The cause of the disease was discovered in 1997 in the lab of Lin’s mentor, Peter Lobel, PhD, a professor at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and in the Department of Pharmacology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). Lin explains that an enzyme called CLN2,a protease which breaks down materials that are present in brain cells, is either missing or dysfunctional. Without the enzyme’s digestive action, the material accumulates within the brain cells, and they stop functioning.

Lin and Lobel have developed a system to make recombinant CLN2 protein that appears to express increased amounts of CLN2. "It is digesting the storage material in patient cells grown in a petri dish," Lin says. "That’s very promising." The next step, he adds, will be to try the protein on a knockout mouse. If that’s successful, the two will find a way to deliver the purified CLN2 to the patient’s brain. Lin says that may be the biggest hurdle of all, because of the naturally occurring blood/brain barrier.

"We may try injecting it directly into the brain, or perhaps into the spinal fluid," Lin says. "We may encapsulate it in some sort of a ‘Trojan Horse,’ like a liposome, or we may try mixing it with another protein. That part of the process is still down the road. Right now our findings suggest that LINCL may be curable, and that’s very exciting."

Lin was among the students who presented their research findings at the first Minority Graduate Student Association Research Symposium held last fall in Piscataway. In addition to oral and poster presentations of their research, students also heard minority speakers. Luis Salicrup, PhD, an RWJMS alum employed at the Fogarty International Center of the NIH, spoke on the research opportunities available for minority students.

The event was the first one sponsored by the association, which was founded by minority graduate students about two years ago. Co-president Miriam Bucheli says any student enrolled in a graduate program at UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Science or Rutgers Graduate School is welcome to join.