Kimberly Huggler, an IPiB graduate student, will be defending her Ph.D. research on December 3, 2024. Her research in the Cantor Lab explored genetic and environmental factors contributing to cell growth.
Huggler’s advisor, Jason Cantor, developed a medium for growing cells that mimics nutrient conditions in the human body called Human Plasma-Like Medium (HPLM). Using this medium, Huggler investigated how cell growth is impacted by the deletion of hexokinase 2 (HK2) — an enzyme responsible for facilitating the first step of glucose metabolism. HK2 (as well as HK1, an enzyme with a similar structure and function) is found in a cell’s cytosol and can also dynamically bind to the outer mitochondrial membrane.
Huggler found that in rich nutrient conditions, the absence of HK2 has little impact on cell growth. In HPLM, however, the absence of HK2 inhibits cell growth. Huggler says this discrepancy may be ascribed to conditional differences in localization between HK2 and HK1. HK2 is primarily found in the cytosol regardless of nutrient conditions. In cells grown in HPLM, HK1 is primarily found bound to mitochondrial membranes. However, in a nutrient-rich environment, HK1 can also be found in the cytosol where it compensates for loss of HK2.
“HK2 is commonly upregulated in cancer cells, which tend to consume massively high amounts of glucose relative to cells in surrounding tissue. Understanding more about how and where HK2 is working can help us understand how glucose is being used to fuel cancer cells,” says Huggler. “Limiting glucose access is an attractive treatment for cancer, but HK2 has historically been difficult to target because it’s so similar in structure to HK1. Targeting both enzymes can have adverse toxicity because our bodies can’t function without access to glucose.”
Huggler’s subsequent research investigated why cytosolic HK2 supports cell growth in HPLM. She will continue her research as a postdoctoral researcher in the Cantor Lab.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Huggler served as Recruiting Chair for IPiB’s Graduate Leadership & Development Committee (GLDC). She enjoyed the annual challenge of finding ways to build community for incoming IPiB students visiting the program remotely and for hybrid events.
“We basically had to reinvent student recruitment each of the three years that I served on GLDC,” recalls Huggler. “We came up with some pretty creative ideas, like an online murder mystery party.”
Huggler plans to pursue a career as a hospital-based clinical chemist. In summer 2025, she will begin a two-year clinical chemistry fellowship program at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
To learn more about Huggler’s research, attend her Ph.D. defense, “Investigating genetic and environmental contributions to cell growth” on Tuesday, December 3 at 1:00 p.m. CT in Room 1211 of Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building.