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Chemistry (including Biochemistry)/school project in chemistry

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Expert: - 10/5/2011


Question
hey, I'm an 11th grade student and I'm doing this project in my chemistry class that requires me to explain a chemical reaction that helps humans health wise. What i was wondering was if you could explain to me, as best as you can, what chemical reaction occurs when giving a vaccine. For example, which element composes the substance you inject in the system and what this fluid does to the infection and/or virus?

Answer
Hi Cassandra!

So you want to describe a chemical reaction that helps humans healthwise? I can link you to a couple. Many fun reactions in biochemistry have protein catalysts called enzymes, that do lots of useful work.

Liver Alcohol Dehydrogenase - aka the enzyme that keeps beer from killing you.
http://www.mydr.com.au/gastrointestinal-health/liver-and-alcohol-breakdown

Carbonic Anhydrase - aka waiting to exhale (pulls CO2 out of solution)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonic_anhydrase

Alpha Galactosidase, aka Beano, aka Fart Prevention Enzyme
http://www.beanogas.com/UofGas.aspx

Now on to what you asked about. This is more a paper for biology class rather than chemistry, as there isn't one reaction that you can write out and then write a paragraph about like the first two examples. I'll give you a short explanation and then maybe you'll understand that you've hit on a good idea but it might not work for your assignment.

In biology the smallest self-replicating living unit is called a cell. (It was called that because it looks like a little room under a microscope.) Cells are made of smaller repeating structures, including DNA and its kin RNA (genetic information) and protein (structural building blocks as well as molecular chemistry workers known as enzymes). Multicellular organisms are made of many kinds of cells. You can think of yourself as a 'company' of independent cells that all work together to support you, forming tissues, organs, systems, and so on so you can wake up and decide what you want for breakfast.

A vaccine is a heat-killed virus, which is simpler than a cell and has few/no moving parts. It has only a protein jacket and the DNA inside. When you heat these up, the DNA gets all scrambled so it doesn't work anymore. However, the virus jacket is relatively intact. It's the jacket that your immune system will recognize and say 'hey, there's something wrong here. THAT doesn't look like the other cells. It must be an invader. GET HIM.'

So when you get a vaccine injection, you get dead virus and a mixture of other chemicals that act as big blaring molecular signposts so your immune system won't miss them. The immune cells go and pick up the virus bits and bring them back to HQ, the lymph nodes. There, your immune system develops specific proteins to stick to those virus coats known as antibodies. Once your immune cells have these grabber proteins, virus cleanup is a snap. Moreover, your body makes a constant low level of all the antibodies it's ever needed. If your immune system 'notices' that it's running low on one kind because they're all getting used, it starts a signalling cascade that you're coming down with whatever disease sponsored that antibody. This causes the immune cells to make loads more of that antibody and to go on high alert to kill all invaders. This means that you may never even notice the infection, or if you do, you don't get as sick.

All of these structures - protein, DNA, antibody, cell... are made primarily of a mixture of elements C, O, N, S, and P. There isn't one clear-cut chemical 'reaction' with one set of chemical compounds you can inject someone with to get a specific antibody response to a vaccine. It's a problem of scale.

If an atomic element was a single person holding hands (n=1), a compound was a group of folks holding hands(n=10), a protein would be the entire staff of the federal government posing for a picture out in front of the capitol. (n=1,000 to 1,000,000+ and beyond).  So we're looking at combinations of things much larger than a simple element to make the antibody reaction go.

Good luck with your chem homework! :)

Other concepts I used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_element
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_compound
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(biology)

Chemistry (including Biochemistry)

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Trista Robichaud, PhD

Expertise

No homework questions, especially ones copied and pasted from textbooks. I will answer questions about principles or give hints, but I do not do other's homework. I'm comfortable answering basic biochemistry, chemistry, and biology questions up to and including an undergraduate level of understanding. This includes molecular biology, protein purification, and genetics. My training/inclination is primarily in structural biology, or how the shapes of things affect their function. Other interests include protein design, protein engineering, enzyme kinetics, and metabolic diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis, and diabetes. My chemistry weaknesses are that I do not know organic or inorganic synthesis well, nor am I familiar with advanced inorganic reactions. I will attempt quantum mechanics and thermodynamics questions, but primarily as they relate to biological systems. Furthermore, I cannot tell you if a skin photograph is cancerous, or otherwise diagnose any disease. I can tell you how we currently understand the basic science behind a disease state, but I cannot recommend treatment in any way. Please direct such questions to your medical professional.

