Janesha De Silva

PRUNE1 is a well-known negative regulator of NM23-H1, which is a metastasis promoter/suppressor of multiple cancer types. PRUNE1 overexpression has been noted in various cancers and has been hypothesized to utilize one of its two functions, which is a phosphodiesterase activity and a short-chain exopolyphosphatase activity, to influence NM23-H1 regulation.

Loss of this protein has also been discovered in a neurodegenerative disease 'NMIHBA', which is recessively inherited and has… Show more

PRUNE1 is a well-known negative regulator of NM23-H1, which is a metastasis promoter/suppressor of multiple cancer types. PRUNE1 overexpression has been noted in various cancers and has been hypothesized to utilize one of its two functions, which is a phosphodiesterase activity and a short-chain exopolyphosphatase activity, to influence NM23-H1 regulation.

Loss of this protein has also been discovered in a neurodegenerative disease 'NMIHBA', which is recessively inherited and has devastating implications on young children.

By using a wild-type zebrafish model, and human and mouse cell lines, we hoped to note the cell types that express PRUNE1 both in vitro and in vivo, and generate a human cell model with knocked down PRUNE1 expression.

Western blotting and immunofluorescence techniques using an antibody against PRUNE1 were employed to find expression in the cell lines. An RNA probe against the zebrafish Prune sequence was designed for in situ hybridization in zebrafish embryos, which marks Prune1 expression in the zebrafish. A miRNA construct against human PRUNE1 was cloned and used to attempt knocking down PRUNE1 expression in a human cell line. Show less

My undergraduate research project involved the determination of a constituent protein of the exosporium structure of Clostridium sporogenes spores by utilizing electron microscopic analysis and 2dx processing.

I collaborated with PhD students to study the spore exosporium proteins of wildtype C. sporogenes, compared their symmetrized maps to those of the mutant exosporium, and focused on the mutant of the CsxB mutant. Through this, I developed basic technical skills in electron… Show more

My undergraduate research project involved the determination of a constituent protein of the exosporium structure of Clostridium sporogenes spores by utilizing electron microscopic analysis and 2dx processing.

I collaborated with PhD students to study the spore exosporium proteins of wildtype C. sporogenes, compared their symmetrized maps to those of the mutant exosporium, and focused on the mutant of the CsxB mutant. Through this, I developed basic technical skills in electron microscopy, negative staining, preparing grid samples, and processing electron micrographs using 2dx. Show less