Xazmin Lowman

E-mail: lowma006@umn.edu

Year entered: 2007

Degree received:
B.S., Physiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 2006

Honors and Awards:

• Graduate School DOVE Fellowship, 2007-2008

Thesis Research:
The mechanisms of apoptosis are numerous and the complete identifications of them are lacking. The intrinsic pathway of cell death is characterized by the disturbance of the mitochondrial outer permeability which results in the release of constituents (cytochrome C) that trigger caspase activation. Proteins that maintain the integrity of the mitochondria are considered anti-apoptotic (i.e. Bcl-2) and lead to cell survival. Conversely, pro-apoptotic proteins (i.e. Bax) antagonize this protective function and lead to cell death. Current research in the Kelekar lab is focused on elucidating the mechanism of a particular protein that belongs to a subset of the pro-apoptotic members. Noxa is a 57 amino acid protein of the BH3-only pro-apoptotic branch. It contains three phosphorylation sites that are hypothesized to regulate Noxa behavior. I am particularly interested in the protein-protein interactions of Noxa and its localization when activated by various stimuli.