Highlighting the robust nature of undergraduate research at Loyola Marymount University, several student scientists have co-authored a major paper on toxic proteins associated with type 2 diabetes published in the current issue of the journal Biochemistry.
The paper, which examines how killer proteins disrupt pancreatic cells and their ability to produce insulin, is the work of two LMU undergraduates and a 2010 graduate in biochemistry at the Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering. They teamed with a visiting undergraduate from a French university.
Lead author Ayano Fox, a senior in biochemistry, was awarded one of the Seaver College undergraduate summer research grants for 2010. The other authors are Thibaut Snollaerts ’10; Camille Errecart Casanova, from Universite de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour; and Anastasia Calciano, a junior biochemistry major at LMU.
The team was led and mentored by David A. Moffet, assistant professor of biochemistry, and Luiza A. Nogaj, assistant professor of biology at Mount Saint Mary’s College of Los Angeles, who also co-authored the paper.
Moffet, who has done research on amyloid proteins in Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes, praised the four students, calling them “hard working, of course bright, and industrious.” The paper was published online as a highlighted article, which is an indication of its importance. Publication in Biochemistry is the mark of substantial, peer-reviewed approval for the research which analyzed how toxic amyloid forms in type 2 diabetes.
“They are not spectators in science here,” Moffet said. “They are actually doing the work.”
Gary A. Kuleck, associate dean for research and associate professor of biology, described the work as a major advance in “understanding the mechanism that causes the formation of toxic proteins in the pancreas, which is the first step in creating a drug therapy to prevent it.”
“This is a phenomenal success story at the very early stages of their careers,” he said.
The research was conducted during 2009 and 2010, using an Asylum atomic force microscope and a Bio-Rad imaging system. The high-tech equipment made it possible to identify the “sticky” portion of the protein. It is this aberrant, sticky nature that causes the proteins to clump together and become toxic to the pancreas cells.
This research is the direct result of “a strategic decision” to make major upgrades to equipment and research programs for undergraduates at Seaver College,” said Richard Plumb, dean of Seaver College.
“We were able to obtain more than $3 million in congressional appropriations over a three-year period to support our research,” Plumb added. “Now, we are seeing the fruits of this effort.”
The microscope was obtained with an Air Force Office of Scientific Research earmark appropriation of $1.7 million, while the imaging system was funded by a W. M. Keck Foundation grant for $300,000. The work was supported by a $165,000 research grant from the National Institutes of Health to Moffet to study amyloid biochemistry.