Institute of 
Marine & Coastal Sciences

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Publications:
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Related Sites:
Ocean Primary Productivity Study, IMCS, Rutgers Univ.
Coastal Ocean Observation Laboratory, IMCS, Rutgers Univ.
The Dismukes Group, Princeton Univ.
U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS)
SeaWiFS Project
MODIS

Funded Projects:
LIFT/LIDAR - NASA
Biocomplexity (EREUPT) - NSF
Cell Death - NIH
GFP Project - ONR
Ocean Productivity - NASA
Iron Limitation - NSF
IR-FRR - NSF
Inorganic Carbon Cycling - US/Israel BSF
Light Intensity - DOE
Carbon Sequestration - LBNL/DOE
Benthic Targets (CoBOP) - ONR
SoFeX - NSF
Key Phytoplankton Groups (SMP) - NASA
Photoacclimation (US/Czech Republic) - NSF

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Institute Information
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Graduate Program in Oceanography

Special Programs of IMCS:
Project Tomorrow -K-12 Educational Programs
National Undersea Research Program
New Jersey's Shoreline Future - NJ Shore Protection Master Plan

in Tuckerton

Haskin Shellfish Research Lab

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Contact e-mail
ivy@imcs.rutgers.edu

Last updated: 03/2004

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Cryptic Protease Genes and the Triggers for Cell Death
    Sponsored by NIH - General Medicine
    Principle Investigator: Paul G. Falkowski

 

As large amounts of sequence information become available from the Human Genome Project, sequence analyses will provide clearer evidence that numerous human diseases or disorders have deep evolutionary roots. The project addresses the evolutionary origins of proteases and cell death responses as a case in point. Specifically, the research seeks to: examine to the evolutionary origins of autocatalyzed cell death associated with the stress induced expression of novel (cryptic) proteases in single-celled, asexual eucaryotes, specifically the obligate photoautotrophic chlorophyte alga, Dunaliella tertiolecta, elucidate the molecular triggers in physiological stress responses that lead to the induction of novel proteases and catastrophic cell death in such cells, and examine to what extent the cryptic proteases are ubiquitous in eucaryotes. These goals address the biological significance of apoptosis and autocatalyzed cell death in the context of the evolution of somatic eucaryotes and the processes that repress or silence the expression of cryptic proteases encoded within their nuclear genomes. Profiles of proteins and proteases in main phytoplankton.

In humans, protease-triggered apoptosis occurs in cytotoxic T lymphocytes and other defensive cell lines, but is also a symptom of numerous chronic diseases or disorders with little or no clear Mendalian genetic lineage. We hypothesize that the genes encoding the stress-induced proteases have been incorporated into bacterial and eukaryotic genomes from relic viral infections, comparable to the endogenous retroviral protease genes found in metazoans. These genes, normally silenced either by repressor factors or transpositions, appear to be derepressed when the organism is selectively stressed.

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Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program
Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
71 Dudley Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone: (732) 932-6555
Fax: (732) 932-4083

© 2004 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
All rights reserved.