Awarded in 2006
Home Department: Neurosciences
Faculty Advisor: Tobias Meyer (Chemical & Systems Biology)

Research Title: Spatial-temporal control of membrane trafficking by phosphoinositides

Research Description: Although phosphoinositides (PIs) represent a minor fraction of cellular lipids, they are integral components of cell membranes. Recent evidence suggests that PIs not only have a structural role but may also act as important second messengers during membrane trafficking events. The Meyer laboratory in collaboration with Tom Wandless's group developed a chemically-inducible translocation strategy to rapidly synthesize or degrade specific PIs at the plasma membrane. Namiko planned to make improvements upon this chemical strategy while developing new bioengineered probes to manipulate levels of different PIs in specific membrane compartments. She then used these tools to investigate the role of specific PI species in various steps of receptor-mediated endocytosis as well as the synaptic vesicle cycle.

WHERE IS SHE NOW?

Namiko is an Associate Director of Medical Communications at Exelixis.