| |
Graduate
Student Researcher
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology, UCLA
E-mail: apeter@ucla.edu
Principle
Research Interests |
Muscular
dystrophies are inherited genetic disorders characterized by progressive
muscle wasting and weakness. Dystrophic muscle undergoes repeated
cycles of degeneration and regeneration, which is characterized
by the presence of hypertrophic fibers with central nuclei. Akt,
also known as protein kinase B (PKB), is a serine-threonine kinase
that has been shown to modulate a wide range of cellular processes
including apoptosis and translation efficiency. I am currently
investigating the activation of Akt associated pathways in various
animal models of muscular dystrophy. I hypothesize that skeletal
muscle hypertrophy and atrophy in muscular dystrophies are controlled
by perturbations in Akt phosphorylation. I will also examine whether
direct manipulation of the Akt/PKB pathway counteracts muscle
wasting in muscular dystrophy. |
Education |
| Ph.D. |
- University
of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Interdepartmental Program in Molecular, Cellular and Integrative
Physiology
|
2003
- present |
|
B.S. |
- Colorado
State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology
|
1999-2003 |
Positions
Held |
- Undergraduate Teaching
Assistant 2002 Dept. Microbiology
|
| Selected
Presentations |
| 2003
|
Peter, A., Lambert,
M., McNeil, M. Testing for Protein-Protein Interactions with the
Mycobacterium smegmatis EmbB Transmembrane Protein. Undergraduate
Research and Creative Symposium. Colorado State University. April
2003 |
| 2001
|
Richards (Peter), A., Jones,
V., Scherman, M., McNeil, M. Drug Screening Assay: Optimization
of the Enzymatic Formation of TDP-rhamnose Necessary for Mycobacterium
tuberculosis Cell Wall Formation. Undergraduate Research and Creative
Symposium. Colorado State University. April 2001 |
|
