Project Grant R01GM166704

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded the University of California, Davis $1.624736 million under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859) on August 1, 2026.

The award funds research into morphological reprogramming of the endoplasmic reticulum by cellular mucins. The project tests the hypothesis that transmembrane mucins act as membrane curvature generators on the luminal face of the endoplasmic reticulum to regulate its structure, function, and interactions with other organelles. The research aims to determine how transmembrane mucins generate forces to regulate endoplasmic reticulum structure and function, identify the molecular determinants governing mucin accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum, and investigate downstream consequences of mucin-reprogrammed endoplasmic reticulum on mitochondria and other interacting organelles. The investigative approach combines genetic engineering of mucin molecular structure and expression control with state-of-the-art imaging, including expansion microscopy for endoplasmic reticulum morphology resolution, spectral imaging for organelle interaction analysis, and optical reporters for quantitative protein trafficking analysis. The project will develop new optical biosensors to directly measure entropic forces hypothesized to underlie membrane curvature generation.

Performance occurs in Davis, California. The period of performance runs from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2030.