Relevance of the Research
This multi-disciplinary study will not only provide a skill set in multi-step synthesis but also chemical biology knowledge to both undergraduate and master's students. It will equip them with data collection and processing training in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), InfraRed (IR), and/or Mass Spectroscopy (MS) used routinely in organic chemistry. Students will have the chance to partake in oral and poster presentations during the BSU Student Research Symposium, IAS (Indiana Academy of Sciences) meetings, and ACS conferences to distribute their research findings from this project.
The biological and chemical relevance of our research goes hand in hand. In one hand, we want to cut back on time, labor, and costs needed to synthesize ipomoeassin F and its analogues. In the other hand the more product made the more biological studies can be completed to help determine the mechanism of how ipomoeassin F interacts with sec61a.
Sec61a is the porous part of a protein transport protein in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane11. It transports immature proteins into the ER lumen where they then mature and fold to become useful proteins for the cell11. Ipomoeassin F blocks this sec61a and does not allow any immature proteins into the ER lumen to mature11. Fast growing cancer cells depend heavily on protein synthesis to support the rapid proliferation growth. Hence, blocking ER machinery with out ipomoeassin F molecule, has great potential to develop anticancer theraputic strategies. Because without functional or matured proteins, cancerous cells cannot rapidly grow and will eventually die.
Figure 612
The blockage ipomoeassin F causes does not allow cancer cells to proliferate or even for viral proteins to form. In a recent study, ipomoeassin F was even found to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) by also blocking the receptor that the virus's spikes interact with (figure 6)12. This receptor is the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)12. ACE2 is found in the lining of many important organs such as the lungs and brain12. The COVID virus interacts with ACE2 and causes the symptoms such as cough12. Ipomoeassin F blocks ACE2 in a way that SARS-CoV-2 cannot interact with ACE2 and proliferate12.