Jackson and Paré examine the three-dimensional localization of specific proteins within a fruit fly embryo.

Author: Gary Jackson | Major: Biology and Chemistry | Semester: Spring 2023

During the Fall semester of 2022 and the spring semester of 2023, I have been conducting research in the biological sciences department under the guidance of Dr. Adam Paré. Our research seeks to investigate epithelial cells in Drosophila Melanogaster embryos when animals develop into complex, multicellular organisms from a single cell. Our investigation of the organization and communication of epithelial cells during embryonic development possesses many connections to understanding wound healing and cancer formation; many cancers are epithelial, and we look to apply what is learned in our lab using the simple model organism of Drosophila to the more complex process of cancer formation. Dr. Pare’s research is something I find fascinating and has tremendous potential both in the field of developmental biology and in the future of cancer research. When reading two of his research papers (Pare et al. 2014 and Pare et al. 2019), I knew this was research I would love to be involved in, leading to me becoming a member of his lab.

In my research project, I am investigating the role of the protein ten-M, a highly conserved protein at cell-cell interfaces. In Drosophila, it is known that compartment boundaries form where cell populations that express Tartan protein contact cell populations that do not. Furthermore, it is known that Tartan directly interacts with teneurin-m (Ten-m) protein and that this interaction is most likely responsible for compartment boundary formation. Evaluating the relationship of Ten-m with Dr. Pare, we infer that the presence of Ten-m at a cell-cell interface causes a given interface to become a compartment boundary. However, the exact details of how Tartan and Ten-m physically interact are currently unknown.

My initial goal was to remove regions of the Ten-m protein to create truncated versions of the protein. By evaluating the changes in the formation of compartment boundaries (or their lack of formation), I theorized that I would be able to identify what regions of the Ten-m were critical in interacting with Tartan. After consulting with my research professor and investigating multiple relevant scientific articles, we developed a plan to isolate the gene of the protein followed by removing regions of the Ten-m gene responsible for the desired regions of the Ten-m protein and stabilizing the truncated genes in plasmids to reintroduce into the genome of the Drosophila. However, creating these genes was something I have found challenging, and I have currently been unsuccessful in doing so. Yet, this challenge has pushed me to look at investigating regions of Ten-m in a different light. I am modifying my experiment to isolate which regions of Ten-m interact with Tartan without removing any regions of Ten-m through existing developmental biology research techniques, which should allow me to circumvent the difficulty of creating a stable truncated Ten-m gene.

While my research has not yet yielded the desired results, I am very optimistic about my project’s future, the resilience I’ve shown, and how much I have grown in my understanding of research. Dr. Pare has been a phenomenal research PI and has taken the time to mentor me in my skills while also helping me grow as a researcher. He has helped teach me progress is not always linear, but persevering through challenges and putting in the work to find success is just as important as the results themself.

As I enter the Fall 2023 semester, I look forward to collaborating with graduate students in my lab to expand my resources to complete my project. Much of our work overlaps, and as a firm believer in teamwork, I believe our collaboration will push us further than working individually. I plan on attending a developmental biology conference in late July to continue to improve my understanding of developmental biology and learn about the groundbreaking work done on different fronts in research labs across the nation. I hope to soon contribute to the growing body of research in the field of Developmental Biology and cannot wait to see the direction my research project takes in this next year.