SRAP Student Spotlight: Danielle, Liver Damage and Cell Digestion

SRAPer: Danielle Obando

 Home State: Florida

 Year in school: Junior

 Plans after high school: Attend Stanford, studying forensic science or veterinary medicine.

 

For Danielle Obando, her interests in the science fields are a family affair.
“My grandpa was an engineer, so that got me into mathematics,” says Danielle. “After that, I started joining math and science competitions at school.”
Danielle’s interest in math and science led her to SRAP, where she is working with Yinan Hua, a graduate student in Dr. Sreejayan Nair’s Pharmacy lab. Along with her fellow SRAP lab mate, Esmeralda, Danielle is studying cathepsin k, an enzyme found in the lysosome of cells. The lysosome is responsible for the breakdown of waste material and cellular debris. It is believed that cathepsin k can help with the control and treatment of certain diseases, such as heart disease.
“My project studies the effect of cathepsin k on the liver, but with my project, we’re studying the effects on starved mice,” says Danielle. “We’re just seeing how autophagy is different between the wild-type mice and the starved mice.”
Autophagy is the degradation or self-digestion of a cell or cellular components. Along with understanding how autophagy effects starved and healthy mice differently, Danielle is studying how cathepsin k can be used to help restore damage in the liver.
Danielle is enjoying the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience outside of the classroom.
“I like that we’re able to use a lot of equipment we wouldn’t be able to use in our high school,” she says.
SRAP is a six-week long intensive research program based at the University of Wyoming and sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR. It concluded Friday, July 19^th with formal presentations by Danielle and her fellow SRAPers.

By Robin E. Rasmussen

SRAP Student Spotlight: Esmeralda and Liver Damage

SRAPer: Esmerelda Soto

From: Colorado
Year: Junior
Plans: Attend university and possibly major in communications

 

For most people, the differences between writing and math skills are distinct. Esmeralda Soto, however, enjoys both. Her interests in both subjects, especially writing, are coming in useful this summer during her participation in SRAP where she is not only conducting scientific research, but also writing a scientific research paper.

For her SRAP project, Esmeralda is learning about a field she’s never worked in – pharmaceutical research.
“We’re studying how cathepsin K can restore liver damage caused by aging,” says Esmeralda. “We’re trying to see if using this protein can restore that damage.”
Cathepsin K is an enzyme found in the lysosome of cells. The lysosome is responsible for the breakdown of waste material and cellular debris. It is believed that cathepsin K could help with the control and treatment of certain diseases, such as heart disease.
Esmerelda is working with Dr.Sreejayan Nair and graduate student Yinan Hua in the Pharmacy department at the University of Wyoming. She is enjoying her work, and is excited about the future impact of her research.
“I like seeing how it can help,” says Esmeralda. “Because a lot of the damage is alcohol related, if we find that cathepsin K can help restore the liver, then we can probably help a lot of people.”
Whether Esmeralda decides to pursue a degree in the STEM fields, or in communications, as she is currently thinking, she’s already ahead in the game with the skills she learned participating in the SRAP program.
SRAP is a six-week long intensive research program based at the University of Wyoming and sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR.

 

By Robin E. Rasmussen and Kali S. McCrackin
Photo by Robin E. Rasmussen

Diabetes, enzymes and fatty livers: Type II diabetes research

Confidence building through science: A glimpse into SRAP research life
The Student Research Apprenticeship Program (SRAP) is a paid summer research program at the University of Wyoming for high school students in tenth through twelfth grade. It is sponsored by Wyoming EPSCoR and funded by the National Science Foundation. This is the fifth of eleven stories about the laboratories where this year’s SRAP students are working.

Kaycee Perez works with Cathepsin K in Dr. Nair's lab.

Diabetes affects almost 26 million people in the United States today. The number of adults with diagnosed diabetes continues to increase, especially as obesity rates increase. While the relationship between diabetes and obesity is well documented, the mechanisms behind the relationship are still being investigated. This summer, Kaycee Perez and Alexzandria Steiner, with their mentors Yinan Hua and Evgeniy Panzhinskiy, graduate students in the lab of Dr. Sreejayan Nair, are working on understanding the role of two enzymes in the relationship between obesity and type II diabetes.

Alexzandria’s work is focused on an enzyme called protein-tryosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) while Kaycee’s research is centered on another enzyme called Cathepsin K.

PTP1B is an enzyme that prevents the actions of insulin in the body. It is part of the development of insulin resistance and obesity. Insulin resistance is when the body does not react to the effects of a normal amount of insulin, so it creates more insulin in order to have the same effect. Cathepsin K is an important part of fat formation in the body. Both projects are looking at how the enzymes impact fatty liver formation in a high-fat diet. Fatty liver is the accumulation of fat in the liver, most often due to insulin resistance.

Alexzandria Steiner works with PTP1B in Dr. Nair's lab.

In order to understand the role these two enzymes play, Kaycee and Alexzandria are using mice treated with a high-fat diet. These mice have been genetically engineered so that they are missing PTP1B in Alexzandria’s project and Cathepsin K in Kaycee’s project.

In the short amount of time Alexzandria and Kaycee have been working in Dr. Nair’s lab, they have come to two conclusions about the enzymes. Alexzandria found that mice without PTP1B do not develop fatty liver formation, despite being on a high-fat diet. Kaycee, on the other hand, found out that even without Cathepsin K, the mice developed fatty-liver formation. Her findings however, indicate that while fatty-liver was formed, the absence of Cathepsin K increased insulin signaling, meaning that insulin resistance decreased.

Dr. Nair is pleased by Kaycee and Alexzandria’s work and their experience in his lab. “The SRAP students get an overview of the process of scientific research and hands-on training on a variety of techniques,” he says.

Kaycee Perez and Alexzandria Steiner in Dr. Nair's lab.

He adds that they bring a valuable experience to his lab. “Oftentimes the SRAP students are trained by graduate students in my lab which provides a good opportunity for the graduate students to assume the role of mentor.”

Alexzandria and Kaycee’s findings are important contributions to studies about diabetes and obesity. They may help identify future treatments and controls for diabetes, as well as raise more questions about the molecular mechanics behind diabetes development.






By Kali S. McCrackin

Photos by Beth Cable