One awesome post linking music to biochemistry last week reminded me to share with you all an upcoming event in the Science Center, aptly named “Music at the Science Center”! On Tuesday, March 11th, from 4:30-5:30, I will be playing a set of songs, mostly original and perhaps some not-so-original songs on piano and guitar. I don’t have any finished songs about biomolecules at the moment (still in the works!), unfortunately, but I do have one about couscous….isn’t that considered a carbohydrate??
I’m very excited for the show, and for the upcoming events (I’m just the first leg of the series!) because any chance to showcase the diversity of interests within science majors is always great. We definitely put in hours in the lab, because we’re curious and driven by logic and analysis, but it’s always nice to see what else drives us. I guess this also prompts me to ask the class – what other activities are you involved in?
The remainder of my post today will be about collagen, and how today’s class helped solidify my brief experiences with this cool protein while working in a cartilage lab this past summer. One of my first independent experiments was immunohistochemically staining for Collagen Type II (yes! there are multiple types and subtypes of collagen, which only adds to the confusion), so I have a certain fondness for it. I remember looking at the staining of the microscope, not sure what to expect.
Because collagen is so structurally sound, it makes sense that it comprises a decent percentage of the extracellular matrix of cartilage tissue. You can actually see this structure in action – the brown stains from the IHC experiment showed a very spongy, interconnected web of collagen – what you might imagine the structure of bone marrow might look like.
I recall my mentor mentioning hydroxyproline assays, affectionately termed “hy-pro” tests. I also recall The triple helix motif was also mentioned extensively, though at that time I didn’t have a good idea of what that motif would look like on a primary sequence level or why the three helices would be motivated to bind in such a fashion (now I know – often it’s due to the hydrophobic faces on the three helices!)
My reminiscence about my time in the cartilage lab has really helped me appreciate everything that I observed in my time in this cartilage lab, but never really got a chance to understand how these observations fit into a bigger context. In class, there have been lots of words that trigger memories and create “a-ha” moments for me, which help put my past lab experiences into a more academic context. This is strange for me, becaus usually I like knowing the theory extensively before putting it into practice. I am finding that the reverse – learning the practical uses and properties of collagen before understanding the theoretical structure of collagen, is also to my surprise a wholly satisfying experience as well!
If you want to tie this to carbohydrates, may I remind people that there will be snacks and drinks there too! (As if you need another reason to go!)
Wow, Audrey – that sounds so exciting! Perfect timing for right after biochem lab, too 🙂
Also, as for your research “ah-ha” moment, I feel the same way! While it’s difficult to have a full understanding of what you are doing in the lab initially, much of what we’ve learned so far in biochem has been helpful for understanding the more subtle details and mechanisms behind each experiment