Hong Yu Liu, COL ’24, Broomall, PA
This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to work in the Yang Lab which is part of Cancer Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine. The lab is interested in the role of the tumor suppressor p53 as both a sentinel and a regulator of metabolism and autophagy. They seek to identify common metabolic alterations that cause initiation and progression of tumors. In response to new scientific findings, the Yang Lab has extended its research to defining the role of metabolism and autophagy in stem cells, including embryonic stem cells and cancer stem cells. Beyond research into the mechanism behind the formation of tumors, the Yang Lab also has projects that investigate several neurodegenerative diseases and the possibility of partial recovery from the detrimental effects of these diseases. This research came about when the lab identified a novel protein quality control (PQC) system in animal cells that is effective in suppressing protein misfolding and aggregation in neurons. They are investigating the mechanism of action of this PQC system and its role in protecting against various neurodegenerative diseases.
During my time in the lab I was involved in the neurodegenerative diseases projects. A lab specialist took me on as a mentee. She taught me how to do basic lab chores such as making various buffers as well as autoclaving liquids and empty glass containers. I was also taught how to handle mice that were housed in the basement. It was very new to me because I had never handled live animals before in a lab. I was taught how to scruff them and do basic tasks such as ear tagging and collecting ear snips from them. Although I was generally very careful when handling the mice, a larger adult mouse did bie me when I was in the mouse house. Fortunately, it was a small bite. However, I was still quite shocked because it happened so fast. Nonetheless, I quickly recovered from this small incident and went on with the rest of ear tagging and snipping.
I learned how important it is to be able to adapt to any situation because many times I would find myself making a plan and then realizing that I need to make several changes in order to carry it through. For example, I was planning to spend a whole day at work conducting an experiment that involved a camera tracking the mouse’s movement in a “Y” shaped maze. However, when I went down to the mouse room and tried to set up everything, the camera couldn’t connect to the laptop. It was frustrating because that ruined my plans. Nonetheless, I ended up doing another experiment that was successful and a productive use of my day. All in all, I really enjoyed my time in the Yang Lab, and I learned a lot about using gel electrophoresis for genotyping, handling mice, Western blots, and the importance of adaptability in all situations.
