Beulah Ackah

My name is Beulah Ackah. I am currently a junior at Boston University studying Biology on the Pre-Med track. I am completing a work study in the Harris Lab as a laboratory assistant. Over the summer, I will be doing a research in the Harris Lab. The main objective of the project is to compare mouse E199K, the analog to human E200K that forms CJD when mutated, to N2a cells using the uptake of zinc to determine the presence or absence of infectious PrP. Additionally, we hope to determine whether there is a difference in zinc uptake between E199K and WT PrPC.
I have been learning more about methods used for wet lab work done in the lab and one of my hopes with this research project is to learn the various protocols that factor into completing a full cell culture. With this knowledge, I can go into the next fall semester with a strong and concrete understanding of cell culture and wet lab work before conducting or assisting with any new experiments that may arise in the Harris lab

For my research project, the objective is to utilize the methods presented in the Watt et al. protocol to investigate the mutagenicity of mouse E199K, the analog to human E200K that forms CJD when mutated, by using the uptake of zinc to determine the presence or absence of infectious PrP. Since this is the first time E199K is being studied in the context of zinc uptake with N2a cells, I aim to examine the difference between the uptake of zinc in N2a cells that contain wild-type (WT) PrPC as opposed to full knockouts.
Additionally, I plan to use Newport Green, a sensor that displays fluorescence upon binding to zinc, to visualize the zinc uptake in the N2a WT and E199K cells with immunofluorescence. The goal is to determine whether the E199K or the N2a WT exhibit the same enhanced uptake of zinc relative to the knockout cells. Further, I’ll also be able to determine whether there is a difference in zinc uptake between E199K and WT PrPC.