Six undergrads present research at national meeting

Six University of Delaware Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scholars presented their research into the genetic and molecular characteristics of cancer, heart disease, cystic fibrosis and disorders such as autism at the Experimental Biology meeting in Orlando, Fla., March 29-April 4, and three brought home honors.

The meeting brought 10,000 members of seven life science organizations together to exchange information and be recognized for special contributions in the field of biological sciences research.

Making presentations at the Undergraduate Research Poster Session sponsored by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology were, Jennifer Crocco AS 2002, Melissa Kuchar HNS 2002, Nicole Hill AS 2002, Jaimie Robinson AS 2003, Jennifer Rutan AS 2001 and Michael Usher AS 2002. The six were accompanied by faculty members Gregory Stephens and David Usher, biological sciences, and Harold White, chemistry and biochemistry.

Crocco, Rutan, and Usher were cited for their work.

Crocco, a junior majoring in biochemistry, received a first place award in the poster competition for research she and graduate student Jennifer L Brosius are doing on an enzyme that is deficient in people with mental retardation, autism, muscle wasting and epilepsy.

Crocco is examining the characteristics of genetically altered bacterial adenylosuccinate lyase (ASL), an enzyme that mimics defective ASL in humans. She's found abnormal characteristics in two mutant enzymes that could account for low ASL activity in people who have these disorders. Her adviser, Roberta F. Colman, chemistry and biochemistry, said Crocco deserved the distinction. "She worked really hard and accomplished a tremendous amount," Colman said.

Usher, a junior majoring in biotechnology, won honorable mention for research into a precise method for repairing lethally mutated genes, such as those found in the cells of people who have cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia or Tay-Sach's disease. Usher works with Howard B. Gamper Jr,, a scientist in biological sciences.

Usher's adviser, Eric B. Kmiec, biological sciences, is renowned in the field of DNA repair and recombination. A major focus of the Kmiec laboratory is in the area of "targeted gene repair," a process invented by Kmiec. Usher is looking for a way to increase repair efficiency by more precisely influencing the fusing of lethally mutated genes.

Kmeic said he was pleased but not surprised that Usher won recognition at the Orlando meeting. "Michael is a terrific undergraduate researcher who has contributed significantly to our effort in understanding gene repair...he has achieved a great deal of respect from the graduate students, postdocs and research associates in our lab. I'm glad to see that excellence recognized."

Rutan, a senior majoring in biotechnology and history, who represented a team that includes Michael Usher, Matthew Russell, Robin Davis, Shui QingYe and Greg Stephens, was selected by the Portland Press/Biochemical Journal for an honorable mention award. Their work focuses on identifying genes responsible for coronary artery disease. Her research, supervised by David C. Usher (Michael's father) and Robert C. Hodson, biological sciences, involves the evolution of fat producing apolipoproteins in the blood stream. ?

Rutan is using turtle blood to understand how apolipoproteins, similar to those in humans and present in turtle blood, have maintained their structure despite 300 million years of evolution.

Usher, who accompanied the group, said he was extremely pleased, noting that Rutan has always been an outstanding student, so outstanding that while they were in Orlando, faculty from Duke and North Carolina State universities were actively trying to recruit her. "One even offered her a 'signing bonus,'" he said. When Rutan graduates in May, she'll go to North Carolina State.

Usher said he was proud of all of them. "They were absolutely professional," he said. "They made the University of Delaware look impressive."

Kuchar, a junior majoring in medical technology, is working on a protein found in snake venom that keeps cancer from spreading in mice. She is advised by Mary Ann McLane, medical technology, who said Kuchar has been wonderful to work with. "She has been a delight to have in the laboratory. She is a team player, never hesitant to help in addition to her own experiments." Her work is so outstanding, McLane said, that she received a Research in Progress Award from the academic honor society, Phi Kappa Phi.

Kuchar is trying to identify the amino acids that are critical to the binding process in eristostatin's interaction with melanoma cells. McLane said understanding the binding process is "the first step toward discovering how eristostatin is able to prevent this metastasis."

Hill, a junior majoring in biotechnology, represented herself and Andres Laib at the poster session. She and Laib are studying a genetic disorder called anhydrotic ectodermal dysplasia (EDA) that results in dysfunctional sweat glands, poorly developed teeth and premature balding.

Hill found that mutated ectodysplasin, a protein involved in cellular signaling, is present in both humans and mice with EDA. But, mice with this defective protein also develop kinks in their tails. While examining the genetic make-up of kinked tails, Hill discovered that these mice have bone characteristics not found in normal mice, indicating that people with EDA may also have bone defects.

Robinson, a junior majoring in biochemistry, is part of the Mueller group. Eugene G. Mueller, chemistry and biochemistry, is the head of a laboratory that examines the way enzymes catalyze reactions. Enzymes are proteins that facilitate the chemical processes of life without being altered themselves. Robinson is tracking the enzymatic activity encoded by an E.coli gene when it is put into yeast to make 4-thiouridine, a chemical in RNA. Mueller called Robinson "a very gifted student" whose quality of work and efforts have been "exemplary."

White, who directs UD's Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Biology Education Program, said attending the meeting was an education for these students. "The experience of being at a competition and realizing what the field is really like, of having to communicate to judges what they've done and show how well they've internalized their work will have a lot of meaning for them down the road," White said.

He said the trip to Orlando held an added bonus for the six HHMI students. While exhibiting their research posters, they were visited by Thomas Cech, president of HHMI and the 1989 Nobel laureate in chemistry, who quizzed them about their projects.

–Barbara Garrison

Photo by KATHY FLICKINGER