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TAKING THE BITE OUT OF SNAKES CHEMICALLY
If the venom proteins are like a key, the process to create the anti-venom is a bit like a locksmith creating a mold. First, the student researchers took a sample of CTX proteins and mixed them with acrylamide monomers; then they coaxed them to interact with each other until the acrylamides formed new particles that fit snugly around the toxin proteins. Using dialysis, the toxins were then separated out, leaving behind the nanoparticle “mold” neatly shaped to fit specifically with other toxin proteins. To test the results, the researchers then incubated samples of cobra venom with pig blood. Left unchecked, the cytotoxins in the venom would break down the blood membranes, causing them to leak hemoglobin. You could actually see the results with the naked eye— as the hemoglobin leaked out, the samples would gleam a brilliant red. Next the researchers laced blood samples with their synthetic anti-venom at different dosages. They then added the cobra venom and observed the interactions. As they hoped, the nanoparticles bound with the proteins in the venom, making it impossible for them to latch anywhere else and cause destruction. Chemically speaking, the synthetic antibodies put a muzzle on the toxins. “The first result we got was so beautiful and encouraging,” Piszkiewicz says. “We saw 85 percent to 95 percent inhibition of cell destruction.” “You could see it worked. There was no redness, the cells looked so healthy and happy. More than we could hope for,” Sogo says.
Sharing the Findings
That summer, Piszkiewicz and a fellow student documented their work and submitted it to the Siemens Competition, one of largest and most prestigious science competitions in the country. “I was sitting in the library obsessively hitting the refresh button on the website,” Piszkiewicz recalls. “I almost didn’t recognize my name when I saw that we had made the regionals, which were to be held at Caltech.” “That was a nice plus,” Sogo says. “It was like a homecoming of sorts, a chance to
The anti-venom at work: Three tubes containing samples of pig blood laced with cobra venom and—from left to right—increasing levels of the synthetic anti-venom (0.6, 1.2 and 2.4 mg/mL of nanoparticles respectively). The redness is caused by hemoglobin leaking out from cells, evidence of the cobra venom at work. The sample on the right, with the highest dosage of nanoparticles, is visibly more healthy.
Alumni Year in Review
Open Access Policy
Caltech Career Summit
Jan 1, 2014
Feb. 22, 2014
Caltech adopts new policy, through which all faculty members will automatically grant nonexclusive rights to the Institute to disseminate their scholarly papers, making wider distribution of their work possible.
Alumni returned to campus to network and learn how they can further their professional careers. The Alumni Association launches a new mentoring subgroup on LinkedIn (see p. 20).