November 28, 2017 The first thing I did today interviewed my mentor. I learned more about the overall OCD project as well. I learned that they think the problem is with overall initiation of sending a signal in the brain. Specifically, they are looking at a region of the brain called the stratum. In that region of the brain, there are D1 and D2 glutamate transporters. These are proteins located in the cell membrane that allow the neurotransmitter glutamate into and out of the cell. These glutamate transporters are controlling how often and for how long dopamine is going through the dopamine receptors. They lab is trying to figure out how the glutamate transporters are regulating the dopamine receptors. Afterwards, I observed a brain dissection. Through the specific method used at the lab, they are able to keep the brain sliced alive for 4-5 hours until they do electrophysiology. The key is to keep the slices in a solution that has glucose for energy, low calcium to slow neuron firings, and ice to keep it cold. While doing the procedure there are two important things to keep in mind: 1.) precision and 2.) speed. You have to be careful and quick when you do the dissection. Finally, I did gel electrophoresis with leftover DNA samples from earlier that day. The samples did not turn out well this morning and they did not turn out well when I did them. When I asked a graduate student she said it was most likely the DNA samples that had a problem. Gel electrophoresis is used to identify DNA. DNA is negatively charged due to its phosphate and sugar backbone. So, when the DNA is put into the gel that is polarized, the DNA is attracted to the positive pole and moves towards it. The DNA can be differentiated because different it is cut into different lengths. Short length strands of DNA going through the semi-porous gel easier than longer strands. So, the shorter lengths will be farther through the gel. This causes lines to appear in the gel. The lines can be identified as specific genes based on a ladder.
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Note: Every response is paraphrased. I was unable to write down exactly what my mentor said, so I went off of my notes.
Where in Italy are you from? I am from Siena How did you end up at the University of Albany? When I was looking for a faculty position I sent lots of letters to over 200 universities all over the world. Albany offered me the job. When did you first become interested in neuroscience? When I was an undergraduate, close to the end. I liked the neuroscience unit in my physiology course. At that time I was looking for a research internship. The internship I got involved lots of math and physics and was pretty casual. I learned a lot and knew that I liked a challenge. I also learned that I was good at math and using my hands. So, neuroscience combined everything I knew I wanted to do and what I was good at. Why did you choose to focus on neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases? I like looking at the brain at a molecular level. This allows me to use a bottom up approach to look how individual cells communicate and connect that to the larger picture. In this case, the larger picture is disease. Plus, grants are usually awarded to people trying to improve human health rather than just getting fundamental information on a small aspect of the brain. What lasting effects do you hope your research will have? I hope my research will discover hidden mechanisms of how the brain works. It’s sort of like learning how a car operates. It isn’t really useful information until the car breaks down and you need to repair it. In this case, the car breaking down is the disease, and we are hope the information we are gathering about the brain will help us understand how to eventually cure the diseases. What discoveries have lead up to your current work? 2 things: genetics and engineering. The genetics have led us to understand predisposing factors for OCD and the engineering has given us to the tools to do experiments based on the information we learned from genetics research. What is your favorite aspect of your research? The sense of discovery and learning about the unknown. It makes me feel like a child again. Have you had any major surprising set backs? If there’s a problem, there must be a solution. We just need to find the appropriate solution. I guess you sort of have to be an optimist to do research. November 21, 2017
I did not have my internship this week because of Thanksgiving Break. However, since it is a time to give thanks, I would like my mentor for allowing me to work in the lab with her amazing team and Mr. Calos for helping me organize the internship. Although it is challenging at times, I am glad to have the opportunity to learn more about neuroscience and to gain new laboratory skills. November 14, 2017
Today my mentor was not in the laboratory. So, I observed graduate students doing PCR, or polymerase chain reaction. This is a way of making multiple copies of DNA. They had taken the DNA from mice earlier in the day and were making copies of the DNA to analyze and determine what experiments (if any) were going to be performed on the mice. We had recently talked about PCR in AP Biology, so I was glad I was able to observe it actually being done and learn about how it can be used in the lab. My mentor believes in a process where you observe the first time, help the second time, and then do it by yourself (with observation and help if needed) the third time. As I was observing the first time, I learned where things different tools and things like primers are kept. I had to walk all the way down the hallway to find ice to put the primers and DNA in, so they would “remain fresh” as one person put it. Apparently, this was the fourth time they had taken the DNA from the mice, so they had to be extremely careful not to contaminate anything and make sure their pipetting was correct. This made the process extremely tedious as the plastic tip of the pipet needed to be changed every time. I was at the lab for about 2 and a half hours and we still did not get to finish in that time. However, I took the time to ask questions and was able to learn more about the project as a whole. I learned that the lab videotapes some of the mice to learn common behaviors and compares that to mice with OCD genotypes. Most mice have a normal process of cleaning themselves that involves first their hands, then face, tail, and so forth. However, the mice with OCD genotypes will continuously wash their hands. The lab believes instead of the previous theory that the neuron is unable to stop sending signals to do one action, the part of the signal gets stuck in the synaptic cleft causing the signal the action to be repeated. DNA from mice is then extracted, copied, and analyzed to determine what experiment it will be used for - whether it be looking at the brain on a cellular level or trying to understand it on a molecular level. November 7, 2017
Today was my first day officially helping in the lab. I was using Fiji, an image processing software, to do neuron tracing. Neurons are the cells that make up your brain. The parts of a neuron include the soma, or cell body, dendrites, and an axon. The axon sends neurotransmitters, chemical message, to dendrites. The dendrites receive the neurotransmitters and send the chemicals to the soma to be processed. This allows the neurons to communicate. Today, I was tracing the dendrites and axons of different neurons. The dendrites can be differentiated from the axon by their dendritic spines. These appears to be little door knob like structures protruding off the dendrites. Earlier in the day, other people had injected a neuron from a mouse with a dye in order to see the cell. The lab then used confocal imaging to focus on a specific point, get clear photos slightly off center, and then stitch the stacks of photos together. This left the image that I worked on. I spent most of my time tracing the dendrites using the computer program. We will later look at the number of dendrites and axons in regular mice vs. mutant mice that possess OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) traits in order to compare the concentration and length of dendrites and axons to see if that could be contributing to OCD. Week 1 - October 31, 2017
Today I met with my mentor, Annalisa. The first thing she did was show me and an Emma faculty member around the lab. There were computers, lab equipment, and large machines all around. It was both daunting and exciting. There seems to be so much to learn I feel a little overwhelmed. Hopefully as I get into a routine and become more familiar with the equipment and other people working in the lab things will become clearer. As it is Halloween, there were a few people dressed up and everyone seemed to be in good spirits which I think helped me feel more comfortable in the professional laboratory. I should probably note that I had never been in a laboratory outside of a high school classroom before, so it was extremely exciting and nerve racking to go today. I had no idea what areas I could go into and what I should avoid touching, but I followed Annalisa and everything went well! Everyone was very kind and willing to answer my questions. Annalisa was very willing to accommodate my interests as well. In years previous, girls have used coding to depict neuronal synapses. However, I am more interested in doing hands on lab work. When I told my mentor this, she was immediately on board and said we would try to find things for me to do. Most likely, I will pitch in on multiple projects that other people are working on in the lab. Outside of my internship I will try to learn more about cellular neurophysiology in order for me to better understand what's happening in the lab. I will probably meet with a teacher at my school to go over different topics because it is extremely difficult for me to find time to take an online course. |
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