The glowing green that forms on multiple research slides
look a bit like something from outer space. But the gauzy
fields and glowing dots are, in this case, features of
inner space.
Hedeel Evans, who teaches biochemistry at Eastern Michigan
University, studies a protein that goes by the acronym
CAD (you'll see why in a minute) on an organelle inside
the cells of mammals. CAD plays an important role in cell
growth. Since rampant cell division is a characteristic
of cancer cells, understanding that role could lead to
the development of new cancer drugs and chemotherapy strategies.
 |
FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR: Hedeel Guy Evans, an
Eastern
Michigan University associate professor of chemistry
is currently in Paris, France on a Fulbright fellowship.
Evans is conducting research on "Live Cell Imaging:
Protein Intracellular Dynamics in Proliferating Cells"
at the Institut Curie. Evans will be there through
July. |
Evans is in Paris on a six-month Fulbright fellowship,
taking a closer-than-ever look at the behavior of CAD (carbamoyl
phosphate synthetase-aspartate transcarbamoylase-dihydroorotase).
She is one of just a handful of Fulbright fellows in all
disciplines conducting research in France this year, an
experience she hopes will open up more opportunities for
EMU faculty to collaborate with the French bioscience community.
Evans had already discovered, unexpectedly, that CAD is
located on an organelle, called the centrosome, that's
important in cell division. She also discovered that, during
the cell cycle, CAD is located in different parts of the
cell at different times. But Evans didn't have the equipment
or expertise to understand how or why, so she arranged
to work with Institut Curie Head of Cell Biology Bruno
Goud, an internationally recognized leader in the field.
"The Institut Curie is really amazing," Evans said via
e-mail. "There are several floors with expertise in different
areas and, within each floor, there are several laboratories.
There is a great microscopy center, with a lot of microscopes,
that allows for live cell imaging where you can see the
proteins in real time."
At EMU, Evans fused CAD to a green, fluorescent protein
found in jellyfish. The fusion made the protein glow bright
green under a fluorescent microscope. Evans' lab also created
several other fusion proteins — with fluorescent
tags of different colors — that will enable
Evans to see interactions of different proteins in
the cell in real time.
Using the sophisticated time-lapse video microscopes in
Goud's lab, Evans will be able to produce high-resolution,
three-dimensional pictures of CAD in live cells. The equipment
collects data so quickly that movies can be made showing
the CAD moving from place to place in the cell.
Evans and her family arrived in Paris Jan. 3 and will
stay through mid-July. Her husband, David Evans, is studying
the effect of pressure on proteins at the University of
Paris.
"I would love to continue my collaborations with the institute
and I am sure that Bruno is very happy with that, also," Evans
said. "I would like, at some point, to figure out a way
to send some of my EMU students to learn some of the fantastic
live-cell imaging techniques."
