Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gherig's disease is a tragic lethal disease with no treatment or cure. Matrin-3 is a critically important protein involved in ALS that scientists do not understand very well. I have developed a simple yeast model and pure protein model of Matrin-3 during my Ph.D. studies in biochemistry at Washington University. The blocks of this quilt represent my main findings from both models (Sprunger et al., iScience, 2022). I hope that my findings will help scientists understand another piece of the ALS puzzle to bring us closer to life-altering treatments for patients. Top: western blot of protein expression, domain map and FoldIndex prediction of Matrin-3. Middle: Yeast cells with Matrin-3 foci and toxicity of Matrin-3 yeast strains. Bottom: Protein gel of purification process, aggregation assay, visualization of aggregates, and phase separated droplets. See my Instagram page for the science behind each block!
