Karl Ensberg

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Karl is a rising senior at UC Davis, majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Since his sophomore year he has performed research in Dr. Wolf Heyer’s lab studying BRCA2, which is a tumor suppressor protein involved in homologous recombination. As an Amgen Scholar at UCLA, he is working in the lab of Dr. Guillaume Chanfreau in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry studying a recently discovered hybrid mRNA-snoRNA (hmsnoRNA). SnoRNA on their own can be transcribed from DNA in 3 different ways: independent transcriptional units, polycistronic clusters, or within the introns of pre-mRNAs. When snoRNAs are transcribed via introns, splicing is an important step in the formation of mature snoRNAs. The Chanfreau lab discovered that when splicing is interrupted, it can lead to the development of hmsnoRNAs. HmsnoRNAs consists of the processed 5’ end of an unspliced mRNA with a mature snoRNA on the 3’ end. As a result of their 5’ mRNA-like structure, hmsnoRNAs are exported into the cytoplasm and degraded via the mRNA decay pathway. Karl’s project focuses on examining whether or not hmsnoRNA can be translated into proteins. His project will utilize Western blot to detect for a FLAG tag which is coded in the theoretical coding region of the hmsnoRNA transcript being used. Karl would like to thank the UCLA Amgen Scholars program for this opportunity, and Dr. Guillaume Chanfreau, Dr. Michelle Gibbs, and his graduate student mentor Sam DeMario for their assistance and encouragement in fostering his growth as a scientist.

Karl is a rising senior at UC Davis, majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Since his sophomore year he has performed research in Dr. Wolf Heyer’s lab studying BRCA2, which is a tumor suppressor protein involved in homologous recombination.

As an Amgen Scholar at UCLA, he is working in the lab of Dr. Guillaume Chanfreau in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry studying a recently discovered hybrid mRNA-snoRNA (hmsnoRNA). SnoRNA on their own can be transcribed from DNA in 3 different ways: independent transcriptional units, polycistronic clusters, or within the introns of pre-mRNAs. When snoRNAs are transcribed via introns, splicing is an important step in the formation of mature snoRNAs. The Chanfreau lab discovered that when splicing is interrupted, it can lead to the development of hmsnoRNAs. HmsnoRNAs consists of the processed 5’ end of an unspliced mRNA with a mature snoRNA on the 3’ end. As a result of their 5’ mRNA-like structure, hmsnoRNAs are exported into the cytoplasm and degraded via the mRNA decay pathway. Karl’s project focuses on examining whether or not hmsnoRNA can be translated into proteins. His project will utilize Western blot to detect for a FLAG tag which is coded in the theoretical coding region of the hmsnoRNA transcript being used.

Karl would like to thank the UCLA Amgen Scholars program for this opportunity, and Dr. Guillaume Chanfreau, Dr. Michelle Gibbs, and his graduate student mentor Sam DeMario for their assistance and encouragement in fostering his growth as a scientist.