Munmeet Kaur

Resourceful Graduate Research Assistant passionate about advancing knowledge in Biomedical Science through high-quality research. Self-motivated professional with excellent communication, planning and problem solving abilities.

• Republic Polytechnic, Final Year Project
• Title: Evaluating the potential of antioxidants in moderating clinical neurodegeneration
• Description: Neuroinflammation is prevalent in many neurodegenerative diseases and is characterised by microglial activation, inflammatory mediator release and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Studies have shown that neuroinflammation plays a crucial role in neurodegenerative disease progression and development of therapeutic strategies against neuroinflammation is essential to accommodate the increasing trend of patients suffering from Alzhiemer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. During my final year in Republic Polytechnic, I investigated the anti-inflammatory properties of antioxidants omega-3 and sericin in activated BV2 cells, a mouse-derived microglial cell line. BV2 cells were first activated with a bacterial toxin, lipopolysaccharide, and then treated with either omega-3 or sericin. Flow cytometry (MacsQUANT FACS Flow Cytometer) using propidium iodide and immunostaining for TGF-beta were used to perform cell cycle analysis and measure inflammatory status respectively.
• Results: When compared to untreated activated BV2 cells, treatment of activated BV2 cells with both antioxidants showed significant decrease in the number of cells in G2/M phase as well as a reduction of TGF-beta immunostaining, suggesting reduction in cellular proliferation and inflammation. This preliminary data highlights a potential therapeutic role of antioxidants in reducing inflammation to possibly delay the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.
• Skills: PCR, flow cytometry (FACS), DNA and RNA extraction, protein purification, cell culture work, immunostaining, immunohistochemistry, ELISA, fluorescent microscopy