URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Winter_2015_Melissa-McCarthy

Searching for Cures

anemia D2 protein. FANCI is Fanconi anemia I protein. These proteins undergo a process called ubiquitination that essentially tags the proteins for DNA damage repair and assists in moving them to the appropriate areas of a cell’s nucleus. Unfortunately, this ubiquitination mechanism does not work in more than 90 percent of FA patients. “If we can figure out what these proteins really do, how they are regulated, maybe we can intervene in some of these patients where clearly this process is broken,” Howlett says.

FA proteins were classified as orphans. In other words, there were no recognizable domains—sections of the proteins—that could be linked to a known process or function. However, through the hard work and determination of his laboratory team, Howlett has successfully identified and characterized at least three protein domains and has contributed substantially to understanding how these proteins work. Under Howlett’s guidance, his team of one post-doctoral researcher, five graduate students, and two undergraduate students conducts experiments to keep the discovery ball rolling. Research procedures such as western blotting, fluorescence microscopy and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry are employed to collect data on the molecular functions of these proteins. continues on next page

Going Above and Beyond

In 2007, when Howlett first started his research at URI, these two

winter / 2015 page 47