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Aida Sadikovic (MCB Major)
"Role of Neutrophils and Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes in Cell-mediated Immunity to Listeria monocytogenes"
Sponsor: Professor Daniel Portnoy, MCB & Public Health
Project Description
Aida's Senior Honors Thesis in Molecular & Cell Biology will focus on investigating the mechanisms behind the murine immune response to Listeria monocytogenes. L. monocytogenes is a ubiquitous intracellular human and animal pathogen that can spread from cell to cell via actin-based motility. Previous studies have shown that VASP-binding deficient strains of L. monocytogenes exhibit slow motility and virulence attenuation compared to wild type strains, especially in the liver during secondary murine listeriosis. She hopes to gain a better understanding of the reasons behind this tissue difference and to determine why VASP-binding deficient strains of L. monocytogenes display more pronounced virulence attenuation during secondary versus primary murine listeriosis. The results of her research, which could have important implications for the development of therapeutics against intracellular pathogens, will be presented at the American Society for Microbiology national meeting in Spring 2002.
Scholar's Photo
Scholar's Journal
I was told that best thing to do here is actually write about my “typical summer day”. You might think, especially if you read the entrees from my fellow scholars that it would sound something like:
Spain (India, Ireland, or___________ fill in the blank with the place you always wanted to visit) was beautiful; everything I expected and much, much, much more.
Well, the fact that laboratory bench, tissue culture hood, pipettes, beakers (you get the picture) do not fit into suitcase and therefore cannot be easily relocated made “my decision” not to travel very easy. Or, to put it shortly, I spent my summer in the lab. Do not get me wrong, summer felt anything but ordinary; I actually had a blast.
The spice ingredient in this story is that this summer was not a continuation of my work in the lab, but actually the first real encounter with the research process in general. Being a newcomer to the lab and novice at best, I was aware that I had to start from the pure basics. This encompassed not only learning the procedures and different techniques but also getting to know the people in the lab and getting the feel what it really means to do research.
My first encounter with laboratory procedures was with media preparation protocols, aseptic transfer technique and of course Listeria monocytogenes. Soon after, I became familiar with tissue culture techniques and started working on cell-line growth curves as well as complement mediated cytotoxicity assays. Spending most of the day in the lab helped me prepare for what was to come in the following semester.
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