Moran Dvela-Levitt

Congratulations to Zuckerman Faculty Scholar Moran Dvela-Levitt on the publication of her latest study in Cellular and Molecular Biology Letters. In this study, Dr. Dvela-Levitt and her team identify a protein involved in the cell’s internal transport system as a key connection between two major stress response pathways. Their results show that the TMED9 protein helps keep an important stress response regulator stable and active during ER stress, supporting cell survival.  The findings offer new insight into how cells coordinate protective responses in both healthy and diseased situations.

Abstract:
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays a central role in protein homeostasis by facilitating the folding, modification, and quality control of secretory and membrane proteins. Disruption of ER function results in protein misfolding and ER stress, which activate the unfolded protein response (UPR).  While the three canonical UPR branches, inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1), protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), and activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), have been extensively studied, the mechanisms that coordinate their activities and ultimately dictate survival or death remain poorly understood.