• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
ERN: Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM

ERN: Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM

  • About
    • About AAAS
    • About the NSF
    • About the Conference
    • Partners/Supporters
    • Project Team
  • Conference
  • Abstracts
    • Undergraduate Abstract Locator
    • Graduate Abstract Locator
    • Abstract Submission Process
    • Presentation Schedules
    • Abstract Submission Guidelines
    • Presentation Guidelines
  • Travel Awards
  • Resources
    • Award Winners
    • Code of Conduct-AAAS Meetings
    • Code of Conduct-ERN Conference
    • Conference Agenda
    • Conference Materials
    • Conference Program Books
    • ERN Photo Galleries
    • Events | Opportunities
    • Exhibitor Info
    • HBCU-UP/CREST PI/PD Meeting
    • In the News
    • NSF Harassment Policy
    • Plenary Session Videos
    • Professional Development
    • Science Careers Handbook
    • Additional Resources
    • Archives
  • Engage
    • Webinars
    • ERN 10-Year Anniversary Videos
    • Plenary Session Videos
  • Contact Us
  • Login

Designing Probes to Detect Amyloid Plaques in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease

Undergraduate #157
Discipline: Chemistry and Chemical Sciences
Subcategory: Biomedical Engineering

Nathalie Bravo Batista - North Carolina Central University
Co-Author(s): Nathan Wymer



Alzheimer’s disease (AD) develops every 66 seconds in someone in the Unites States. Development of an effective cure against this disease is one of the world’s top public health priorities. Amyloid plaques are one of the two brain abnormalities that define AD. Plaques form when protein pieces called beta-amyloid clump together. However, the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) prevents the entrance of most molecules, including chemical probes, such as antibodies, to our brain, limiting our understanding of most of the functions of our brain and delaying the development of effective cures to brain related diseases and disorders. Our laboratory is engineering to probes that can get through the BBB and can bind to the amyloid plaques, and detect amyloid plaques earlier in the progression of the disease. A major component of the probe is the carrier protein CRM197. CRM197 is a non-toxic mutant of diphtheria toxin, currently used as a carrier protein for polysaccharides and haptens to make them immunogenic. This carrier protein is thought to play an important role in the active transport of molecules across the BBB. The human and mouse homolog of CRM197 receptors have been expressed in E. coli. Next, we will generate a chimeric molecule using CRM197 and the mouse homolog of the receptor. Use of the this probe will be for early detection, which can help slow the development of Alzheimer’s disease and impact the design of future treatment options for Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): Nathan Wymer

Faculty Advisor: Nathan Wymer, nwymer@nccu.edu

Role: Last summer, the goal for the experiment was to isolate the CRM197 carrier protein; this summer, our goal was to make the mouse and the human protein express with the Pet19. I was involved with almost everything in the experiment, I had to do literature research, and I also worked with the process of making E. coli express the human and mouse versions of CRM197 receptors.

Sidebar

Abstract Locators

  • Undergraduate Abstract Locator
  • Graduate Abstract Locator

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. DUE-1930047. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not represent the views of the AAAS Board of Directors, the Council of AAAS, AAAS’ membership or the National Science Foundation.

AAAS

1200 New York Ave, NW
Washington,DC 20005
202-326-6400
Contact Us
About Us

  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

The World’s Largest General Scientific Society

Useful Links

  • Membership
  • Careers at AAAS
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Focus Areas

  • Science Education
  • Science Diplomacy
  • Public Engagement
  • Careers in STEM

Focus Areas

  • Shaping Science Policy
  • Advocacy for Evidence
  • R&D Budget Analysis
  • Human Rights, Ethics & Law

© 2023 American Association for the Advancement of Science