McNair Scholar 2021 -Carter Sellner
Carter Sellner is a rising junior at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, majoring in genetics, cell biology, & development and minoring in pharmacology. His current research interests include cancer development and the treatment of cancer through immunotherapy. Carter plans to pursue an MD/PhD focusing on cancer biology.
Quote from Carter Sellner
My dream is to create new and useful cancer therapies that will be accessible to all who need them. I want to not only help those diagnosed with cancer at the patient level, but also at the population level through new biomedical research discoveries.
Research project
Transcriptional vs. Protein-Level Regulation of the Src-Family Kinases LynA and LynB
Abstract: Macrophages are specialized white blood cells with roles in pathogen destruction. One of the key activators and regulators of this pathogen destroying immune response is the Src-family kinase (SFK) Lyn. Lyn exists in macrophages as two splice forms, LynA and LynB. Our lab used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to generate isoform-specific LynA knockout (KO) mice and LynBKO mice. Surprisingly, macrophages from both LynAKO and LynBKO mice showed higher levels of the remaining isoform. In addition, the levels of other SFKs expressed in macrophages (Fyn, Fgr, or Hck) did not change, suggesting Lyn may have a unique regulatory mechanism that somehow senses the levels of the two Lyn isoforms. It is already known in part this unique Lyn regulatory mechanism occurs at the protein-level through degradation by the E3 ubiquitin ligase c-Cbl, but unknown if regulation also occurs post transcriptionally. The goal of this study is to compare transcriptional vs .protein-level regulation of LynA and LynB. Because of Lyn’s role in macrophage activation, understanding Lyn’s regulatory mechanism will hopefully contribute to therapies aimed at decreasing inflammatory responses.
Faculty mentor
Dr. Tanya Freedman is currently an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology in the Center for Immunology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Freedman attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she received her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology. She has published in multiple research journals and receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Freedman’s expertise includes immunology, innate-immune signaling, cancer immune microenvironment, autoimmunity, and biochemistry. Her research currently focuses on how Src-family kinases are regulated in immune cells and how dysregulation of these processes leads to autoimmunity, infection, and breast cancer.