Pure Hyaluronic Acid      

North Middlesex grad presenting cancer research on Capitol Hill

Date: 9th December 2008, Source: Hyaluronic News

It helps to start early if you want to conquer cancer.

Heather Rideout, 21, a Townsend native and junior biochemistry major at St. Michael's College in Vermont, is working on a cancer-research study that is showing encouraging results: When a molecule called hyaluronic acid, or HA, meets metastasizing cancer cells in the bloodstream of mice, it slows or stops the migration of the cancer cells. While the science is far reaching, the funding is secure only until next year.

On Tuesday, Rideout will meet at the Council on Undergraduate Research in Washington, D.C., and speak directly to U.S. Sens. James Jeffords and Patrick Leahy and U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as well as an associate of John Kerry, to advocate for continued funding for undergraduate science research.

"A lot of the research I'm doing deals with the science of how cancer cells work," Rideout says. "It illuminates for me how researchers go about these things and how slow the process is. But there's this game if you're limited by the amount of money you're given."

The funding for Rideout's research comes from a $60,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health and is distributed by the Vermont Genetics Network. It is by no means guaranteed to continue past its one-year term.

In Washington, Rideout will present her collaborative research, originally initiated by professor David Baker at the University of Tennessee. She will be accompanied by chemistry professor Brian Kyte, who is overseeing the portion of the study conducted at St. Michael's. They will describe what makes hyaluronic acid an optimal compound to apply to cancer research.

To a cancer cell, HA looks like one of the principal sugars that metastasizing cells grab onto, says Kyte.

"The cancer cells grow finger-like proteins outside the cell that grab onto sugars that help it migrate into the bloodstream," he says. "The fingers, or receptors, are still there. When HA is injected into the bloodstream, cancer cells bind to HA and don't relocate into a new organ or infiltrate a new location," says Kyte.

Rideout's early start on a disciplined course of cancer research is one she wants to secure for future students. The issue is personal and professional:

"Without the funding, I'd never know what it's like to do research," she says. "I'd go to graduate school cold. We have labs in school, but they're not anywhere near as real as doing a whole summer of research. You never get to buckle down on one project and get that excitement of having a project that you're enthusiastic about."

Rideout begins her morning at the lab doing a chemical reaction to synthesize a compound. Later that day, she'll aim to have it purified and characterized.

"All along, you keep a lab notebook to keep track of what you're doing," she says. "Toward the end, when you have some result, you want to apply for grants, create PowerPoints and posters."

While medical research is the likely route for a cancer cure, it's "funding that is the lifeblood of science researchers," says St. Michael's spokesperson Mark Tarnicki.

"For better or worse, that's part of being a scientist in today's world," says Tarnicki.

The networking opportunity at the D.C. event is also something worthwhile for students like Rideout.

"They meet other scientists," Tarnicki says. "They might parlay that into a lab job in the future."

Rideout's drive and enthusiasm come from "a very, very good biology teacher, Heather Conn," at North Middlesex Regional High School.

"She had a contagious enthusiasm," Rideout says. "She'd answer all my questions. She'd take this piece of chalk and write down the questions on the workbench and look it up later and have the answer the next class. ... I don't think I could have gone into anything else but biology."

Rachel Ellner's e-mail address is rellner@lowellsun.com.