Week 5: Science! (and updates)
Shriya S -
Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog. In this post, I will take some time to discuss updates on my project and some very interesting things I have learned about in the lab. I still am waiting on the immunohistochemistry (IHC) tissue sample images as of now but am expecting to get those soon (hopefully)!
Updates
We’ve finished targeting a lot of our goal antigens through IHC, including IBA1, GFAP, MAP2, and AQP4. I’ve finished analyzing IBA1, GFAP, and MAP2 and scored them with the new guide (a little different from the criteria I talked about in an earlier post, but still the same concept) I made:
Scoring Guide for Optimized Tissue Samples
Score each of the following factors on a scale from 1 to 10:
- Discernible pathology (DP): Contrast between cells and background, ensuring clear visualization of cellular processes.
- Background noise (BN): Presence of non-specific staining that may obscure target cells.
- Uniform staining (US): Consistency of staining across the tissue sample.
Calculate the final score using the following formula:
Final Score = (0.55 × DP) + (0.25 × (10 − BN)) + (0.20 × US)
The highest-scoring sample is considered visually optimized, and its corresponding antibody concentration(s) are identified as optimal for the given tissue and cell type. A weighted average is taken as opposed to a normal one to prioritize some aspects of the IHC image over others; for example, the ability to pinpoint specific pathology is more important for TBI research than even staining.
While analyzing the IHC tissue samples, I did experience a few challenges. Some samples appeared very similar, making it hard to determine which sample was the most clear. In these cases, the guide helped a lot by isolating several aspects of a sample that are crucial for a visually optimized tissue sample.
I’ve also been working on refining my paper. Research writing is definitely not my favorite style of writing, but I eventually got through it (there’s still more to go though). I added the data tables with the final scores for the various antibody concentrations of each antigen and formatted my tables and images properly (AMA style). I also added tables that explained why I tested certain dilutions in my study (according to past literature and the manufacturer-recommended dilution).
Science! Peg forest rehabilitation
The lab I am in has some amazing people, my mentor being a prominent example. One researcher in the lab does behavioral studies on rats to study experimental TBI. In one of his studies, he talks about peg forest rehabilitation as a new rehabilitation technique for experimental TBI. The peg forest consists of a floor with pegs in it (think of vertical cylinders); post-traumatic brain injury (TBI), rats navigate this peg forest to cognitively stimulate their brains, which has potential therapeutic benefits (similar to how physical therapy works for paralyzed patients or brain games for dementia patients). This completely revolutionizes the way we think about and treat concussions and traumatic brain injury. After a football player gets injured, we think they need to rest and rest and rest. Instead, research may suggest that they should actually be cognitively active; that may prevent the detrimental long-term effects of TBI. Pretty interesting…
And do you know what’s more intriguing? Well, we can’t obviously create a human-sized peg forest (that would be insane though) for each TBI patient. So, instead we go to the next best thing–virtual reality (VR). Because peg forest rehabilitation, which stimulates the spatial navigation areas of rat brains, has shown to be effective at improving long-term TBI symptoms, maybe it is the same in humans? Who knows? This has yet to be researched more, but think about it, VR being the novel, revolutionary treatment for TBI. Pretty cool!
In the next post, I’ll talk about something else I have learned: psilocybin (a chemical found in “magic mushrooms”) for increasing brain plasticity (think of the applications!) and being a potential treatment for TBI. And, of course, stay tuned for more updates about my research (and hopefully IHC tissue sample images!).
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