry out a partnership with Jane Addams Middle School. In everyday life, lipids, and specifically cholesterol, are often perceived as “bad” for humans. The research illustrates the critical role of cholesterol both in terms of cellular function and dysfunction. The project will develop a collaborative educational experience to expose middle school students to the biochemistry of lipids including cholesterol, how they are related to everyday life, as well as to provide these students a glimpse of a day in the life of a scientist. American Rescue Plan funding of this project will provide support for this investigator at a critical stage in her career. Maintenance of lipid homeostasis and distribution is crucial for proper cellular function and survival. The PI is interested in understanding the interplay of cholesterol trafficking, storage, and distribution on cellular survival, with a specific focus on the central nervous system. This work will investigate perturbations of cholesterol trafficking which results in alterations of fatty acids and hydroxylated ceramides and thereby contributing to programmed cell death. Use of a combination of in vitro and in vivo studies by means of the PI’s expertise in biological mass spectrometry, biochemistry, and molecular biology will further our understanding of these critical lipids in cell maintenance and survival. In addition to this basic science goal, the project will benefit society through a collaborative effort with Jane Addams Middle School to develop a framework for students to understand basic concepts in lipid biochemistry important for individual and societal well-being, and to engage these students with futures in scientific careers. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.