I recently attended the Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Research
Conference at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg, VA.
This weekend was a really fun time to network with other students and research
professionals. While at the conference I was able to present some of the
research I have been doing this semester with the van Hoek lab on the SciTech
campus.
The van Hoek lab focuses on Francisella tularensis, a bacterium
classified as a Tier I, category A bio-threat. Due to the highly infectious
nature of this bacteria, it is super important to understand it and how to
treat it. I first became interested in this work when I came to Mason as a
freshmen and heard about “the lab looking for new antibiotics in Komodo
dragons.” Turns out that lab was Dr. van Hoek’s and now I have the privilege of
working with her.
My project focuses on studying
antimicrobial peptides against strains of Francisella.
An antimicrobial peptide (AMP) is a molecule produced by the innate immune
system that targets bacterial cells infecting the host. What’s super cool about
AMPs is that they have been conserved throughout evolution, this means humans
have them, birds, reptiles, other mammals, you name it, we all have AMPs. In
the last 100 years we have seen multiple bacteria to develop resistance to
antibiotics, but in the millions of years of evolution bacteria have not
evolved to evade AMPs. Therefore, we are studying AMPs as a potential new
source of antibiotic treatments. My project specifically studies peptides
isolated from Komodo dragon, American Alligator, and Chinese Cobra against
different strains of Francisella to
see if these peptides have antimicrobial activity against Francisella. I am also developing a novel procedure to study these
peptides against Francisella tularensis
NIH B38, which requires special media to grow.
My project is fairly new and
we do not have enough data to make conclusions yet. However, I have really enjoyed
my research with the van Hoek lab so far, and I am so glad I had the chance to
share my research with the Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Research Conference.
