Firsts
So, posting more. Here goes:
Friday I submitted my abstract for my first professional conference, the Cold Spring Harbor Labs Yeast Biology meeting. It's one of the big ones for scientists who work on yeast. My advisor was very in favor of my going when I brought it up, though he won't be able to go b/c of funding issues. It's in Aug., and it runs from a Tues. night through Sat. afternoon. So I'll leave as late as I can on Fri. and head to my in-laws' for shabbat, which isn't far. The one drawback is that our anniversary is that Wed. Noah was kinda sad to hear I'd be away. I'm a bit sad too, but we'll have many more anniversaries, iy"h, while I'll get only so many opportunities to go to conferences. I've already put out a few feelers and applications for funding, since my advisor can't pay much, and I've got one or two more options to try, so I'm hoping little to none of this will have to come out of our own money.
Here's my abstract in case anyone's interested. (Don't steal my work!)
IDENTIFYING NOVEL CALCIUM INFLUX PATHWAYS
Calcium signaling is used by many cell types in organisms ranging from yeast to humans to react to external stimuli. In mammals, Ca2+ is usually released from internal stores. In yeast, in contrast, Ca2+ often enters from the external medium. One pathway of Ca2+ entry into yeast cells, the voltage-gated calcium channel, has been identified as being responsible for Ca2+ entry in certain conditions, but other Ca2+ influx pathways operate in other conditions.
In order to identify these pathways, we overexpressed each gene in the yeast genome and determined which ones specifically cause intolerance to high environmental calcium concentrations. Only a few predicted transmembrane proteins caused intolerance to high environmental calcium, the best one being a previously uncharacterized protein that we have named Ccx2. Ccx2 is homologous to the CCX family of sodium/calcium ion exchangers present in all eukaryotes including humans. By overexpressing Ccx2 in various genetic backgrounds and enviromnental conditions, we have determined that it is probably facilitating calcium/proton exchange in the plasma membrane. We have also determined that it is inhibited, directly or indirectly, by the Ca2+-responsive protein phosphatase calcineurin. A close homolog of Ccx2 in the yeast genome, here termed Ccx1, also shows evidence of being a calcium exchanger in the plasma membrane.
Also on Fri. I painted my toenails for the first time this year. It's a nice start-of-summer feeling.
Today I biked to shul, also for the first time this year. Yet another sign that it's not winter anymore. : ) It's just under a mile each way, fairly uphill on the way there, and my legs were really hurting by the time I got there. I'll just have to do it more often and get back into better shape. I also need to exercise more over all. I've been pretty bad lately. : (
And my final first for now - the Baltimore Farmers' Market! Both my first time there and my first time at a farmers' market this year. It's a pretty big one. There were a lot of flowers, it made the place really pretty. There were also a lot of vendors cooking or selling prepared food, a lot of it looked really good. Keeping kosher is frustrating sometimes.
I did get a mint plant and a couple bulbs of garlic. I'm excited about the mint. It'll live on our kitchen windowsill, which is the sunniest place in the apartment. I'm hoping to get a large planter and transplant the mint so it gets bigger, and maybe get a few more herbs too. I've been building up the houseplant collection lately. I'm up to 3, although one I'm not sure is still healthy. It got a bit banged up a few weeks ago, and still looks kinda sad. But I've had it nearly a year, so it's already outlasted my previous two attempts at being a plant mommy.
Ok, I've still got to get to work today, so that's all for now. Oh, I'm still a bit sick, but getting better.
Friday I submitted my abstract for my first professional conference, the Cold Spring Harbor Labs Yeast Biology meeting. It's one of the big ones for scientists who work on yeast. My advisor was very in favor of my going when I brought it up, though he won't be able to go b/c of funding issues. It's in Aug., and it runs from a Tues. night through Sat. afternoon. So I'll leave as late as I can on Fri. and head to my in-laws' for shabbat, which isn't far. The one drawback is that our anniversary is that Wed. Noah was kinda sad to hear I'd be away. I'm a bit sad too, but we'll have many more anniversaries, iy"h, while I'll get only so many opportunities to go to conferences. I've already put out a few feelers and applications for funding, since my advisor can't pay much, and I've got one or two more options to try, so I'm hoping little to none of this will have to come out of our own money.
Here's my abstract in case anyone's interested. (Don't steal my work!)
IDENTIFYING NOVEL CALCIUM INFLUX PATHWAYS
Calcium signaling is used by many cell types in organisms ranging from yeast to humans to react to external stimuli. In mammals, Ca2+ is usually released from internal stores. In yeast, in contrast, Ca2+ often enters from the external medium. One pathway of Ca2+ entry into yeast cells, the voltage-gated calcium channel, has been identified as being responsible for Ca2+ entry in certain conditions, but other Ca2+ influx pathways operate in other conditions.
In order to identify these pathways, we overexpressed each gene in the yeast genome and determined which ones specifically cause intolerance to high environmental calcium concentrations. Only a few predicted transmembrane proteins caused intolerance to high environmental calcium, the best one being a previously uncharacterized protein that we have named Ccx2. Ccx2 is homologous to the CCX family of sodium/calcium ion exchangers present in all eukaryotes including humans. By overexpressing Ccx2 in various genetic backgrounds and enviromnental conditions, we have determined that it is probably facilitating calcium/proton exchange in the plasma membrane. We have also determined that it is inhibited, directly or indirectly, by the Ca2+-responsive protein phosphatase calcineurin. A close homolog of Ccx2 in the yeast genome, here termed Ccx1, also shows evidence of being a calcium exchanger in the plasma membrane.
Also on Fri. I painted my toenails for the first time this year. It's a nice start-of-summer feeling.
Today I biked to shul, also for the first time this year. Yet another sign that it's not winter anymore. : ) It's just under a mile each way, fairly uphill on the way there, and my legs were really hurting by the time I got there. I'll just have to do it more often and get back into better shape. I also need to exercise more over all. I've been pretty bad lately. : (
And my final first for now - the Baltimore Farmers' Market! Both my first time there and my first time at a farmers' market this year. It's a pretty big one. There were a lot of flowers, it made the place really pretty. There were also a lot of vendors cooking or selling prepared food, a lot of it looked really good. Keeping kosher is frustrating sometimes.
I did get a mint plant and a couple bulbs of garlic. I'm excited about the mint. It'll live on our kitchen windowsill, which is the sunniest place in the apartment. I'm hoping to get a large planter and transplant the mint so it gets bigger, and maybe get a few more herbs too. I've been building up the houseplant collection lately. I'm up to 3, although one I'm not sure is still healthy. It got a bit banged up a few weeks ago, and still looks kinda sad. But I've had it nearly a year, so it's already outlasted my previous two attempts at being a plant mommy.
Ok, I've still got to get to work today, so that's all for now. Oh, I'm still a bit sick, but getting better.