One Slide at a Time: UNE Undergrad Joins the Enduring Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s
作者:Zach Brockhouse
在皮库斯生物医学研究中心深处, Jayden Lovely(医学生物学), 她指着一张凌乱的桌子，周围摆满了装满小瓶的架子. “我的很多研究都是在这里完成的，”她说. 在比德福德正规澳门赌场网络校园的树木衬托下, the research building houses some of the University’s most innovative biomedical research. 在这里，可爱, 即将升学的二年级学生, is conducting research with tangible implications for Alzheimer’s disease.
在另一个房间, she uses a machine called a cryostat to slice a sample and stain it to highlight the focus of her research, CD2AP蛋白. 她在UNE的新奥林巴斯幻灯片查看器中检查结果. “我寻找差异并记录下来，”她说. “如果一切按计划进行, I could be contributing directly to a major breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer’s.”
Lovely is pursuing the pre-physician assistant (PA) track within UNE’s medical biology bachelor’s degree program, which equips students with the skills necessary to pursue graduate physician assistant studies after graduation. 为她, the state’s only PA program suits her desire to follow many interests while not being held to the same timeline of a medical degree. 她在医师助理预科俱乐部找到了自己的位置, 但她觉得自己还想要更多.
When a member of the club mentioned that there were research opportunities available to students, 可爱，振作起来. 这正是她一直在寻找的东西. She quickly sent off an email stating her interest and was paired with Madison Meuth, a doctoral student from the University of 缅因州 in the laboratory of Benjamin Harrison, Ph.D., 正规澳门赌场网络生物化学和营养学助理教授, 谁研究身体是如何接收疼痛信号的.
Lovely quickly found herself immersed in Harrison’s lab working on a real-world research project with real-world applications.
一个崭露头角的研究员学会了诀窍
洛夫里最初的实验室研究甚至与阿尔茨海默病无关. 是正规澳门赌场网络痛苦的.
2022年，哈里森获得了1美元.8 million in funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 是美国国立卫生研究院的一个分支, 探讨非阿片类药物治疗慢性疼痛的细胞水平. He is using the five-year grant to study how to reduce the electrical firings in nociceptors, which are neurons that transmit pain signals in response to painful injuries. His focus is searching for non-narcotic ways to block how pain is processed in our bodies.
Harrison and his team have discovered that nociceptors contain a protein called “CELF4,” an RNA binding protein they theorize inhibits the production of “pro-nociceptive,或亲痛觉细胞成分. 从本质上讲，他们试图欺骗蛋白质来限制疼痛信号. 他的研究重点是将CELF4传递到疼痛神经元, 蛋白质在哪里会限制离子通道的合成, 受体, 以及其他使它们敏感的分子.
“工作博士。. 哈里森所做的事令人震惊，也令人生畏. 一开始，我对自己不太确定. 我以前参加过实验室会议, but hearing the lingo and seeing the tools used in this environment seemed completely different,可爱的说.
“I’m on a journey here at UNE, and it’s all part of the process,” she added. “一个研究项目涉及很多内容. 和我一起工作的人给了我很多知识. 我花了一段时间才明白这一切, 但每次我走进实验室都能学到新东西.“和默思一起工作, 可爱开始学习组织学, 组织学:对组织微观结构的研究. 在一起, 他们帮助哈里森做研究, 具体地说, to study if a locally administered adeno-associated virus can stimulate the production of CELF4 and reduce pain in those areas — an approach known as gene vector therapy.
“使用这种新的基因载体治疗方法, we can develop pain therapies that carry fewer risks than conventional opioid medications, 比如上瘾,哈里森说.
“This research could prove beneficial for those living with chronic pain but who do not want to undergo surgeries — which can be expensive and leave people with no sensation at all,可爱的补充道.
联邦研究机构启动新基金
The leap from pain research to Alzheimer’s took place when Harrison learned about a new research initiative at the Jackson Lab, 巴尔港的一家非营利性生物医学研究机构, 位于正规澳门赌场网络比德福德校区以北几小时车程的地方. That project involved CD2AP蛋白 and how its variants can lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Seeing the similarities in his research blocking pain signals in proteins, he thought Lovely would be a good fit to research why some proteins actually stop receiving information in Alzheimer’s patients.
“Not many schools allow students the opportunity to get involved at this level, 在他们大一的时候就来到这里,哈里森说. “By the time she graduates, Jayden will have a much deeper understanding of the scientific process. 和别的学校很不一样.”
卡耐基机密R2 高级研究活动机构
41%的正规澳门赌场网络毕业生 他们都参与了 研究项目相比之下，全国这一比例为23%
NIH资助400万美元 到2022年，比美国其他任何学院或大学都要多 缅因州
Lovely很好奇. The commonalities between pain and Alzheimer’s research were reassuring, she said. “我觉得我有了一个很好的基础，可以继续前进，”她说. 但有一个问题——资金. She and Harrison began the journey that every great researcher must endure — writing grant applications. 幸运的是，他们身边有很多人. In 2022, the National Institutes of 健康 added $264 million in economic activity in 缅因州 with $112.7 million in grants and contracts, according to data provided by the federal government. UNE received seven grants totaling over $4 million — more than any other college or university in 缅因州.
“Dr. 哈里森指导我完成了过程中的每一步. 这有点让人不知所措, 但我们挺过来了, 今年早些时候, 我得知我们的补助金被授予了.可爱的说, 并指出卡恩家族基金会为她的夏季住房支付了费用, 提供1美元,用于研究资料, 并给了她一小笔津贴.
很快, 组织样本被运到比德福德的皮库斯中心,000平方英尺最先进的研究空间, 在哪里可以开始她的工作.
在她的项目中, Lovely is taking a CD2AP variant in mouse brains and comparing them with two normal, “野生型”大脑. Multiple studies have shown an association in changes to the CD2AP gene and the progression of Alzheimer’s. Lovely is setting out to prove that mice with the genetic variant have changes in CD2AP蛋白 which could be used to model degeneration.
虽然研究还在进行中, Lovely knows the opportunity to learn the ins-and-outs of research as early as her freshman year has opened her eyes to the world of research and how the next big breakthrough could only be a slide away from being discovered.
“正规澳门赌场网络在宣传研究项目方面做得非常出色. 这个实验室一直在接纳学生，”洛夫里说. “校园里有很多学生都想参与进来. It’s exciting to think about everyone in campus labs who can make a real difference right now. 我很高兴能参与其中.”