My Internship

Transient Receptor Potential Canonical (TRPC) proteins form cation channels in the plasma membrane of mammalian cells. These proteins are found in the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, and many other organs of the human body where the channels serve a multitude of purposes ranging from neuron depolarization in the brain to mediating endothelial permeability in the lungs. Due to the ubiquitous expression of these channels and their critical role in regulating many human organ functions, the understanding of the molecular mechanisms regulating the channel activity is very important. Four TRPC proteins should come together to form a functional channel, with some TRPC channels being made from four identical subunits whereas others being built from two different members of the TRPC subfamily. Remarkably, the heteromeric channels exhibit markedly altered physiological activity compared to the homomeric channels. However, their stoichiometry remains to be unknown. In this project, we aimed to investigate the stoichiometry of a heteromeric TRPC1-TRPC5 channel. We utilized the whole cell patch clamp technique to record the current-voltage relationship of the channels and determined the effect of heteromeric channel stoichiometry on its functional properties. The results of the project will be presented in the poster form.

Developing my scientific knowledge through this internship is one of my goals. I want to develop good communication skills especially involving research. I want to learn how researchers publish their work and how they communicate complex processes. I will learn laboratory techniques that I can develop and build on for future scientific endeavors. Overall, I hope this experience will teach me more about the area of research and help guide my future career decisions.

In my basic courses, I have learned a lot of broad science concepts in chemistry and biology. I have learned basic lab techniques and this internship will give me the chance to put some of those skills into action. This will be my first experience getting to apply what I have learned in class to actual scientific research. I am very passionate about science and medicine, and I am hoping that this will help me focus in on what aspect of medicine I want to go into. This will help me decide what balance of research and medical practice will make up my career.

This Internship relates most closely to my physics class. In that class, we learn about electrical principles such as resistance, capacitance, and current. These principles can be directly to electrophysiology and my project because these are the main values that are measured through the whole-cell patch clamp.

Working in this lab has helped me bring the principles I learn in physics and apply it to science concepts I learned in biology and chemistry. This has helped me develop deeper connections between all that I an learning. When you take subjects in different fields, it can be hard to see how they connect. This has allowed me to see how concepts from different disciplines are used in one project.

I am really enjoying my internship so far. I have gotten to further explore what I am learning in classes and to learn more about how science is applied in research. I was surprised by how long it takes to get results in research. I realize that progress takes time, but I guess I didn't know the realistic timeline. I am still excited to perform this research, and my supervisor has even allowed me to work with him over the summer, which is a great opportunity.

I am working on a more technical aspect of the project. My work is strictly related to the TRPC channels that I study. While there is information that can be learned from this study, it does not mean much on its own. This is where my colleagues come in. They work in areas that are more focused on certain mutations' affects on a real subject. They figure out what happens to the subject, and I focus more on the specific mechanism of the mutation.

I am currently taking a bio-measurements class. This class focuses on electrical principles and circuit theory and also how these concepts relate to the body and to physiology. We have learned about resistance and capacitance of cell membranes and why the patch clamp technique works. This helped me see the practical application of this technique. Getting to use the method learned about in class helps me better see how electrical properties are applied to the physiology of cells.

I have gained a lot from this internship. I have been able for the first time to participate in real research and learn some of what it is like to be a real scientist. I have been able to grow my abilities in patch clamp technique, which is important in electrophysiological work. Also I have been able to write several grant proposals to continue research and have worked on my scientific writing skills. It has been really good to have this opportunity, but it was not all easy. it took a long time to get to the point where I was good enough at patch clamping to be able to run experiments. This took a lot of dedication and perseverance. I spent hours late at night trying again and again to improve. Eventually, it paid off but there were very frustrating times that I had to get through to continue my work. Through this I have been able to meet several researchers and work in conjunction with other labs on projects involving electrophysiology. I hope to continue to grow this network throughout further research, and I hope to grow and learn to improve myself as I learn about medicine and research.