BS, University of Connecticut 

Profuse LINE1 retrotransposition can cause deleterious mutations and chronic inflammation in senescent cells, making it a desirable target for age-related disease therapeutics. Two essential proteins are key in understanding LINE1 replication and its effects: Open Reading Frame One (ORF1p), a trimeric protein acting as a chaperone for LINE1 mRNA, and Open Reading Frame Two (ORF2p), containing an endonuclease domain and reverse transcriptase domain involved in target primed reverse transcription. The goal of my graduate studies is to deepen our understanding of ORF1p's chaperoning function in the LINE1 replication cycle. I aim to define ORF1p's affinity for different nucleic acid substrates and elucidate a structure of ORF1p bound to RNA.