Kat Lexa '05 (Santa Rosa, Calif.), a veteran summer science researcher, is teaming up with rising sophomore Amanda Salisburg '08 (Duanesburg, N.Y.) to conduct alpha-fetoprotein research this summer under the advisement of Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields and Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner.
Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a naturally occurring protein made up of eight amino acids produced by a fetus. It can be found in the blood of pregnant mothers. It is also found in newborn babies until they are about one year old; after this time, the protein is no longer produced or prevalent in the system. Since the protein is not normally present in adults, the prevalence of the protein usually indicates health issues such as liver disorders and cancer. Salisburg and Lexa will be working to try to find the lowest energy conformation of Alpha-fetoprotein in order to make a pharmacore that can be used to treat and prevent breast cancer using computational chemistry programs. The ultimate goal of the research is designing a new anti-cancer drug.
The project began five years ago with the work of Assistant Professor of Biology Stephen Festin. Collaborating with a researcher at Albany Medical College, Festin had begun work geared toward isolating what AFP targets within the body and what it binds to in order to shut down the development of cancer. Shields said he thought it would be a good complement to that work to study AFP itself, in order to create a "mirror-image of the peptide side," allowing for a better model of the low-energy bond formed between AFP and its receptor. The first student to work on the project was Sam Bono '00, who made it his senior thesis. Other students who have contributed to the project include Jennifer Derby '01, Lorena Hernandez '03, and Damien Ellens '03. Last summer, Lexa '05 worked with Heather Michael '07 and Meghan Dunn '06 to continue the research project. Lexa also continued the subject for her senior thesis.
Although Lexa has been researching the subject for some time, there are still difficulties that come with the research. "The largest difficulty with my research is that virtually nothing is known about first the molecule I am studying, not its structure, not its receptor site, not where in the cellular system it is able to inhibit breast cancer," Lexa explains. Salisburg agrees that sometimes research can be tricky: "It's research, problems happen," she states simply.
Both are enjoying their summer at Hamilton. For Salisburg, a possible chemistry major, it gives her time to learn more about her discipline. For Lexa, she gets to continue researching cancer, a subject she has been interested in since high school biology. Lexa, a recent Hamilton graduate, will attend graduate school this fall and plans to eventually go onto law school to earn a degree in health law/medical patents. Salisburg has tentative plans to go onto medical school and become a practicing physician.
-- by Emily Lemanczyk '05
