# Gadusol: An ancient sunscreen that protects metazoan development

> **NIH NIH F32** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2024 · $73,828

## Abstract

Project Summary
Sunlight, while essential for life on earth, also produces harmful ultraviolet radiation (UVR) that penetrates the
ozone layer. UVR, particularly UVB, is known to damage organelles and DNA. A variety of UVR-protective
mechanisms have arisen during metazoan evolution. Until recently, melanin was believed to be the only
vertebrate sunscreen. Recently, our lab discovered a novel vertebrate sunscreen named gadusol. Gadusol is
maternally deposited from the ovary to the egg to protect against UV damage during the earliest stages of
development, prior to the production of melanin. We do not yet know the function of zygotically produced
gadusol, after maternally provided gadusol is depleted and fish have developed other UV protective
mechanisms including melanin, skin, and scales. Here, I will investigate both the zygotic function and
evolutionary origins of gadusol. First, I will determine if zygotically produced gadusol acts as a spatially
organized sunscreen and characterize the response to UVR exposure in mutants lacking gadusol and wildtype
controls with single cell RNA sequencing. Second, I will determine if UVR exposure upregulates gadusol
production as a form of protection against future exposures and the mechanism by which this occurs. Third, I
will investigate the evolutionary origins of gadusol, identifying the source and conservation of the gadusol
producing enzymes, eevs and MT-Ox, from algal to metazoan species and identify extant species in which
eevs and MT-Ox are co-expressed with the melanophore master regulator mitf. This project will provide
insights into how this novel vertebrate sunscreen, gadusol, is synthesized and used in vertebrates. My
research project will leverage the strong community of zebrafish researchers, developmental biologists, and
evolutionary geneticists at the University of Utah to learn techniques and develop skills I will take with me to my
own independent research lab.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10903554
- **Project number:** 1F32GM154475-01
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Kristin Lorette Johnson
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $73,828
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-16 → 2026-09-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10903554

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10903554, Gadusol: An ancient sunscreen that protects metazoan development (1F32GM154475-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10903554. Licensed CC0.

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