Partial Purification of Telomerase Protein from Lizard tail to analyze its effect on tissue Regeneration
The current project was designed to analyze the biochemical features and regenerative abilities of the proteins present in lizard tail tissue. Ammonium sulfate precipitation and Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was performed on the proteins collected from the lizard tail where separated bands of tissue proteins were observed proving the effectiveness of our methods. In order to further explore the physiological significance of these proteins, several experiments to test the viability and the migratory capacity of cells were performed. A methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was performed using human dermal fibroblasts and mouse 3T3 cell cultures so as to determine the effect of proteins of concentrations of 10 µg/ml, 50 µg/ml and 100 µg/ml on the cell survival rate. Differences were recorded in survival rate of cells at different concentrations and thus the conclusions were drawn that the proteins under study have different effects on cells at differing concentrations. In a hypothetical scenario where fibroblast cells which usually adhere to surrounding cells very closely, were isolated and an injury inflicted to a single colon to see if lowering protein dosage would do anything for the cells’ migratory and repairing characteristics. Cells which were pre-treated with varying protein concentrations were fixed and stained with crystal violet dye for visualization under a microscope. It was revealed that at certain protein concentrations cells would be stimulated to migrate, possibly indicating that many of the tissues share similar mechanisms of regeneration, including the regeneration of lizard tails.