Annabel Vernon

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Annabel is a rising senior at Scripps College majoring in biochemistry. At her home institution, she works in Dr. Emily Wiley’s lab studying H3 histone clipping in T. thermophila. Her research includes exploring the purpose of this clipping as well as identifying and characterizing the protease implicated in this process. As a part of UCLA’s Amgen Scholars Program, Annabel is working in Dr. Steven Clarke’s lab in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The Clarke lab focuses on understanding a group of nine enzymes called protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMT1-9). The enzyme PRMT7 transfers one methyl group from the cofactor S-adenosylmethionine to a target arginine residue to form monomethylarginine. PRMT7 is implicated in processes including transcriptional regulation, stem cell pluripotency, and DNA repair. While PRMT7’s substrates have not been established in vivo, histones H2B and H4 have been identified as such in vitro. Interestingly, PRMT7 is inhibited by salt concentrations typically found in cells. Annabel’s project focuses on testing the inhibition of PRMT7 by a variety of physiologically relevant salts and confirming whether human PRMT7 interacts directly with zinc as mouse PRMT7 is known to do. Gaining a better understanding of how human PRMT7 interacts with its surroundings will help identify the ions PRMT7 may be regulated by in vivo. Annabel would like to thank the Amgen Foundation for this amazing opportunity as well as the Clarke Lab for guiding her along the way to becoming a better researcher and scientist.

Annabel is a rising senior at Scripps College majoring in biochemistry. At her home institution, she works in Dr. Emily Wiley’s lab studying H3 histone clipping in T. thermophila. Her research includes exploring the purpose of this clipping as well as identifying and characterizing the protease implicated in this process.

As a part of UCLA’s Amgen Scholars Program, Annabel is working in Dr. Steven Clarke’s lab in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The Clarke lab focuses on understanding a group of nine enzymes called protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMT1-9). The enzyme PRMT7 transfers one methyl group from the cofactor S-adenosylmethionine to a target arginine residue to form monomethylarginine. PRMT7 is implicated in processes including transcriptional regulation, stem cell pluripotency, and DNA repair. While PRMT7’s substrates have not been established in vivo, histones H2B and H4 have been identified as such in vitro. Interestingly, PRMT7 is inhibited by salt concentrations typically found in cells. Annabel’s project focuses on testing the inhibition of PRMT7 by a variety of physiologically relevant salts and confirming whether human PRMT7 interacts directly with zinc as mouse PRMT7 is known to do. Gaining a better understanding of how human PRMT7 interacts with its surroundings will help identify the ions PRMT7 may be regulated by in vivo.

Annabel would like to thank the Amgen Foundation for this amazing opportunity as well as the Clarke Lab for guiding her along the way to becoming a better researcher and scientist.