Kendall administering Dorosphila embryos into secondary antibody solution to test antibody quality for usage in confocal microscopy.
Author: Kendall Miller | Major: Biology | Semester: Spring 2023
My name is Kendall Miller, and I am majoring in Biology. I have been in my Spring 2023 semester of research, and my future plans include attending a Dental School with the hopes of becoming an Orthodontist. My research mentor is Dr. Adam Paré, a Department of Biological Sciences member.
My research is analyzing the formation of cellular compartment boundaries in Drosophila. More specifically, I am analyzing the importance of the cell-surface protein Ten-m and its interactions with the Leucine-rich repeat receptor Tartan. To analyze these connections, I will observe protein distributions in Drosophila with several ten-m variants. Understanding which protein domains within the Ten-m cell-surface protein are most relevant to Ten-m protein distributions could allow further insights into how cellular compartment boundaries possibly play a role in wound healing.
To this point, my research experience has been adapting and learning with every section of my project. I have learned significant amounts of information related to convergent extension and compartment boundary formation in Drosophila to build a contextual foundation that has been necessary to understand and grasp the depth of the procedures I am undertaking. I met my mentor, Dr. Adam Paré, in early 2021 when I interviewed him on his research in Developmental Biology. I found his research on Toll Receptors and Compartment Boundary formation interesting, and when I became a student in his Genetics course, I inquired further. We came upon my research topic by analyzing what projects had previously been undertaken in his lab and finding that the greater understanding of the role of Ten-m protein was weak. Given that, we decided that an analysis of the Ten-m cell-surface protein was warranted.
The most significant challenges during this process manifested as building skills in making connections across biological systems and learning the interactions and connections of various biomolecules and receptors, such as Tartan and Ten-m. I overcame these issues by reading many of my mentor’s previous publications and other landmark publications in Drosophila-focused Developmental Biology. Another issue that I had to face was my initial frustrations with the scientific process. Though one may follow procedures properly, they may not yield the expected, or even viable, results. My solution for this was learning through trial and error and understanding that it takes time to fine-tune procedures, but through determination, you can prevail.
Dr. Paré has been the most integral individual in my research. He provided me with relevant research publications, fielded any questions, and fostered an interest in developmental biology that propelled my research forward. Through his mentorship, I have become familiar with the necessary context, procedures, and goals to adequately research the roles of Ten-m and Tartan in compartment boundary formation. Moreover, the many graduate students and other undergraduate students within Dr. Paré’s lab have been extraordinarily helpful in developing this project, solving errors, and discussing possible results.
At this point, I am continuing cooperative work on finishing the plasmids required for the creation of the transgenic fly lines we will analyze for data collection. So for this Summer and Fall, we will continue developing these plasmids, developing and screening these fly lines to create stable populations that will produce Ten-m variant Drosophila embryos that can be used for antibody staining and observation through confocal microscopy. Though the process has been slow and fraught with difficulties in developing the Ten-m truncate plasmid, I am hoping to have stable populations by the end of the Summer.