6th Annual Judith Ramaley Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship
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Poster #41 The Effects of Metformin on Glucose Metabolism and Electrical Current Production in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae.
Erik Goodmanson
Faculty Mentor: Myoung Lee
Metformin (1,1-dimethylbiguanide) is an oral anti-diabetic medication used widely and safely in the treatment of type-II diabetes mellitus (T2DM); however, its full mechanism of action is still unknown. Though, it has been proposed that metformin acts by stimulating the enzyme 5’ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which is involved in the homeostasis of cellular energy. In order to elucidate the effects of metformin, several microorganisms have been studied under various conditions in our laboratory, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lactobacillus acidophilus. Nevertheless, the recently discovered microbe Rhodoferax ferrireducens was first chosen for this project due to its exceptional ability to transfer electrons through a microbial fuel cell (MFC), unfortunately, after several attempts the R. ferrireducens culture did not grow. Following these efforts, S. cerevisiae was chosen as the organism, and a suitable fuel cell was procured to carry on with the experiment.The metabolic effects of metformin on the metabolism of 1-13C- D-Glucose were then monitored in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (13C NMR) spectroscopy under varying metformin concentrations, which showed the rate of change as glucose was metabolized to glycerol and ethanol. Additionally, molecular docking between various ligands including metformin and known target proteins were modeled using AutoDock software to calculate fit andbinding energy. Furthermore, the electrical current production of S. cerevisiae under varying metformin concentrations is being studied in an MFC, providing information for future sources of sustainable energy. |
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