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The Research Foundation of The City University of New York
Gerard McNeil,
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
York College
Little is known about autophagy, the cell degradation
process in which a cell recycles its own material for
survival. During the aging process, cells lose their abil-
ity to self-recycle and it is this cell degradation process
Professor Melendez investigates in her project,
Auto
phagy and the Relationship Between Lifespan and Fat
Metabolism,
a four-year, $400,000 Ellison Medical
Foundation grant. Using C. elegans worms, which have
short lifespans, she examines the cellular pathways
of the aging process to determine the connection
between fat, autophagy, and longevity. “I want to under
stand the degradation process, the proteins involved,
and how this process is useful in the development of
the C. elegans worm with the idea that someone can
use this research to improve longevity and prevent
neurodegenerative diseases and cancers.”
Oogenesis is the stage of development of a female
egg cell in its unfertilized form. Professor McNeil stud-
ies the protein product, Lark, in the oogenesis stage
of development in his project,
Characterization of
RNA Targets for the Drosophlia Protein Lark during
Oogenesis,
a four-year $109,000 NIH grant. While the
protein plays various roles in the mammalian system,
it is difficult to study in mammalian cells. Therefore, he
uses fruit flies as a model system. “There is a human
connection in the varying levels of expression of this
particular protein Lark that results in Down Syndrome
or testicular cancer. The fly system gives us the ability
to study the genetic and molecular details we can’t
readily study in humans.”
Alicia Melendez,
Assistant Professor, Biology
Queens College