A Change of Plans
So, it turns out that the project I told you about last time, the one about SMAD translocation and such, won’t be what I will pursue this summer. After conducting nuclear translocation assays testing for the presence of SMADs in the nucleus, we didn’t get the results we would have liked. So, we’re going to put that project on the back burner for now.
Instead, I’ll be working on a similar project involving the nuclear translocation of a different protein…let’s call it “protein X”. This project is similar to the old one because it involves the same experimental techniques and protocols. Basically, we are trying to see whether “protein X” translocates into the nucleus in the presence of certain other molecules. “Protein X” has recently been found to be extremely important in cancer research because of its potential to regulate the cell cycle. Specifically, “protein X” is seen to have anti-apoptotic tendencies. In other words, when activated, “protein X” can prevent cell-mediated death and improve a cell’s reproductive abilities. “Protein X” does this by negating the effects of proteins that promote cell death, and conversely, enhancing the effects of proteins that promote cell proliferation. Nuclear translocation of “protein X”, like the SMADs, is important because “protein X” can regulate cell development through interaction with transcription factors in the nucleus. Again, these transcription factors genetically affect a cell’s development, similar to what happens in the SMAD pathway.
If you’re confused by what I’ve said so far, it’s alright. By no means, at this point, do I understand 100% of exactly what we’re doing. But the most important thing we can do, as Nam has told me, is ask questions. You never know when something will click. On that note, I believe that knowing WHY to do something is more important than knowing HOW to do something.
I’ll leave you with a picture of some endothelial cells I looked at under the fluorescent microscope today. Each one of those red dots you see is a fluorescent antibody “tag” that represents the location of “protein X.”
“Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”
-Confucius
