Chemistry and Materials Science Seminar: 2 Thesis Proposals
PROPOSAL
1
Synthesis of Dually
Functional Targeted Molecular Imaging
Agents
Chris DeNyse
Chemistry MS
Candidate
School of Chemistry and
Materials Science, RIT
Register Here for Zoom
Link
This seminar may be
attended in person in 2305 Gosnell Hall or online via
Zoom.
Mr. DeNyse will discuss
his thesis proposal, involving the use of the decapeptide “18-4” to
target receptors on breast cancer cells to take up molecular imaging
agents for marking and attacking the cancer
cells.
Abstract:
Cancer is a leading
cause of morbidity and mortality, claiming over 600,000 lives in 2019
alone. Breast Cancer (BrCa) accounts for nearly 25% of all new cancer
cases in women, with BrCa being diagnosed within 2.0 million people in
2019, making it the second most common cancer type. For treating BrCa,
photodynamic therapy has seen increased popularity due to the ability for
Photosensitizer (PS) dyes to selectively induce cell death within drugged
cells with high efficiency. Unfortunately, the PS drugs are often
unselective, and have equal uptake in normal healthy cells causing many
side effects such as skin burns and other light sensitivity
complications. In recent years, utilizing targeting peptides to
selectively bind to BrCa biomarkers for the selective delivery of drugs
has been seeing large amounts of popularity due to their effective nature
and high specificity for cancerous cells over healthy cells. This project
relies on the decapeptide “18-4”, which has been reported to be an
effective targeting agent for the keratin receptor (KRT1) which has been
found to be commonly overexpressed within BrCa cells. Coupled with the
targeting peptide, we will combine a PS dye and Near-infrared fluorescent
dye (NIR) for photodynamic therapy and optical molecular imaging upon the
peptide scaffold. The targeted dual molecular imaging agent will be
selective for the uptake within BrCa cells, allowing for the targeted
killing of cancerous cells through photodynamic therapy with a PS dye,
and through the ability to visualize tumors through optical molecular
imagine with a NIR dye. It is our hypothesis that such a drug will allow
for a doctor during lumpectomy surgery for BrCa will be able to
pre-administer such a drug intravenously, and then use the optical
molecular imaging to visualize the cancerous cells, and then selectively
induce cell death with photodynamic therapy to reduce the need for
multiple surgical operations for total removal of BrCa tumor
cells.
Speaker
Bio:
Chris DeNyse recently
graduated RIT with a degree in Biochemistry in Spring of 2021 and entered
the Chemistry MS program at RIT the following fall. During his time as an
undergraduate, Chris worked in the research groups of Dr. Craig, Dr.
Cody, and Dr. Eddingsaas working on a variety of different projects. For
the majority of his time as an undergraduate Chris worked on the D112
synthesis project under Dr. Cody, where he learned to appreciate organic
chemistry. He now works in the lab of Dr. Hans Schmitthenner, working on
the synthesis of dually functional targeted molecular imaging
agents.
PROPOSAL
2
Assessing Pal as a
Biomarker for Sepsis
Ryan Morehouse
Chemistry MS
Candidate
School of Chemistry and
Materials Science, RIT
Register Here for Zoom
Link
This seminar may be
attended in person in 2305 Gosnell Hall or online via
Zoom.
Mr. Morehouse will
discuss his thesis proposal, involving the use of different antibiotics
to quantify and purify Outer membrane proteins in order to diagnose
sepsis earlier in patients.
Abstract:
Sepsis is a complex
illness which can occur as the result of an infection. Most cases of
sepsis are a result of infection with Gram-negative bacteria, which
causes an over exuberant immune response that is extremely damaging to
the human body. Early intervention is critical to treating a patient, and
there are no reliable methods of diagnosing sepsis in its early stages.
As a result there is an incredibly high economic and clinical burden due
to sepsis infections. A leading cause of Gram-negative sepsis infections
is the bacteria E. coli, a commensal commonly found in the human
intestine. In 1982, researchers identified that treatment of septic
patients with polyclonal antibodies against Pal(Peptidoglycan associated
lipoprotein) and other Outer Membrane(OM) proteins improved patient
outcomes. Pal has been identified as a potential contributor to sepsis,
and is shown to be released in Outer Membrane Vesicles(OMVs). Previous
research at the Michel lab at RIT has shown that Pal is released in
greater quantities when treated with Beta-Lactam antibiotics. Our goal is
twofold: quantify the release of OMVs under treatment with different
clinically relevant antibiotics, and also purify OMVs from human samples
as a method of early diagnosis of potentially septic
infections.
Speaker Bio:
Ryan Morehouse graduated
from Nazareth college in the spring 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in
Chemistry, where he was able to research inorganic semiconductor
materials and photovoltaic cells with Dr. Sanela Lampa-Pastirk. He began
his master’s degree in Chemistry at RIT in the fall, and has changed
his focus to researching OMVs as potential biomarkers of sepsis in Dr.
Lea Michel’s lab.
Intended
Audience:
Undergraduates,
graduates, experts. Those with interest in the
topic.
To request an interpreter, please visit myaccess.rit.edu
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