Since the
summer of 2014, I have been working the Bishop Group led by Dr. Barney Bishop. The
group is working on finding cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) from serum
in order to find alternatives to traditional antibiotics due to the increasing
number of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
To find
CAMPs, hydrogel particles are used to harvest the serum of reptiles and other
animals. These particles contain an outer layer that has an affinity towards
positively charged peptides (cations). Initially, I began synthesizing monomers
under the direction of Dr. Yaling Zhu for use on the outer layer of the
particles.
Currently,
my research is continuing along those lines but with an additional component.
One of the monomers that has been being used is methacrylic-6-aminohexanoic
acid (MA6ACA). I am currently attempting to add an additional organic molecule,
2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (C2H7NO3S), to the end of the
MA6ACA. In order to do this, the carboxylic end of the MA6ACA needs to be
functionalized using an acyl substitution reaction. Once this is done, the C2H7NO3S
can be added.
After
completing this, the new monomer will be used to create the outer layer of the
hydrogel particles and serum will be harvested. The results will be analyzed
using mass spectrometry to find if there is an additional benefit in finding
CAMPs.
I plan on
pursuing a PhD in materials science and performing this research has shown me
what that will entail in regards to giving presentations on my research and
figuring out how to deal with issues when a reaction does not go as planned. I
say that because the first two reactions I performed this semester both failed
and figuring out why and how to correct it proved to be more difficult than I
had initially expected.
