This PYI award is to a leader in undergraduate as well as graduate research. The research of the PI examines the mechanisms by which intracellular proteolysis is regulated during muscle restructuring. Controlled proteolysis is an important aspect of the normal development and differentiation of tissues. Using biochemical, morphological and organ culture techniques, the PI focuses on the role of nonlysosomal proteinases (enzymes that degrade or hydrolyze protein) in myofibrillar protein turnover. The crustacean claw muscles is employed as a model because as the animal prepares to molt, the claw muscles undergo a profound atrophy in which up to 40% of the muscle protein is degraded. This protein is resynthesized during a post-molt period. The PI is currently examinging the control of proteinases by humoral agents. Future studies will use recombinant DNA technology to elucidate the developmental expression of proteinases during the molt cycle. In this manner proteinase expression should be correlated with the initiation, maintenance, and termination of muscle atrophy.
