Lucas M. Harrell

MCB Program start: 2020

Undergrad: Bachelor’s of Science in MCB with minor in Biochemistry at UA (2017)

Buchan Lab

Research topic: I study the roles that the RNA-binding protein G3BP plays in molecular biology. G3BP is mainly known as a critical assembly factor for cytoplasmic stress granules (SGs), but I have discovered that G3BP plays a critical non-SG role in regulation of the S-phase cell cycle checkpoint. Following release from an S-phase arrest, cells lacking G3BP 1) do not re-enter S-phase at the same rate as WT cells, 2) possess much more DNA damage, and 3) display greatly reduced viability. These results indicate that G3BP is required for cell cycle re-entry survival following release from S-phase arrest. Future experiments include 1) determining which proteins G3BP interacts with during and following release from S-phase arrest, 2) genetically dissecting G3BP to figure out which domains are important for it’s ability to regulate the response to S-phase arrest, and 3) determining if the flux through DNA damage signaling pathways changes in the absence of G3BP.

Hobbies and interests: When I’m not jamming out to music in the lab, I like cycling, checking out Tucson’s food and brewery scene, and hiking.

Google Scholar Link: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&user=bj-B2jsAAAAJ