Spring Rotation Lab Profiles

I've been in my final rotation for about two weeks now and I think I am ready to give you all a quick tour of the members of the lab and the general questions being addressed in the lab.

Primary Investigator
Dr. Jianxin You (she goes by "Jen") is an assistant professor at Penn; she joined the school two years ago and is on track for getting tenure in a couple of years. Her research is on the Human Pailloma Virus (HPV). Most strains cause benign warts, genital warts, and in a few cases, persistent infection may lead to cervical cancer in women (the second most common cancer in women).

To understand her research interests I will have to give you a really quick primer on HPV genomics; HPV is a DNA virus which maintains its genome an independent circular episome within the nucleus. The major way that HPV maintains its episome within the host cells is by physically tethering the episome to host chromosomes so that, when cells divide, the episomes are similarly segregated among the daughter cells. A major constituent of this "tether" had been previously found to be a viral protein (called "E2"), but it was not certain how this protein bound to host chromosomes. Jian published an important paper in 2005 that demonstrated that the E2 protein binds to both the HPV genome (which was already very well established) but also to a host protein called Brd4, which is a chromatin-associating protein. Ever since that paper she has been focused on elucidating all the functions and implications host Brd4 may have on HPV gene expression, viral persistence in the host, etc. Her lab uses a variety of experimental approaches including proteomics, molecular biology, and cell biology based techniques.

I got interested in Jian's research after she gave a "chalk talk" back in September (chalk talks were short presentations given by faculty where they explained their research and possible rotation projects). I was also really interested in working in a lab where I could expand my technique repertoire beyond nucleic acid work (i.e. I am getting tired of PCR!!!).

So far Jian has been giving me a lot of one-on-one time, which I really like. I've been reading a LOT of papers to get some background on HPV and on Brd4, etc, and then reviewing what I learned with Jian to make sure I am getting up to speed.

Jian has a small lab, and currently does not have any permanent graduate students (mostly because she is so new), though a couple have rotated with her.

Post Docs
There are three post docs in Jian's lab, although technically Jing has a full-time position. They are all originally from China and have spent varying amounts of time in the US:

Junpeng Yan is a relatively quiet but really nice and friendly post doc, and he shares the other half of my bench (so he's my benchmate). He is currently working on elucidating possible Histone Acetyl Transferase (HAT) activity in Brd4 and a special fusion protein Brd4Nut, which is present in a really rare but very aggressive carcinoma. After a few days of warming up to each other, he is a bit more talkative with me (I think he's just shy) and has been really helpful with finding reagents/equipment and answering basic questions.

Sunny Li is another post-doc, and though she's not as quiet as Junpeng, they are both always pretty busy so I haven't gotten to know her very well yet. She is a little more direct but just as helpful as Junpeng when I've been trying to find things in the lab. Sunny is working on a couple of projects, but one of her bigger ones is further elucidating Brd4/E2 interactions.

Jing Jiao is a full time research specialist in the lab. She has been at Penn for a couple of years now in another lab and recently moved to Jian's lab (this past December). We are both learning together where everything is in lab. She does a lot of tissue culture and bacteria work, but I'm not entirely sure what she is working on.

All three of them are super friendly and really nice, and I have enjoyed getting to know them bit by bit over the past two weeks. They are really focused and busy most of the time, so there isn't as much chit-chat during the day, but that hasn't bothered me so far.

Undergraduates
There are two undergrads in the You lab. Susan is an upperclassman (I think a senior?), and she has worked in the lab for a while now. This semester she is wrapping things up and organizing her research, so I am pretty sure she is done once this semester ends. She comes in once a week for a couple of hours so I don't interact with her very much, but she seems nice enough.

The other undergrad, Sante, is working in the lab as a technician. I think he is a second or third year. He comes in most every day in the afternoon and works for a couple of hours, but he is very, very quiet and keeps to himself so I haven't gotten to know him at all so far.

And that's basically everyone in the lab. They are all pretty quiet and keep to themselves mostly, but when engaged they are really friendly and helpful, and so far this hasn't bothered me. Unlike Dr. Fraser's lab, which was similarly quiet, there is a much stronger sense of collaboration between everyone, and I don't feel nearly as isolated as I did in Dr. Fraser's lab.

As for my own project, I am initially working on characterizing and troubleshooting a GFP-tagged E2 construct which could be used as a means of visualizing HPV episomes in cells (the construct has already been made, I am just characterizing and assaying it). I am also reading A LOT, and I may get new project ideas as my reading progresses.

So far things are going well and I think it will be a good final rotation. I'll be keeping you updated!