In her doctoral dissertation, Patricia Muller shows that copper plays an important role in regulating various biological processes, including cholesterol production.
A surplus of the metal copper can lead to serious liver diseases, such as Wilson's disease. In addition, Muller used microarrays to study the function of the protein COMMD1 in regulating gene activity. COMMD1 is involved in copper metabolism and has been found to regulate the activity of genes involved in immune responses, cell division, and the development of the placenta. This study might be able to contribute to finding new ways to treat cancer and to regulate immune responses.
Patricia Muller will receive her PhD from Utrecht University on March 25. The title of her dissertation is “Transcriptomics as a tool to dissect copper homeostasis and COMMD protein function.”