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Research Frontiers
Chapter 3
Dr Rick Morimoto
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
Introduction
In November 2005, HOPES team member Justine Seidenfeld visited the Morimoto Laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology at Northwestern University’s graduate school in Evanston, IL. HOPES would like to thank Dr. Morimoto and the members of his lab for taking time to meet with us and share their outlooks on research and Huntington’s Disease.
The Morimoto Lab studies how cells protect themselves by sensing and responding to environmental and physiological stress. These kinds of stress often lead to damage and problems within the cell. Stress can come from a wide variety of sources, like oxidative damage, over heating (heat shock), bacterial infections, and misfolded proteins (For more on proteins and their folding structure, click here) The cell has many different ways of recognizing and responding to stress induced problems. Under normal circumstances the cell can maintain a balanced state known as homeostasis. When stress causes proteins to misfold, the cell responds through a mechanism called the heat shock response. This response increases the amount of molecular chaperones and proteases produced within the cell. Molecular chaperones and proteases correct misfolded proteins, repair damage, and bring the cell back to balance. Sometimes, however, there are so many misfolded proteins that the heat shock response cannot keep up. The misfolded proteins accumulate into protein aggregates. Aggregates are a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases like HD.
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