Since my last blog post, I've changed the methods for my original project and also added a new project. For the original, which sought to measure how the Hepatitis B Virus regulates glucose uptake, Dr. Bouchard and I decided that it would be more productive and efficient to measure the glucose concentration of the media rather than going through the entire process of collecting the cells and using the complicated Guava machine. In order to accomplish this, I will use glucose strips (as used by diabetics to measure blood sugar), which one of Dr. Bouchard's colleagues currently uses and feels work better than the Guava.
The other project I will be doing will be to measure the levels of glucokinase in HBV-infected cells and determine whether HBV regulates the production of this enzyme, which is involved in the early steps of glycolysis. Dr. Bouchard also wants me to look at the levels of the Glut transporter proteins, which Jalen did some work on (but the results have not yet been confirmed). In order to do this, I will be running a Western blot. I have ran multiple Western blots so far (both for practice and while helping out other lab members), so I am expecting the procedure to go well.
Monday will be a busy day for me. I am slotted to present at lab meeting, along with my fellow high school students, Jalen and Sidney. They are in the same program (STEM Prep), in which they have to present to their peers and mentors in early August, so this will amount to a warm-up round for them. Jalen worked in the Bouchard Lab last year, and assures us that we have nothing to worry about at lab meeting. All of the lab members have been extremely kind and helpful, so I'm sure Jalen is right.
In addition, I will be preparing for both the glucose uptake and glucokinase projects on Monday. I will have to split all of my cells for my three stock plates and three six-well plates, which will be transfected with the HBV plasmid (among others) on Tuesday. For the rest of the week, I will be measuring the glucose uptake by the new process (which worked downstairs and should work for me) and completing the Western blot. I look forward to getting some meaningful results. Since Jalen, Sidney, and I are working on similar topics, we are hoping to collaborate and piece together a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between HBV and glucose once we all complete our projects.
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