Ashley McCool
IUUR STEM Summer Research Program
Major: Epidemiology
Mentors: Charles Dann III, Morgan Nyman, Martha Oakley, and Melissa Blunck
The presence of folate receptors (FR) have been linked to varying cancers and several inflammatory diseases. They are commonly overexpressed on cancer causing macrophages and
other tumor causing mechanisms. The target of this experiment was folate receptor-beta and its relationship to the M909 antibody. Antibodies are also known as a Y-shaped protein called an immunoglobulin that helps identify and destroy foregin body cells. The purpose of this experiment was to use plasmids created through the bacterial transformation of DNA plasmids with DH5-alpha and the M909 antibody. Subjecting the sample to site-directed mutagenesis (SDM) with mutant DNA megaprimers to code for the M909 protein could help increase the binding affinity to folate receptor-beta. If a great bond affinity could be achieved, then there is a chance of new and more directed therapies to treat some aggressive cancer types and inflammatory diseases.
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