+Anirudh Karegowdra

IR1/10GT
Interview 2

Sathyasaikumar Korrapati
Regenerative Medicine and Neurological Research
Regenerative Drug Researcher
December 16th, 2017

AK: I am going to be recording this for note taking and future reference if that is alright with
you?

SK: Yes that is fine.

AK: Okay great, well it is great to speak with you once again because I have got the chance to
delve deeper into your field since our last meeting. I have decided to integrate this topic into my
research because I felt that it is a major field that is essential to cover since it encompasses much
of the internal components of the body that I have not yet been exposed to.

SK: That is great to hear that you have interest in what I am doing. It is an interesting field in
medicine that really brought me to discover much of what chemicals can do upon the human
body that benefits us in many ways. I hope through your research you find more studies that
show how expansive this field is growing as I have shown with my own experiments.

SK: Have you prepared questions for me?

AK: Yes, I have prepared some questions that are more specified now that I have got the chance
to look into this field.

SK: Alright I am ready.

AK: My first question is, when researching brain tissue and many of the sensory organs
associated with it, how do you replicate or replace essential processes that take place under
normal conditions such as the blood brain barrier(BBB)?

SK: That is an excellent question because it is what I am currently studying. The blood brain
barrier is essentially a membrane formed by the endothelial cells of the brain and its main
purpose is to act as a protector for the brain. It prevents any stray neurotransmitters and other
agents that circulate from the blood surrounding the neurological area. It also protects against
high spikes of plasma which is a component found in blood. Recently in my studies I have been
looking towards enzymes and how they can be manipulated in new tissues in order to make them
function as if they are in the same state as the blood brain barrier. However, it is hard to
compensate for such an essential process at this stage since much of the system is still unknown.
That really goes for any process in the body like digestion for example. If the stomach is
impaired in any way, it would be difficult to compensate for the digestion process since much of
it requires complex changes in internal pH and specific enzymes. I think much of my research is
aimed towards that direction of how we can manipulate internal chemicals to aid in brain
function.

AK: Very interesting! Alright my second question is what is the main threat when developing
drugs in regards to the immune system?

SK: Well the immune system operates in a way that destroys anything that is recognized as
foreign and as I told you last time, no single type of antibody can be suppressed. My research
does not really involve much about the immune system but it is still a key system that is needed.
The main threat I truly feel inhibits many of the drugs we develop is antibodies found in the
blood, as many of the lymphocytes directly target injected enymes and inorganic substances as
well. Not only this but an inflammatory response can be triggered as well which contributes to
the obstacle that we must overcome.

AK: I completely agree with that. Through many of the articles I have read, it seems that the
commonality is that the immune system is the cause for much of the product’s unsucessflness.
That leads me to my next question which is, how have you do you believe that there are multiple
affective methods of regenerating these damage to student organs or do you believe that it has to
be very specific or directed?

SK: You should be more specific because tissue and brain pathways with enzymes are very
specific for the type of molecules within them. Enzymes for example must be specific to a
certain part of the tissue or else the entire tissue is going through a metabolic pathway and that
will cause additional impairment. That is why we develop specific drugs in my department since
we only target specific areas of brain tissue.

AK: When researching tissues and internal organs such as the brain as you are researching right
now, it often involve implanting which leads to issues with the immune system. How do you
think doctors can address the immune system when creating solutions.

SK: Well yes it is very important to address because it can interfere with internal medicine when
it is released since it is seen as a foreign body compared to what is natural. For example, when
we inject proteins into brain tissue, the immune system recognizes it as foreign so some
suppressant must b e used to counteract this. As far as controling goes, it is very hard since it is a
needed system and not one part of it such as singualr antibodies can be supressed so I am not
familiar with any methods doctors can accomplish this task by. It would be helpful in the future
though if we could somehow get past the immune system to implant or use foreign enzymes.

AK: my next question is when you're thinking about damaged tissue is an impairment unlike the
rats that you said how do you think these methods of regenerative medicine can be improved in
the future?
SK: I think there's a large area for improvement but the problem is that the brain tissue is human
and I have discovered a major issue know as the blood brain barrier that is causing issues in the
development of drugs to help disorders.Using traditional methods is much more difficult when
dealing with the bodies natural functions such as the blood brain barrier so that is why I have
come to appreciate technology. Another department or program I think works with this new
technology known as nanoparticles which can replace some drugs that we use by acting as the
same agent the drugs wants to act as. For example, if there is a defficiency in an enzyme in brain
tiss, nanoparticles can act as the same agent to catalyze the process. That is how think medicine
for these issues will be improved.

AK: I have one final question which is how do you expect that the same concepts and
methodology utilizing the enzymes and other such drugs to be applied to external improvements
such as skin growth?

SK: Great question. The field is ever exanding with new ways to apply anything discovered in
the regenerative medicine process. It could soon be applied to external growth as I have seen
with many other studies not carried out with my lab. Usually large scale injuries involving
exposure to bacteria and other such incidents could serve as a reasoning for how we can
implement this solution. I do not directly deal with external injuries since my lab is more
directed towards neurological research but it is entirely possible.

AK: Sounds very intriguing to think about. Well those are all the questions that I have for you.
Once again I want to thank you for spending time and getting to work with me.

SK: No problem. Good luck in your research.

AK: Thanks so much. Goodbye.

SK: Alright goodbye.

Reflection:

This interview that was conducted with the I advisor was much stronger and directed as

compared to my first interview because really improved my interpersoal skills ever since my last

interview in Novemeber. Communication was simple and more comfortable because I delved

deeper into his field and got the chance to understamnd what he really researched which

prompted me to ask much better questions that I feel yielded better information. He explained

much of the molecular aspects of drug development which I really did not understand during the

first interview as well as many other terms that I did not fully grasp as of my first interview. I felt

a lot less nervous when speaking to him because I knew what I was asking so no hesitation was

felt during the conversation. Overall, it was a huge improvement going from the first to second

interview which allowed me to gain a much better understanding of regenerative medicine.

Things I would change however are the amount of distractors and eye contact since we

communicated on skype. I did interupt once which is something that I feel I must fix if I want to

be more professional when I contact advisors. Otherwise, it was a wonderful learning experience

which I will utilize in my paper.