Experience

I hold a PhD in Biomedical Science from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. I specialize in Biochemistry, with a focus on protein chemistry. My thesis work involved the structure and functions of the human glucose transporter 1. (hGLUT1) Currently I am a postdoc working in peptide (mini-protein) design and enzymology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. I am in Bjorn Steffensen's lab (PhD, DDS), studying gelatinase A and oral carcinoma.

Organizations
2001 American Association for the Advancement of Science
2007 American Chemical Society
2007 Protein Society
2011 UTHSCSA Women’s Faculty Association


Publications
Levine KB, Robichaud TK, Hamill S, Sultzman LA, Carruthers A. Properties of the human erythrocyte glucose transport protein are determined by cellular context. Biochemistry 44(15):5606-16, 2005. (PMID 15823019)
Robichaud TK, Appleyard AN, Herbert RB, Henderson PJ, Carruthers A “Determinants of ligand binding affinity and cooperativity at the GLUT1 endofacial site” Biochemistry 50(15):3137-48, 2011. (PMID 21384913)
Xu X, Mikhailova M, Chen Z, Pal S, Robichaud TK, Lafer EM, Baber S, Steffensen B. “Peptide from the C-terminal domain of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2) inhibits membrane activation of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2)” Matrix Biol. 2011 Sep;30(7-8):404-12. (PMID: 21839835)
Robichaud TK, Steffensen B, Fields GB. Exosite interactions impact matrix metalloproteinase collagen specificities. J Biol Chem. 2011 Oct 28;286(43):37535-42 (PMID: 21896477)

Poster Abstracts:
Robichaud TK, Carruthers. A "Mutagenesis of the Human type 1 glucose transporter exit site: A functional study." ACS 234th Meeting, Boston MA. Division of Biological Chemistry, 2007
Robichaud TK, Bhowmick M, Tokmina-Roszyk D, Fields GB “Synthesis and Analysis of MT1-MMP Peptide Inhibitors” Biological Chemistry Division of the Protein Society Meeting, San Diego CA 2010
Robichaud TK; Tokmina-Roszyk D; Steffensen B and Fields GB “Catalytic Domain Exosites Contribute to Determining Matrix Metalloproteinase Triple Helical Collagen Specificities” Dental Science Symposium. UTHSCSA 2011
Robichaud TK; Tokmina-Roszyk D; Steffensen B and Fields GB “Exosite Interactions Determine Matrix Metalloproteinase Specificities” Gordon Research Conference on Matrix Metalloproteinase Biology, Bristol RI 2011


Education/Credentials
Oakland University, Auburn Hills MI BS, Biochemistry 1998
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester MA PhD, Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology 2001-2008
University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio TX Postdoc, Biochemistry 2009-Present


Awards and Honors
1998 Honors College Graduate, Oakland University
2009 Institutional National Research Service Award, Pathobiology of Occlusive Vascular Disease T32 HL07446
2011 1st Place, Best Postdoctoral Poster, Dental Science Symposium, UTHSCSA, April 2011


Past/Present Clients
Invited Seminars:
Robichaud TK, Fields GB. “Synthesis and Analysis of MTI-MMP Triple Helical Peptide Inhibitors” Pathology Research Conference, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio Pathology Department (June 18th, 2010)
Robichaud TK & Hill, B “How To Give A Great Scientific Talk” Invited Lecture, Pathobiology of Occlusive Vascular Disease Seminars, UTHSCSA (Nov 11th 2010), Cardiology Seminar Series, Texas Research Park (Feb 21st, 2011)
Robichaud TK; Tokmina-Roszyk D; Steffensen B and Fields GB “Exosite Interactions Determine Matrix Metalloproteinase Specificities” Gordon-Keenan Research Seminar “Everything You Wanted to Know About Matrix Metalloproteinases But Were Afraid to Ask” Bristol, RI (Aug 6th, 2011)

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