Shaghayegh Tashakori Beheshti

Abstract: Imbalances in lipid homeostasis can have deleterious role on health. Lipids are a diverse class of molecules with widespread biological roles in the body including energy storage, membrane regulation and intracellular signaling. Yet, it is not clear how starving cells sense depletion of lipids and respond accordingly. In the worm, C. elegans, we found that the regulator of endocytic recycling, Rab-11.1, plays an important role in sensing lipid availability and restoring lipid homeostasis through increasing nutrient absorption. In particular, loss of lipids depletes cellular resources needed for de novo isoprenoid pathways to synthesize geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (C20:4). This depletes geranylgeranyl levels and limits Rab-11.1 geranylgeranylation, which is required for vesicle binding by RAB-11.1 as well as the starvation responsive transcription factor, NHR-49. In the nucleus, NHR-49 activates transcription of several beta-oxidation genes as well as rab-11.2. In this study, we identify RAB-11.1 interacting proteins (RFIP-1, RFIP-2, DYCI-1, and DHC-1) whose reduced expression activated rab-11.2 transcription through NHR-49 and decreased steady-state levels of RAB-5 and RAB-10, both of which play important roles in endocytosis and exocytosis. Overall, I have uncovered an additional mode of regulation for the emerging intracellular lipid surveillance mechanism, which acts through RAB-11.1 geranylgeranylation and its interactive proteins, RFIP-1, RFIP-2, DYCI-1, and DHC-1.

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​What does research mean to you? 
I looked at my clock and the number 3 screamed at me I was there at 3:00 Am with all of my papers scattered around me working on a genetics problem. That was the fastest four hours of my life.

I had high expectancy for myself since the beginning. with my problem-solving skills and interest in biology specifically, genetics. I am not sure if I chose research or research chose me. To me, nothing is like the feeling of being the first person to observe something or the first person ever coming up with an idea. I believe everything in this world has an order to it and even us, humans were made based of an ordered sequence. What interests me most about researching genetics is the ability to edit these sequences via genomics engineering. There are many people born with inherited diseases that were genetically passes and I believe the key to solve many of these problems is to expand our knowledge of genetics. I want to dedicate my time to know more about code of life and to be able to help many people suffering from the errors in them.
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Tell us about your journey.
I remember the first day at Douglas Lab. A lot of information at once and I was there thinking how lucky I am to be able to be part of this team. Green Fellowship helped me to discover a lot about myself. Sitting there dealing with the data I got from my experiments and figuring out what could have gone wrong or editing the hypothesis I had in mind was my favorite part of the day. And this prompt me to go and learn about Bioinformatics and the options available. I am now learning about R programming and I have to say if it was not for Green Fellowship, I would not know how it is to live like a scientist. I have learnt a lot in Douglas lab and everyone was there for support.

What was the biggest thing you learned from the program?
HOW TO THINK LIKE A SCIENTIST AND HAVE FAITH IN THE PROCESS.

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Advice for Future Green Fellows

Make every minute count. Ask questions and be productive. Read a lot about what you are doing and talk about it with other people and use this as a learning opportunity. You will Rock!