Xin Gu, Ph.D.

Research

My lab is studying a novel pathway that cells use to selectively degrade proteins that regulate gene activity. Cells contain specialized machines, called proteasomes, that act as molecular garbage disposals—dismantling proteins that are damaged or are no longer needed. As a postdoctoral fellow, I discovered that a molecule called midnolin can guide selected gene regulatory proteins to this molecular chamber of destruction. Now, using cutting-edge techniques in cell and molecular genetics, biochemistry, and structural biology, my group will determine how midnolin selects its target proteins and delivers them to the proteasome, how cells regulate their midnolin reserves, and how midnolin influences the development and function of tissues such as the brain and heart. Because many of the proteins that midnolin targets for degradation are altered in cancers, our work could lead to the development of new strategies for targeting oncogenic gene regulators that were previously believed to be undruggable.