Chemistry and Materials Science Seminar: 2 Thesis Proposals

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.

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