Cells from a colon tumor, the hope of a more effective way to treat cancer and the dedication of a number of gifted students - these are the things that have driven Michael Edelbrock’s research into why some cells are able to repair themselves, while others turn into cancer.

Edelbrock, an associate professor of environmental, safety and health management and assistant director of the Environmental Safety and Health Management Program, has been researching why specific DNA proteins that are supposed to repair a cell when something goes wrong, sometimes don’t work. He has been doing this research for the past six years as part of his work toward a Ph.D. in medical science from the Medical University of Ohio (MUO).

“Cell mutations happen all the time in every cell, and most of the time the cell’s DNA repair proteins fix the mutations. The problem arises when those proteins don’t work,” Edelbrock explained. “If we can improve our ability to identify and repair mutations within cells, this may lead to better therapies or even prevent cancer.”

Edelbrock presented his research at the International Environmental Mutagen Society meeting in San Francisco in September 2005 and has plans to
submit this work for publication. Some of his work has been published in the BioMed Central Molecular Biology Journal.
Throughout his research, Edelbrock has worked with more than 10 undergraduate and graduate students at UF, giving them the opportunity to apply what they have learned in the classroom to a real research environment. “It is extremely important that our students have as much handson experience as possible,” Edelbrock explained. “It’s this experience that helps them develop the critical thinking and analytical skills needed to really understand how to take what they have learned in class and apply it to a real situation.”

For example, Jessica VanHook, a senior pre-veterinary medicine and biology major, completed an honors project last year that investigated the growth dynamics of cancer cells when given different nutrients. In the lab, Edelbrock and a graduate student, Tim Richards, and colleagues from MUO grow cancer cells derived from colon and cervical cancer tumors. They study a DNA repair protein that has a known defect in colon cancer cells and compare it to the same protein in the cervical tumor, which does not have a defect. This comparison is used to study mutations linked to the repair protein.

Back on UF campus, Edelbrock is mentoring a graduate student, Vijay Bindingnavile, who is studying environmental pollutants related to cellular absorbtion. This project is geared to generating preliminary data that may be used to apply for a grant. 

“We are at the beginning of a frontier in molecular biology,” Edelbrock noted. “There are predicted to be more than 25,000 different proteins in a cell. Mutations in many of these proteins can cause the cell to behave abnormally and lead to disease. We only have a fraction of these proteins identified. Getting students involved with research is crucial. Any one of our students, if provided the right support and spark, may be the one to identify a new protein. They will be the ones in the next 20 years who will develop better treatments and maybe even a cure, for cancer.”

This story was featured in the Winter 2006 issue of the Findlay magazine. To read other stories from this issue, click here.