Hosted by the Biochemistry and Nutrition Department.

Target Audience

Des Moines University faculty, staff, and students.

Objectives

1. Explain why intracellular protein trafficking is necessary for healthy photoreceptor cells and thereby vision.
2. Analyze data obtained from protein expression studies in animal models.

Speaker

Sheila Baker, PhD 
Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Iowa

Photoreceptors are responsible for detecting light and they have a highly specialized anatomy that supports this function. Dr. Baker's research interest is to uncover the mechanisms that regulate the proper trafficking of proteins to the different compartments of the photoreceptor cell. During her PhD training at the Medical College of Wisconsin under the mentorship of Joe Besharse, Dr. Baker studied the role of IFT in photoreceptors. IFT is a large complex of adaptor and motor proteins that are necessary for the development and maintenance of photoreceptors. Dr. Baker continued her training in a post-doctoral position with Vadim Arshavsky at Duke University where they investigated the trafficking of signaling proteins in photoreceptors. Now in her independent lab at the University of Iowa, Dr. Baker is continuing to probe the mechanism of protein trafficking in photoreceptors by focusing on the trafficking of channels and receptors to the photoreceptor synapse.