LEAPS-MPS: Structural and Functional Characterization of Tick Vaccine Antigen Homologs

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。这个项目由数学和物理科学理事会资助，隶属于化学系。在这个项目中，圣约翰大学的Erica Jacobs教授和她的学生将研究牛抗蜱疫苗中发现的一种化学物质（Bm86，一种重组蛋白）的结构与其功能之间的关系。这些研究有望深入了解Bm86如何提供对蜱虫的免疫力。雅各布斯教授扩大参与的计划包括向本科生和硕士学生（在圣约翰大学，一个少数民族服务机构）支付费用，以支持他们的研究经历，而不是外部工作，以及开发基于课程的本科生研究（CURE）经历，这将比其他方式更广泛地介绍研究经历。她还将继续努力，将反种族主义教学法纳入化学课程。Jacobs教授建议检查重组蛋白Bm86（一种抗蜱疫苗抗原）及其同源物的结构参数，并假设Bm86及其同源物在肩胛骨蜱中的特定结构特征是针对它们的免疫反应有效性的基础。她还将通过亲和纯化方法确定蜱细胞匀浆和牛血液中Bm86同源物的蛋白质相互作用组，并假设Bm86同源物与蜱肠道中的细胞或细胞外基质受体结合，导致细胞信号传导和/或粘附事件，从而研究Bm86同源物的功能参数。进一步的假设是，这些在蜱虫肠道腔中表达的蛋白质可能在牛血液中有额外的结合伙伴，识别它们可能会导致对这些蛋白质功能的了解。提议的工作是高度协作的，将为本科生和硕士学生提供研究经验，这些学生来自传统上在科学领域代表性不足的群体。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). In this project, funded by the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate and housed in the Chemistry Division, Professor Erica Jacobs and her students at Saint John’s University will study the relationship between the structure of a chemical (Bm86, a recombinant protein) found in a bovine anti-tick vaccine and its function. These studies are expected to provide insight into how Bm86 provides immunity from ticks. Prof. Jacobs’s broadening participation plan includes paying undergraduate and MS students (at Saint John’s University, a minority serving institution) to support their research experiences in place of external jobs, and development of course-based undergraduate research (CURE) experiences that will introduce a much broader audience to research experiences than would otherwise be possible. She will also increase her ongoing efforts to incorporate antiracist pedagogy into Chemistry courses.Professor Jacobs proposes to examine structural parameters of the recombinant protein Bm86, which is an anti-tick vaccine antigen, and its homologs, with the hypothesis that particular structural features of Bm86 and its homologs in the tick Ixodes scapularis underlie the effectiveness of immune responses directed against them. She will also examine functional parameters of Bm86 homologs by defining their protein interactomes in tick cell homogenates and bovine blood via an affinity purification approach, with the hypothesis that Bm86 homologs bind to cellular or extracellular matrix receptors in the tick gut, leading to cell signaling and/or adhesion events. It is further hypothesized that these proteins, which are expressed in the lumen of the tick gut, may have additional binding partners in bovine blood, identification of which may lead to insight as to function of these proteins. Proposed work is highly collaborative and will provide research experiences to undergraduate and MS students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.