Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Ankyrin-B (ANKB) is a protein that holds other proteins in place, like a scaffold. ANKB's job is to support other proteins that regulate the beating of heart cells and firing of nerve cells, a phenomenon called cellular 'excitability'. Our group discovered a version of the ANKB protein that is not able to properly support the proteins it normally does, which causes adverse effects for people, including heart malformations, sudden death, and seizures. The regulation of excitability is important for proper functioning of fully mature heart and brain cells and, importantly, also plays an earlier role in their differentiation, a process where new cells mature from newborn, partially functioning cells to fully-functioning cells. As ANKB regulates excitability, we have good reason to believe it also plays a role in the differentiation of heart and brain cells. Our lab has identified a new ANKB-interacting protein partner, called spinophilin, which is known to regulate heart and brain cell development. I hypothesize that ANKB regulates heart and brain development, and that this in part through an interaction with the spinophilin protein. I will examine the role of ANKB in the differentiation of heart and brain cells by measuring the levels of proteins that indicate differentiation and of proteins that normally interact with ANKB. I will also use microscopy to see how changes in ANKB impact the cell structure. I will then confirm the interaction between ANKB and spinophilin and determine what happens to heart and brain cell development when we prevent this interaction. Improved understanding of ANKB's role in heart and brain cell development, and its interaction with spinophilin, will provide critical insight into the impact of ANKB in heart and brain health, and disease.