Kelsey Foust
Senior Biology Major, Chemistry Minor
Research Experience
-During the Spring of 2017, I had the opportunity to do research with Dr. Jeffery Overholt. His research focuses on examining the electrophysiology of cells in an attempt to better understand how those properties affect the migration and proliferation of tumorogeic cancerous cells. In the research lab, we were introduced to the patch clamp technique. This technique is used in electrophysiology to study ionic currents in individual living cells, tissue sections, or patches of the cell membrane. Since the focus of this research was on cancerous cells, the patch clamp technique was used to examine the ionic channels on the cell membrane. Our findings revealed that the electrophysiological properties of the non tumorogenic cell line tested was very different from the tumorogenic cell lines tested, which could lead to novel therapeutic agents for these cell types. To view our poster, dowload the link to the right.
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MMP's
-In Fall of 2017, I did research with Dr. Mesia Steed regarding the study of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP's).Upon reviewing the literature on MMP's, I learned what MMP's are, how they function, and how they can be useful in drug therapy. MMP's are matrix metalloproteinases, enzymes that are responsible for both the degredation of the extracelular matrix as well as the remodeling of it. A common misconception is that MMP's only degrade and are harmful to the cell, but from reading more on them, I discovered that they have been seen to induce cell signaling and also regulate inflammation by way of releasing antiapoptotic or antiangiogenic epitopes from the extracellular matrix.These recently acknowledged properties of MMP's can be useful in controlling the proliferation of cancerous cells. Since there is an increased expression of MMPs in metastasis , determining what specific MMPs perform a certain task could be beneficial in regulating the progression of certain cancers. To view our most discussed paper in Dr. Steed's lab, download the link below.