My spring semester of my junior year I took Biology of Cancer (Biol 450). Biology of Cancer was an upper level elective focused on understanding the hallmarks of cancer and the mechanisms of each of them. In lab for that class, we did a project comparing the estrogen receptor activation by parabens versus brominated parabens. Parabens have been known to activate the estrogen receptor and can result in the over proliferation of cells which eventually lead to the formation of breast cancer. In the lab, we changed the structure of paraben by adding bromines on the 3 and 5 position of the paraben and found that the brominated parabens decreased cell proliferation which means that they are a possible therapeutic approach to new treatment or prevention of breast cancer.
I was taking Biology of Cancer (Biol 450) the same semester I first started research in a tumor immunology research lab on campus with a professor. My research focused on how a naturally occurring plant stilbene, Resveratrol, can enhance the anti-tumor efficacy of chimeric PD1-expressing T cells. I tested this in the murine breast cancer cell line, E0771. Learning how to perform an MTT proliferation assay and LDH (lactose dehydrogenase) assay in the Biology 450 lab was beneficial because I felt confident repeating these protocols in a research lab setting. So far, I have concluded from my research that Resveratrol decreases T cell proliferation but did not alter T cell survival and incubation with resveratrol increased chimeric PD1 T cell killing of tumor cells. Therefore, the combination of chPD1 T cells and Resveratrol may lead to enhanced anti-tumor efficacy.
As of now I am finishing up by research by investigating and analyzing the cytokine secretion by the chPD1 T cells using ELISA and LegendPlex analysis. I get to present my research at the 2019 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in April this year. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to network with other scientists around the country and to present my findings to people who research similar things. This experience will definitely help me when I am applying to jobs and eventually even graduate school in the future.