Determining Sex-Specific Differences in Mouse Liver Proteins (2024)

Undergraduate: Jerald Whitley, Jr.

Faculty Advisor: Natasha Snider
Department: Cell Biology and Physiology

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CD73 is a transmembrane protein that converts AMP into adenosine, which can provide a protective or harmful role in the liver, depending on the injury type. Currently, there is an abundance of research that observes the sex-specific differences in the clinical presentation, onset, progression, and prognosis of liver diseases. For example, chronic liver disease is one of the leading causes of death in men, but not in women. In terms of human liver diseases, CD73 is downregulated in both gene expression and enzymatic activity. Investigating downstream pathways affected by CD73 may provide insight that advances future clinical therapies for liver diseases in a sex-dependent manner. In this presentation, we investigate these sex-specific differences in two proteins: epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and activating transcription factor 2 (ATF2).

Link to Abstract