USD President's Report and Honor Roll of Donors 1996

A M ORE H UMAN PROTEIN From 1989 through 1994, these future sc ientists aided Sister Shaffer, who used what she ca lls the class ical technique fo r cloning genes. The professor abandoned the method when no significant results occurred. Currently she and her gradu ate ass istant, Tammy Velasquez, are working with a simpl e fungus known as As/Jergillus nidulans as an a ltern ate source fo r L- asparaginase. Sister Shaffer ha particular confidence in the fungus, a higher organism than the exist ing source for the L-asparagi- nase protein, the bacterium E. coli . "A good number of peop le are allergic to the E. coli source because it doesn't look like any protein that is human, " she says. "E. coli is bacteria. As you go up to yeast and fun gi you are in what are ca ll ed higher organisms. They produce · protein a little bit more like the human one and perhaps won't cause the rej ection or allergic reac ti on. " Though she has remained patient fo r many years, Sister Shaffer is beginning to look toward the future with a particu lar gleam in her eye. She is set to retire in 1999 and is more focused than ever on successfully cloning the genes before leav ing the lab for good. She speaks with the confidence of a seasoned resea rcher. When the project is complete, the genes can be used to pro- duce large amounts of L-asparaginase and the pediatric branch of the Nati onal Cancer Institute will be notified, she says. After that, Sister Shaffer and the university will consider patenting her work.

C LON ING FOR K IDS S topping the growth of leukemia ce lls in a human body is all about starving the cells of their nitrogen source. The nitrogen is like food that nourishes the cells, giving the deadly organ- isms the energy to divide and multiply. The protein L-asparag inase is used regularly by physicians to cut off nitrogen to the diseased cells in the treatment of ch ildhood leukemia. If all the cells are killed, the leukemia is cured. The young patients are often allergic to the only fo rm of L-asparag inase now on the market, however, thus prevent- ing the prote in from doing its job. S ister Patricia M. Shaffer, a USO professor of chemistry, h as identified an alternative source of the protein and is method icall y wo rking her way cowa rd cloning the genes that could be subst itutes for the current form of L-asparaginase. L A B PARTNERS Sister Shaffer's quest began in 1988. From the outset she under- stood such an ambitious project cou ld not be completed without assistance. Over the years, she's enlisted the help of dozens of students, ranging from high schoo l science buffs to a postdoc- toral fe llow. S ince 1991 , two high school students have been invited to USO each summer as part of Proj ect SEED (Summer Educa- tional Experi ence fo r the Disadvantaged). They are paired with undergraduates who volunteer to work with Sister Shaffer. The students learn invaluable lessons in research methodology, equipment operation and patience - lessons that can be lea rned only in a hands-on situation. Sister Shaffer too has learned to be patient, knowing there is a limit to the amount of work she can comp lete each semester while also teaching, and knowing that with students, projects sometimes have to be repeated when mistakes are made. None of this bothers the professor who sits relaxed in an office filled fl oor to ce iling with books, research journals and stacks of fi le folders. She is quick to point out that students perfo rm tasks she has yet to master, such as runn ing and main- tain ing ce rtain equipment. 'They sometimes do work fo r me that I can't do," Sister Shaffer says, smiling proudly at the aptitude of her young proteges. Many of the nearly two dozen undergraduates who have worked with Sister Shaffer spend two semesters plus a summer in her Camino Hall laboratory. They do, howeve r, take off their goggles and lab coats for periodic trips to research confer- ences, such as the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, where the students present their work to peers and other uni versity professors.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a cancer deadly to many of the children it afflicts each year. But there is a cure. If the diseased cells can be starved of their food supply, the leukemia will disappear from the young body it invaded. Physicians regularly prescribe the L-asparaginase protein to destroy the cancerous cells. However, allergic reactions to the protein are common, rendering the treatment ineffective. I Sister Patricia M. Shaffer, a 3 7-year veteran of USD's chemistry department, believes there is a better source for L-asparaginase, one that the human body will accept. She and her student researchers are on a quest to clone the genes for this alternative treatment.