Hani Jamal Alturkmani, a 3rd-year student in College of Medicine, submitted his molecular biology research abstract to the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) last October. After being accepted the research abstract was subsequently presented in the annual meeting of the ASCB last December 2010.
The research was conducted last summer in the University of Mississippi Medical Centre in Jackson, MS in the U.S.A, under the supervision of Dr. George Booz, a well-known molecular biologist.
The idea of the research was to test the potential activation effect of sodium selenate (a dietary supplement) on STAT3 protein. STAT3 is a proteins that is involved in physiological processes as well as pathological processes (e.g. cancer and atherosclerosis). Sodium selenate is now proposed as a new drug for Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, the study conclusion was questioning the safety of sodium selenate as a medication for Alzheimer’s, considering that sodium selenate activates a protein, i.e. STAT3, that is a part of certain diseases.
The research title was “Selenate Enhances Endothelial Cell STAT3 Tyrosine Phosphorylation and DNA Binding” , and Hani Alturkmani was involved as a first author.
Well Done Hani Alturkmani!
