Date Approved

2019

Degree Type

Open Access Senior Honors Thesis

Department or School

Chemistry

First Advisor

Dr. Steven K. Backues

Second Advisor

Dr. Hedeel Evans

Third Advisor

Dr. Deborah Heyl-Clegg

Abstract

Autophagy is the process by which cytosolic components are trafficked to and degraded by the vacuole or lysosome. It plays a critical role in cellular health, aging, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. Atg7 and Atgl4 are enzymes required for the autophagic process in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, we hypothesized that Atg7 controls the size while Atg 14 controls the number of autophagosomes. Using western blotting, Pho8D.60 assay and transmission electron microscopy analysis, we found that Atg7 affects both the size and number of autophagosomes. In addition, we have created cells expressing various levels of Atgl4 using non-native promoters. In addition, we applied the significance of these results to better understand the therapeutic application of mammalian autophagy.

Included in

Chemistry Commons

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