Alexzandria Sheppard ’25 is a biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology major who is studying whether a particular protein could help improve the long-term storage of certain drugs.
COLSA: Tell us about your research in as non-technical language as possible.
Alexzandria Sheppard: My research focuses on the antifreeze protein AnAFP from a broadleaf desert shrub found in Central Asia. Antifreeze proteins are a class of proteins found in a wide variety of organisms — including bacteria, fungi, insects, fish and plants — that protect organisms from the damages ice can cause. AnAFP is special as it has homology (similarity) to another class of proteins called dehydrins. Dehydrins are a class of proteins found in plants that protect against various environmental stresses, such as dehydration, flooding, high salinity (salt) and high and low temperatures.
Because AnAFP is part antifreeze protein and part dehydrin, I hypothesize that it can protect a cold-sensitive enzyme from freeze-drying, or lyophilization, damage. The goal of my work is to see if AnAFP impacts the ability of the cold-sensitive enzyme to function after being freeze-dried.
COLSA: What challenge/issue does the research you're conducting seek to address?
Alexzandria: Protein pharmaceutical products are becoming more prevalent in the pharmaceutical sphere. However, proteins are not very stable in solution (dissolved in water with salts), which presents a challenge for the long-term storage of protein drugs.
Freeze-drying, or lyophilization, presents an attractive long-term storage solution for these protein drugs. This comes with its own challenges, though, as the freeze-drying process can damage proteins, rendering them therapeutically useless. Therefore, finding safe additives that can prevent this damage may lead to the development of more freeze-dried protein drug formulations. I anticipate AnAFP will be one such additive.
COLSA: Who are you working with?
Alexzandria: I work with Dr. Krisztina Varga's research group. In her lab, I have received mentorship from her graduate students such as Dr. Katarina Jovic (who is now doing her postdoc with the Halpern group) and Jack Sylvester.
