Skip to main content

Master's lecture in Biology - Arnar Þór Björgvinsson

When 
Mon, 25/05/2020 - 10:00 to 11:00
Where 
Further information 
Free admission

The lecture will be streamed live: https://eu01web.zoom.us/j/69190901590

Master's student: Arnar Þór Björgvinsson

Title: Expression patterns and subcellular localization of Pontin and Reptin

 _________________________________________

Faculty:  Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences

Advisor:  Sigríður Rut Franzdóttir, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences

Co-advisor:  Zophonías Oddur Jónsson, Professor at the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences

Examiner: Margrét Helga Ögmundsdóttir, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine

Abstract

Pontin and Reptin are a pair of highly conserved ATPases that are involved in various cellular mechanisms. Both proteins are found in all eukaryotes where they associate with a variety of multiprotein complexes and are generally thought to function as chaperones in the assembly of these complexes. In this project, different models were used to examine the expression profile, localization, and behavior of Pontin and Reptin in vivo. Drosophila melanogaster was used as a model organism and new strains containing mCherry knock-in tagged Pontin and Reptin were generated to complement existing GFP tagged Pontin and Reptin strains. Expression profiles were generated during early development using the GFP strains and subcellular localization examined in third instar larval tissues. Both Pontin and Reptin were found to be ubiquitously expressed throughout early development and during larval stages and were most prominent in the nucleus. During cell division, both disassociate from the chromatin and localize to the mitotic spindles. Both Pontin and Reptin form puncta in the cytoplasm of different cell types at different developmental timepoints. The behavior of Pontin and Reptin seems to differ in some cell types where, e.g. Pontin will form puncta in the cytoplasm of secretory cells in the salivary gland while Reptin does not. Both proteins have remarkedly stronger expression in male gonads compared to other tissues and both are excluded from the nucleus in gonialblast and spermatogonia. In future experiments, better characterization of Pontin and Reptin, their interaction partners and dynamics in different tissues will be of high interest.