By Abigail Gan | Staff Writer
Dr. Michael Trakselis, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and head of the Trakselis Laboratory, was recently able to unravel the structure of the MCM8/9 enzyme — a protein whose mutations generally give rise to premature ovarian failure or insufficiency, infertility and various types of cancer.
Trakselis said they now have an atomic image of what the protein complex looks like and are starting to ask how it interacts with DNA.
“We get more structural information about how it interacts with DNA or where the DNA is,” Trakselis said. “And then we need to build up, you know, like, what other proteins does it interact with? This really helps us nail down exactly what pathways are for DNA repair or replication.”
Trakselis said the MCM8/9 protein isn’t an easy one to study. It took about five or six years to figure out the best way to approach it.
“We knew nothing about it. In fact, we still know very little about it,” Trakselis said. “It’s one of those things where it’s kind of like you’re interested in a while. You don’t know quite how to approach it. You do little things here and there. And then finally, something starts to work.”
Trakselis’ journey with research is not the typical story. He said that when he was a junior in college, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do beyond his interest in the sciences. Trakselis wasn’t affiliated with a lab in his undergraduate years and graduated without a lot of lab experience. He went on to work at a pharmaceutical company for two years while deciding what he wanted to do before going to graduate school.
“If you’re at all interested in science and research, then seek it out early,” Trakselis said. “I’ve been talking a little bit about how long research takes sometimes. And so those students that are just looking for a semester or a year of research really are not going to get very much out of it because a lot of things are not going to work. But the students have put in two or even three years of work in my lab. Most all of them, undergraduates, have been able to be an author on a publication at some point.”
Lawton, Okla., graduate student Colin To has worked on the MCM8/9 project since last spring. To said the project is competitive and work-heavy, but Trakselis’ mentorship is essential.
“I really appreciate how he coaches us and helps us with our projects, because it’s not out of malice — it’s always out of support,” To said. “Everything he tells you, everything he does for you is to give you the help you need. He’s trying to cultivate proficient researchers. He wants you to become a better scientist. And so he’s always pushing us and making us do a lot more than we think we can handle, but he knows we can handle it.”
Sri Lanka graduate student Achini Eliyapura has worked on the MCM8/9 project since 2021. Eliyapura transferred from another university and joined Trakselis’ group without having previously done work in research pertaining to MCM8/9.
“After going through his work, I fell so much in love with MCM8/9-related work,” Eliyapura said.
Eliyapura said that as a graduate student in research, she has learned a lot about teamwork and adapting to different environments and techniques.
“I think that [MCM8/9 project] also helps me to further use more new techniques and would actually help me to benefit my career in that [future] aspect as well,” Eliyapura said.
Sri Lanka post-doctoral student Rashini Beragama Arachchi joined Trakselis’ lab last June as a full-time researcher on the MCM8/9 project. She said she has learned how important it is to be persistent in research.
“In research, there are days that you’ll be very happy, you’re getting good results,” Beragama Arachchi said. “And there are days that you don’t get what you expect. But that’s normal. Being a post-doctoral researcher doesn’t mean that all the work that I do comes like 100% perfect results. Even if it is the top scientists, you get ups and downs.”
Trakselis said students who are hardworking and can put in hours in the lab are the ones who make good progress. He also said students don’t have to have a 4.0 GPA to do well; they just have to be hardworking and organized.
“To be successful in research, you need to be persistent,” Trakselis said. “You need to be undeterred. You need to be able to overcome things and multitask.”
