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I unmistakably recall my amazement as I watched my high school chemistry teacher balance an oxidation-reduction reaction on the board; in that moment, I became passionate about the molecular world. On the surface, the challenging coursework caught my curiosity, yet deep within was an internal connection to chemistry I had not experienced prior. This fascination with the molecular world was continually refined throughout my undergraduate coursework; however, no topic inspired me more than the molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory in the brain. Shortly after, my first undergraduate research experience solidified my intuition to pursue a career investigating molecular mechanisms underlying conditions of impaired learning and …show more content…

Yet of the countless learning experiences encountered at IUPUI, none of these have better prepared me for the IBMG program than my research experience with Dr. Anthony Baucum.
In Dr. Baucum’s laboratory, I investigated a novel protein interaction between two scaffolding proteins, SAPAP3 and spinophilin. Spinophilin localizes to dendritic spines in striatal medium spiny neurons and plays an important role in regulating long-term depression (LTD), the molecular mechanism responsible for weakening the strength of a synapse. Interestingly, Dr. Baucum identified SAPAP3 as a novel interactor of Spinophilin through a proteomics screen. After conducting an extensive literature review, I noticed both of these proteins held a physiological relationship with metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5), a putative regulator of striatal LTD. Due to this connection, I investigated the role mGluR5 plays in regulating the interaction between these two proteins of interest using numerous molecular biology and biochemical techniques, such as PCR, mutagenesis, immunoprecipitation, western blot, and others. We determined that mGluR5, as well as its second messenger protein kinase C, increase the strength of this interaction. Through many experiments, we now hypothesize this novel interaction to regulate LTD in the striatum. After working on this project for two and a half years, a manuscript is now in

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