Hi! We are 4 Chemistry & Life Science students which are doing a study on the interactions between viruses (mostly their viral proteins) and animal host cells. The aim of the project is to eventually develop new practical course material for future chemistry students at the HZ University of Applied Sciences.
Virus protein interaction on mammalian cell cycle controls is a world-wide studied life science topic, and many applications derive from those studies. Understanding those interactions not only helps the development of new medication and vaccines against viruses, but is also used to better understand the cell cycle control system, cell division and the role cell cycle control systems can play in cancer cells (Agriculture, 2015) (Chow, 2010).
Techniques used in research towards virus protein interaction on host cells are the same techniques used in many other life science researches. Cell culturing, GMO protocols, transfection methods, and protein analyses are some of those techniques which are performed in almost every life science research and so, also in virus-host interaction research.
The Chemistry department of the HZ University of Applied sciences would like to have a new practical project analysing virus protein interaction on mammalian cell cycle controls for the third year Life Science students. This would help the students to gain a deeper knowledge in virus protein interaction on cell cycle and apoptosis, and to learn new techniques and practical skills, which could be a benefit later in the professional field.
Developing practical projects is very time consuming as literature research must be done, methods must be developed and protocols are to be tested and optimized. Therefore, two teams of two persons who are in their minor semester, have teamed up to explore the possibilities and design an experiment about virus protein interaction on mammalian cell cycle controls, which could be practiced by future third year life science students.
The goal of this research is to find a suitable practical project covering the subject viral proteins and cell cycle control which can be carried out in the laboratory of the HZ University of Applied Sciences in Vlissingen by third year Chemistry & Life Science students. Literature research is used to find scientific research papers so it is known which methods work and which don’t, then experimental research is applied in the laboratory so the method can be tested in the laboratory. The experiments should take as much time as the scheduled laboratory hours for the future students and they should be at low cost.
Can the effect of MHV E protein-induced apoptosis and p28-induced cell cycle arrest in mammalian cells be analysed in the laboratories of the HZ University of Applied Sciences by third year Life Science students?
- Is it possible to gain more plasmids by transfecting them in E.coli?
- Is it possible to transfect mammalian cells with polyethylenimine (PEI)?
- Is it possible to transfect mammalian cells with CaCl2/CaPO4?
- Are the transfected cells still viable for further research?
- Are the transfected cells expressing the MHV E protein?
- Are the transfected cells expressing the MHV p28 protein?
- Does the expression of the transfected E protein induce apoptosis?
- Do MHV p28 transfected cells lead to inhibition of hyperphosphorylation of Rb protein?
- Is it possible to induce apoptosis using a commercially available reagent?
- Is it possible to inhibit hyperphosphorylation of Rb protein using commercially available reagents?
Virus-Host Interactions 