Calcium In The Body

Martinez earns fourth place at Science Fair

A study related to keeping prostate cancer cells from spreading elsewhere in the body earned Lubbock High School senior Dalia Martinez-Marin a fourth-place finish among hundreds of entries in the recent Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Martinez's project was titled "Intracellular Calcium in Prostate Cancer." It was entered into the medicine and health category in the science fair, which she estimated had between 300 and 400 entries.

"I couldn't believe it when they called my name. I've never done the science fair before, and to get fourth in international on my first time was amazing," she said.

Sandra Hancock, co-director of the South Plains Regional Science and Engineering Fair, said Martinez's accomplishment was very impressive.

"She had some of the cutting edge research on prostate cancer. The projects were all judged by PhDs and Nobel Prize winners that are active in the fields of the projects they were judging," Hancock said.

Martinez's project involved the dynamics of calcium, which she explained is important to cell growth and the regulations of the cellular function.

She examined two type of prostate cancer cells: LNCaP cells, which are poorly metastatic and less likely to spread elsewhere in the body; and CL-1 cells, which are more metastatic and more likely to spread, she said.

She introduced a substance called amyloid precursor protein (APP) into the two types of cells.

"I tested APP, which is very important for energy. It also acts as a signaling molecule for calcium inside the cell," she said. "What I found was two spikes basically signalling how the cells took in the APP."

The CL-1 cells had a much higher spike. CL-1 cells regulate the calcium much better, Martinez said.

"So, it we could find a drug that can break down the regulation of calcium, we could at least keep cancer contained in the prostate and keep it from spreading," she said.

The laboratory where she worked had conducted prior research on other types of cancers. It found the same characteristics in breast cancer and melanoma cells, she said.

"If we could find one drug, maybe it could work across the board with other types of cancer cells," Martinez said.

Martinez said her parents work in cancer research, but she didn't do her research in their laboratories.

The South Plains Regional Science and Engineering Fair advances the two top projects each year to the international science fair, Hancock said. There were 1,700 projects from students in 63 countries entered in the international fair this year, she said.

Calcitriol Controls The Intestinal Absorption Of Calcium | Health ...

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