Lab Member

Caroline Kumsta, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

E-Mail: ckumsta@umich.edu

Caroline earned her degree as a Diplom Biologist (similar to a Masters of Science degree ) from the Technical University of Munich. She received a scholarship from the Bavarian Research Foundation ("Bayerische Forschungsstiftung") which enabled her to conduct her diploma thesis in the Jakob lab. In her thesis “RrmJ – a 23S r RNA methyltransferase under heat shock control” Caroline analyzed the oxidative stress sensitivity of the rrmJ deletion strain using 2D gel electrophoresis and pulse chase experiments. Additionally, she constructed an E. coli strain with a mutation at the methylation site of the RNA methyltransferase RrmJ, and analyzed this homogenous ribosome population for assembly and stability.

Caroline decided to stay in the lab for her subsequent PhD thesis and completely switched gears in terms of her research interests. Fascinated by worms, her Ph.D. project investigated the influence of oxidative stress on Caenorhabditis elegans aging. She analyzed the effects of oxidative stress (peroxide stress) on behavior, lifespan and physiology of various long- and short-lived C. elegans mutants and quantified oxidative thiol modifications using redox proteomic techniques such as differential thiol-trapping combined with 2D gel electrophoresis and OxICAT, a technique developed in the Jakob lab. Her research was funded by a Ph.D. fellowship from Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds.

Caroline defended and graduated in October 2008 and is currently expanding upon her thesis research in the lab.