Protein to Disease
Description:
This was our Protein to Disease project. I worked with Cole, Quincy, and Amanda. The project was to investigate how a protein can cause a disease by choosing a disease and examining the affected protein. The steps included to detail what protein synthesis was, give a background of our disease(arthritis), and compare the normal protein to the disease protein. In the project we researched arthritis and provided information on the symptoms, affected body parts, affected genes or proteins, and available treatments or cures. We had to understand and describe the processes of transcription, translation, and protein folding, which are all parts of protein synthesis. The end product was a poster that visually represented the gathered information in a creative and informative way.
After selecting Arthritis disease, we researched to answer the questions provided in the research page. During our project, we followed instructions from Ms. Mathews. Once we had gathered good information, we started creating our poster using the info. Our group worked efficiently together, and we divided the tasks. Me and Cole did research and Quincy and Amanda did the poster.
After a few revisions, we finalized our poster, which looked professional and informative. Our poster included a description of protein synthesis and protein folding, with a descriptive illustration. Additionally, we included a description of Arthritis, its symptoms, the affected proteins/genes, treatments, and ongoing research. After completing the poster, our group presented our project to the class. Each member of the group took turns presenting different parts of the poster, explaining the main points and answering any questions that were asked. We made sure to help the class in learning the content by providing examples and using the image to explain. Overall, it was a great learning experience for my group and I and the final result was something we were all proud of.
Below is our protein to disease research:
CONTENT:
Concept: Genetic diseases and disorders - We studied the genetic disorder Arthritis and its impact on individuals. We researched the genetic basis of the disease, including the specific protein that is mutated and the mutation that causes the d isease. Our project focused on how this mutation affects protein synthesis and leads to the symptoms of the disease.
Link to Work: This was the disease that we did our poster on.
Link to Other Subject: Arthritis affects many people all over the world and is a real threat to people
Concept: Protein synthesis - We explored the process of protein synthesis, which is how cells produce proteins using genetic information. We studied transcription (the process of making RNA from DNA) and translation (the process of making a protein from RNA).
Link to Work: We used our knowledge to understand how sulfatase‑2(the protein mutated) is affected.
Link to Other Subject: Sulfatase-2 is one of many different proteins that are mutated and that can cause disease.
Concept: Transcription - We explored the process of transcription, including initiation (the start of RNA synthesis), elongation (the continuation of RNA synthesis), and termination (the end of RNA synthesis). The process included helicase unzipping the DNA, RNA Polymerase adding nucleotides and then the mRNA strand leaving the nucleus.
Link to Work: This helped us understand what happens to the protein and understand what mutations could happen.
Link to Other Subject: DNA goes through this for everybody and is how proteins are made which are critical in our body
Concept: Translation - We also learned about translation, the process by which a ribosome reads the RNA code and uses it to build a protein. We explained how transfer RNA (tRNA) helps to match the RNA code with the correct amino acid, which is the building block of proteins and how the codon and anticodon bind leading to the release of the amino acid forming a chain.
Link to Work: This helped us understand what happens to the protein and understand what mutations could happen.
Link to Other Subject: DNA goes through this for everybody and is how proteins are made which are critical in our body
Concept: Protein folding - We studied how proteins fold into specific three-dimensional shapes, which is important for their function. We explained how the amino acid sequence determines the protein's primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure. We also studied how misfolding of proteins can lead to disease, including arthritis.
Link to Work: This explains what happens after protein synthesis and another way diseases can occur.
Link to Other Subject: Proteins go through this for everybody and are critical in our body. It is important to know what can happen and the diseases that are caused.
Concept: Treatment - Treatment is what doctors do to make someone feel better or manage a disease, but it might not make the disease go away completely. We researched how medications and other therapies can help to control the movement and symptoms that are associated with the disease.
Link to Work: We researched the treatment options for arthritis disease, which are aimed at managing the symptoms of the disease.
Link to Other Subject: Treatment is used for all kinds of disease and many people have had treatment at some point in their lives.
Concept: Cure - A cure is when someone is completely free of the disease and doesn't need any more treatment.
Link to Work: There is no cure for arthritis.
Link to Other Subject: Cures are being studied everyday by scientists to try an prevent dangerous diseases.
Concept: Changing DNA to RNA (The DNA code was AGT-TTT-TTG-GTG-TGT-CTG-TTT which turns into UCA-AAA-AAC- CAC-ACA-GAC-AAA when changed to RNA): We explained how this process is important for creating the genetic instructions needed for protein synthesis. Also when this is changed to proteins it becomes: SER-LYS-ASP-HIS-THR-ASP- LYS
Link to Work: This was how sulfatase-2 was changed and how arthritis happens.
Link to Other Subject: DNA goes through this for everybody and is how proteins are made which are critical in our body
Concept: Gene - A gene is a segment of DNA that contains instructions for the production of a specific protein or RNA molecule.
Link to Work: We looked at the specific gene in arthritis.
Link to Other Subject: It gives you the differences you have between other people.
Concept: Proteins fold into stable three‐dimensional shapes, or conformations, that are determined by their amino acid sequence. The complete structure of a protein can be described at four different levels of complexity: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure. Primary structure refers to the linear sequence of amino-acid residues in the polypeptide chain. Secondary structure is generated by formation of hydrogen bonds between atoms in the polypeptide backbone, which folds the chains into either alpha helices or beta-sheets. Tertiary structure refers to the overall folding of the entire polypeptide chain into a specific 3D shape. Quaternary structure in proteins is the most intricate degree of organization still considered a single molecule
Link to Work: Protein folding can lead to arthritis.
Link to Other Subject: Protein goes through this for everybody and can cause disease if wrong.
Reflection:
Overall, in this project I think it went very well as I enjoyed it a lot and learned a lot about how proteins can cause disease. I believe that it was mostly good but there are a few things that I could improve upon in the future.
Two skills that I developed/gained that relate to the 6 Cs are collaboration and critical thinking. This is since I I had a very good work ethic and productivity along with I took a leadership role in my group. For example, in this project we finished everything on time and I helped split up work between the group so that we could finish quickly and efficiently. Every day we went through the rubric and made sure everything was accurate and quickly moved to the poster and formatted it. Amanda, Quincy, Cole and I went through efficiently and accurately while learning about arthritis and how our protein effects it. As for critical thinking, when someone had any problems with the work, I would help and together we could find what we were missing and build on that.
Two skills I could improve on relating to the 6 Cs are communication and conscientious learning. I could have been better at communicating with my group members on how we would research and who would do each part. Also I didn't set a goal set which could have helped us have an even better work ethic. For example, while presenting the project, I feel as if I didn't explain my thought process very well because I didn't communicate and speak it clearly.
Some of the Peaks in this project were when we would work together to find and identify the protein and its change to amino acids through transcription and translation while researching. One specific example is when we needed to find the code for our protein. In order to find that together we researched and found a reliable site to get the information. A Pit was when we were doing the poster building and couldn't all work at the same time so we didn't have good load management.