Darci J. Trader
Education
M.S.- 2008 Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
Ph.D.- 2013 Indiana University
Postdoc- 2014-2016 The Scripps Research Institute, NIH NRSA Fellow
Research
For detailed information please see: http://www.djtraderlab.com
The proteasome is a multiprotein, multicatalytic site complex that acts as the main pathway for protein degradation in cells. My research program focuses on the development of chemical strategies to control and harness proteasome-mediated protein degradation. Unlike traditional work in this field that has focused on the discovery of proteasome inhibitors, my program will seek to identify compounds that enable us to stimulate, rescue and direct protein degradation. We will harness the power of the proteasome through pursuit of three synergistic projects: 1) chemical stimulation of the 20S proteasome in neurons to abate the protein aggregation events that lead to Parkinson's disease, 2) rescue of the proteasome from inhibition by HIV Tat, which results in limited antigenic peptide production, substantially reducing the immune response to infected cells, and 3) generation of a set of rules for selective targeting of the immunoproteasome to release an antigenic peptide, marking diseased cells for destruction by the immune system.