Jaime Lopez-Mosqueda
University of Texas at Austin, TX·Biochemistry·Early-career
Every time a cell divides it must copy its entire genome accurately. That copying machinery can be derailed when a protein becomes chemically welded to the DNA itself, forming what is called a DNA-protein crosslink.
- Fields
Biochemistry
Genetics
Biology
- Topics
DNA-protein crosslinks
DPC repair
protease
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2027
What they work on
- Test for a unifying molecular mark that flags DNA-protein crosslinks for destruction, regardless of the size or chemical nature of the trapped protein, using biochemical and molecular biology approaches.
- Determine how the cutting activity of SPRTN, the protease dedicated to clearing proteins welded to DNA, is restrained so that ordinary chromatin-bound proteins are not degraded by mistake.
- Identify additional genes required for DNA-protein crosslink repair through genetic screens in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
- Engage high school students from rural schools in performing crosslink-repair screening experiments in their own classrooms as training in research.
More about the research
Such a crosslink is a bulky roadblock: it blocks the replication machinery, interferes with reading genes, and if left in place prevents chromosomes from separating properly into daughter cells. Removing these roadblocks is therefore essential for survival. This project asks how cells recognize crosslinked proteins and decide whether to chew them up, bypass them, or repair around them.
Why it matters
DNA-protein crosslinks are produced by common chemicals and by cellular metabolism, and failure to remove them destabilizes the genome. Defining how cells target and clear them adds basic understanding of how genome integrity is maintained during DNA replication, and identifies the enzymes and regulatory steps involved. The project also gives rural high school students hands-on experience with genetic screening in their own classrooms.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Sang Eun Lee
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX·Genetics
Determine how the conserved DNA-repair enzyme Apn2 recognizes and removes many different chemical blocks at DNA 3' ends, including cyclic phosphates and tyrosine–DNA links, using genetic and biochemical assays in yeast.
Liming Li
Northwestern University, IL·Genetics
Identify prion-specific changes in gene expression and cell-to-cell variation in yeast carrying [SWI+], [MOT3+] or both, using high-throughput single-cell RNA sequencing.
Fei Wang
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX·Biology
Determine how autophagy, the cell's self-digestion system, promotes gametogenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae across meiosis entry, DNA replication, meiosis exit and spore membrane formation, using yeast genetics, biochemistry and imaging.
The school
University of Texas at Austin: 49 labs on PI Pages, $1.1B a year on research, 871 research doctorates a year.
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