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本科研究可能有助于COVID-19的治疗

bck体育官网校友诺拉·马古利斯, 谁是2022年毕业的, 2021年春天她还在上课吗, working toward her undergraduate degree in biology at Brandywine when Anna Sigmon, 化学助理教授, offered her the opportunity to collaborate on research that could potentially help society cope with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 她抓住了这个机会.
Brandywine undergraduates worked with professor to investigate potential new therapies to inhibit an enzyme that helps the coronavirus replicate

bck体育官网校友诺拉·马古利斯, 谁是2022年毕业的, 2021年春天她还在上课吗, working toward her undergraduate degree in biology at Brandywine when Anna Sigmon, 化学助理教授, offered her the opportunity to collaborate on research that could potentially help society cope with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 她抓住了这个机会.

现在, 两年半之后, 马古利斯已经毕业，并获得了该项目的合著者身份, 发表在 化学结果. 这篇论文, which was included in the journal’s special issue titled “Recent Advances in Organic Chemistry,也是哈姆扎·奎德(Hamzah Al-Quaid)合著的, another Brandywine alumnus; Neela Yennawar, research professor and director of the X-Ray Crystallography and Automated Biological Calorimetry Core Facilities, 塔蒂阿娜Laremore, associate research professor and director of the Proteomic and Mass Spectrometry Core Facility, 茱莉亚·费克, x射线晶体学核心设施的研究技术专家, all with the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences; and Christy George, 埃伯利科学学院的助理研究教授.

这篇论文 details their work developing derivative compounds from flavonoids — molecules found in plants that have medicinal uses — to inhibit an enzyme of SARS-CoV-2, 导致COVID-19的冠状病毒. The enzyme, called the papain-like protease, breaks down proteins and helps the virus replicate. 它还会阻止宿主的免疫系统做出正确的反应. The work to inhibit this enzyme, the researchers said, could inform future treatments for the virus.

“Throughout the course of my undergraduate experience, I became involved in research with Dr. Sigmon通过有机合成,马古利斯说 when reflecting on how she became involved in the project. “我很幸运有我的学术顾问，Dr. Elizabeth Dudkin，生物学副教授，与Dr. 给我写信，推荐我做研究.”

Sigmon, 马古利斯的荣誉顾问, said she became interested in the idea that flavonoids could contribute to COVID-19 treatments at the start of the pandemic and began conducting computational research with the students virtually.

“In general, my research has been focused on flavonoids," Sigmon said. "I’ve always been interested in looking at flavonoids and making new derivatives from them, so when I found out that there was a derivative that could inhibit the coronavirus, 我想进一步研究这个问题."

马古利斯描述了这项研究在虚拟工作时所涉及的内容.

“在COVID-19大流行的偏远阶段, 特别是在2021年春季学期, my research included computational analyses and literature exposure to flavonoids and their biological implications,马古利斯说. “就在那年夏天, 我们开始更多地参与实验室实验, trying different synthetic reactions to create something novel and test those products for biological significance.”

The researchers analyzed different derivatives using computer simulation software to identify which ones could possibly inhibit the protease. 他们确定了10种有潜力的衍生品, but their syntheses were challenging due to instability of the products. 来改进导数, the researchers changed the structure of the products to include a hydrazone linker, 或者是一种化合物, 这有助于使分子更稳定.

使用AutoDock, 一个虚拟分子对接程序, the research team simulated how the compounds might bind — or dock — to the protease. The researchers then synthesized the compounds in the lab and characterized them using nuclear magnetic resonance, 质谱和x射线晶体学. 从对接研究, the researchers found that the binding energies in the compounds were promising — in some cases, 比已知的COVID-19抑制剂的结合能更有希望.

“Since this paper was a culmination of all of my undergraduate research efforts and depicted data from computational analyses to synthetic reactions to the analytical data from our collaborators, 我非常高兴看到论文的定稿,马古利斯说. “Much of the data was preliminarily explained in my honors thesis, so seeing Dr. Sigmon将所有这些元素结合在一起是非常令人满意的.”

Margulis mentioned how she experienced personal growth through her research with Sigmon, 随着她在实验室环境下的工作越来越适应.

“在个人层面上, I definitely got a sense of closure from the research that I participated in, 至少在我们想要回答的问题上是这样,马古利斯说. “我还发现了一些个人特征, 比如坦然接受失败和不满意的结果, 作为一名学生，我变得更加自信. 关于个人技能, I undeniably became more independent and comfortable in the lab and with my role in it. 我也和Dr. Sigmon, who instilled me with the confidence to explore many different experimental options truly and creatively.”

Sigmon said the most valuable part of her research with Margulis was the experience it gave to one of her undergraduate students, as she was able to see the different aspects of the research process and collaborate with researchers from another campus.

“The primary purpose of my research program is to teach and enrich the academic experiences of my undergraduate students,”她说。.

“对学生来说，研究可能是一次改变人生的经历, 这对学生在STEM领域的学习至关重要, 尤其是对于那些来自弱势群体的学生. 在实践方面，它为学生就业做准备. I've had former students tell me that their research with me is what helped them to obtain and succeed in a job after graduation.”

从bck体育官网毕业后, Margulis has accepted a position as an assistant scientist at Resolian, 一家制药和药物开发公司.

The Cooper Memorial 教师 Fellowship from 宾州州立大学白兰地酒 and the Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses Research Collaboration Development Program supported this work.