ISAT takes on the eye

JMU-U.Va. team aims to cure syndrome with obscure protein

Three JMU Integrated Science and Technology students and their professor are manufacturing a protein that may help over 35 million Americans deal with dry-eye syndrome, a condition ranging in severity from reduced vision to blindness.

The protein lacritin, which comes from a "small, obscure little gland" behind the eye, had previously escaped the attention of scientists, said project head Robert McKown.

McKown said lacritin might play a role in stimulating new tear production, which "may form the basis of a revolutionary treatment for dry-eye syndrome."

Lacritin was isolated at the University of Virginia by Gordon Laurie’s team in 2001. Since then, JMU has been working with them by creating the recombinant purified protein and then sending it to them for biological activity analysis.

Junior Brooke Buckland’s part of the research involves fusing a green fluorescent protein with the lacritin protein to make it glow for identification and analysis. Seniors Kristen Bloom and Staci Johnson work on other aspects of the research such as mutational analysis.

The U.Va.-JMU collaboration began when Laurie came to recruit students for the U.Va. Biotechnology Ph.D. program.

"Dr. Laurie thought that ISAT students like us could be good for their program, and when he started talking about his work with Dr. McKown, they realized we could work together," Bloom said. She works on one aspect of the project along with Buckland and Johnson.

"They do the cell biology there, and we do the biochemistry here," McKown said. "Laurie originally wanted to clone [lacritin] in bacteria and make enough of it for his studies, and no one at U.Va. did that, so we jumped in on the opportunity to collaborate."

Their collaboration recently expanded with a third partner, Dr. Patricia Williams from Eastern Virginia Medical School.

McKown said, "We make the protein here, and now [EVMS] are doing animal studies to measure increased tear production in rabbits."

Buckland said, "It’s exciting to see more people get involved in this." He originally started working in the lab doing dishes but became more involved, finding the research interesting enough for a senior thesis project.

Manufacturing this rare protein will likely "bring more attention to JMU, but ultimately our teamwork with U.Va. and EVMS in future scientific ventures will prove very valuable," McKown said.