By Will Conrad
Elmhurst, Illinois
Biology
This summer before my senior year, I studied the role that integrins play in spinal nociception. Don’t understand what that means? Well, neither did I before I started.
It all began during human physiology class the previous fall when I told Professor Lin Aanonsen that I was interested in pain research, her area of expertise. She passed along several papers related to research in proteins called integrins.
Could activation of spinal integrins increase spinal BDNF levels and sensitivity to pain? Eureka! I had found a research question that could be valuable in the field of pain research.
—Will Conrad |
In one paper I read that activation of integrins increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. But what was an integrin? And what did BDNF have to do with anything? After a little review of the literature (Mac is good at preparing you for this fundamental research), and talking with Professor Aanonsen, I found my answers—and some new questions.
It turns out integrins are proteins found in the membrane of almost every cell, and they connect the extracellular matrix (ECM, stuff that gives a tissue its structure) with the cytoskeleton (stuff that gives a cell its structure).
What’s particularly interesting about this? Nothing. But a new study of integrins shows that when they bind to the ECM they start intracellular signal cascades that can actually change the cell! In 2000, Professor Aanonsen’s lab (with students like me) discovered that injection of BDNF into the mouse spinal cord increased a mouse’s sensitivity to heat. Could activation of spinal integrins increase spinal BDNF levels and sensitivity to pain? Eureka! I had found a research question that could be valuable in the field of pain research.
I pored over the literature again, met with Professor Aanonsen countless times, and developed experiments to improve the understanding of spinal integrins. In conducting those experiments, I got tons of lab experience and learned techniques I hope to use in a future career. Extracting tissue, running gels and testing paw withdrawal latency became everyday activities. I grew adept at some esoteric, yet essential, techniques.
I spent my summer answering a question I came up with independently and learned all the techniques necessary to accomplish my goal. Too bad it all had to end with the summer. No, wait! It didn’t! I turned my summer research project into an honors thesis.
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