Amy Karol Walker
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, MA·Biology
Metabolism does more than supply cells with building blocks and energy. Some metabolites also act as signals that guide processes from cell specialization to aging.
- Fields
Biology
Biochemistry
Genetics
- Topics
S-adenosylmethionine
SAM synthase
methylation
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2028
What they work on
- Uncover the mechanisms that regulate local production of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), the cell's main methyl-group donor, by individual SAM synthase enzymes.
- Determine how distinct SAM synthases differently affect methylation-dependent gene regulation during the stress response.
- Test how SAM-dependent methylation pathways contribute to stress responses and aging.
More about the research
One such molecule is S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), the cell's main donor of methyl groups, small chemical tags. Cells use SAM to control which genes switch on during the stress response, a key part of the aging process.
Why it matters
This is basic research on how a metabolite links metabolism to gene control during stress and aging. Showing how individual SAM synthases control local SAM production would clarify how cells adjust gene activity under stress. That understanding could eventually inform efforts to understand the aging process.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Vikki Weake
Purdue University, IN·Biochemistry
Test whether oxidative stress inhibits Ahcy, the enzyme that breaks down SAH, at active genes in aging Drosophila photoreceptors, causing local loss of histone methylation.
Yutong Zhao
Ohio State University, OH·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether blocking the mitochondrial deubiquitinase USP30 in endothelial cells reduces white blood cell adhesion and migration and preserves the vessel barrier, and whether deleting it lessens Pseudomonas- or sepsis-induced lung injury in mice.
The school
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School: 29 labs on PI Pages, $350M a year on research, 55 research doctorates a year.
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