Sorry I haven't written in a while and this post is a few weeks late (I've been busy with college tours and visits). I completed my 6th and final week 2 weeks ago. When I arrived at my lab I was completely caught off guard when I found out that the project I had been study all spring term was no longer the project that I would be working on. Within the six weeks, however, I did learn so much more and mastered my project.
At the end of my 5th week in the lab we reached a turning point in our project. To refresh your memory, we had been working on creating a probe to detect citrulline. This is the complete reaction of the "1st Generation Probe".
This shows the steps at which it was made through. In previous posts I had told about how we found out that it did not bind to urea very much. In addition the probe was not stable in water. This was a major factor considering that the probe is wanted to then use in biological assays. In the 5th week at the Buccella Lab, my graduate student and I decided that it was time to say that it didn't work and move onto the next idea.
With the help of our PI Daniela and our "literature" day spent reading articles, we came up with another idea for a probe. We started making this probe in the 6th week. The image below is the different parts of the "2nd Generation Probe".
Each section of the probe was created separately and then all put together. We created the "linker" by doing a reaction and then testing to make sure the compound was pure. We also made te BODIPY DYE section. We were waiting for the antipyrine chemical to be shipped to us, but it got there on friday of the 6th week so I was unable to see the results of this probe. This probe was planned to be tested in similar was as the other one, however this is a fluorescent probe. This being said, it will be much easier to test to see if it binds or does not.
Overall, I am thrilled with my 6 week experience in the Buccella Lab. I enjoyed working with all the people and getting to know the other people from labs on our floor. It was wonderful working with a 1st year graduate student because we got to learn together and our project was relatively simple compared to the other students in the lab (and labs that other Peddie students are working at). My last day at the lab my PI Daniela was leaving at 12 o'clock for a conference in California so we did not get to go out to eat like she would normally do. Instead, my graduate student surprised me by getting a cake for the lab for my last day! It was a bittersweet day, but I'm happy I was able to have such an amazing experience and opportunity.
-Kristen Silvi
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