Development of an Endogenous SSA4::Ubi-GFP Reporter to Study Selective mRNA Export During Cellular Stress

Publication Date

2026

Presentation Length

Poster/Gallery presentation

College

College of Sciences & Mathematics

Department

Biology, Department of

Student Level

Undergraduate

Faculty Mentor

Rebecca Adams, PhD

Metadata/Fulltext

Metadata ONLY

Presentation Type

Poster

Summary

In eukaryotic cells, mRNA must be transported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm to be translated into a protein, this occurs in the nuclear pore complex with the help of proteins like Mex67 and Nab2. During stress conditions, mRNA is trapped in the nucleus, but certain transcripts such as SSA4 mRNA is able to be expressed in the cytoplasm. SSA4 is a protein involved in refolding damaged proteins due to heat shock. Previous research suggests that the 3’ UTR region of the SSA4 transcript is where the unknown protein binds to export the mRNA out of the nucleus. This research is set out to understand how SSA4 is able to be selectively exported while other mRNAs are not. I hypothesize that specific sequences within the SSA4 transcript are necessary for the export during stress conditions. To test this, a GFP reporter will be inserted into the SSA4 gene using CRISPR and will be observed using fluorescence microscopy under stress conditions. I expect to see GFP expression in stressed cells, but little to no expression in cells under normal conditions. In the future, this system can be used to identify the exact sequence responsible for selective export and better understand how cells regulate gene expression during stress.

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