Presenters: Adam Cluff
Authors: Adam Cluff, Trevor Ochsenhirt
Faculty Advisor: Eric Domyan
Institution: Utah Valley University
In Organisms, color is an important trait for natural and sexual selection, and a variety of colors are displayed to adapt to an environment. Eumelanin (black) and pheomelanin (red) are two common types of pigments produced in nature that are shared by mammals and birds, including humans and pigeons. An important step in the production of eumelanin is the modification of DHICA to eumelanin by an enzyme encoded by the Tyrp1gene. Previous research has shown, however, a common mutation in this gene occurring in pigeons; known as the ash-red, or A23P mutation, which instead causes the production of pheomelanin. How this simple mutation results in such a large difference in function in the TYRP1 protein and the pathway between DHICA to pheomelanin is relatively unknown. We hypothesize that the A23P mutation may cause TYRP1 to be trafficked differently within the cell, which could contribute to pheomelanin instead of eumelanin synthesis. To investigate this, we have successfully constructed two expression vectors containing the wild-type and ash-red alleles of the Tyrp1gene, with a gene for resistance to puromycin also included. Utilizing this, we will create two melanocyte cell lines that will stably express a specific version of Tyrp1, and through the use of immunostains and antibodies we will track the movement and active destinations of the encoded proteins. Through these studies, we expect to uncover the deviations in the pathway and function of the ash-red mutant TYRP1 from the wild-type TYRP1, increasing our understanding of how the TYRP1 protein functions and is processed.