In the competitive world of conducting research, advancing science and announcing breakthroughs ranging anywhere from cancer therapy to fusion energy, the peer-review process upholds scientific integrity and quality.
At The University of Toledo, faculty researchers involve undergraduate and graduate students in their laboratory experiments and the resulting paper-writing process to train the next generation of scientists and kick-start their careers as co-authors on published research.
In a first for UToledo’s Research Biology Laboratory course, a scientific journal published a paper co-authored by all students in the spring 2022 semester identifying potential biomarkers, or early warning, for male infertility. Back row, from left to right: Derek F. Kluczynski, a junior studying biology; Bami B. Moussaa, a senior studying biology; John M. Pap, a senior studying biology; and Ryan J. Hefner, a sophomore studying biology. Second row from the back, from left to right: Kelsie Ruble, a senior studying biology and French; Haley D. Prine, a sophomore studying biology; Mia B. Moran, a senior studying biology; Taylor G. Boyd, a junior studying biology. Third row from the back, from left to right: Benjamin A. Kujawski, a senior studying medical technology; Lucas J. Flanagan, a senior studying biology; Emily R. Crossley, a senior studying biology. Front row, from left to right: Marlena M. LaBoy, a senior studying biology; Dr. Tomer Avidor-Reiss, a professor of biological sciences; Katerina A. Turner, a Ph.D. candidate.
One particular UToledo class achieved a special victory in 2022: At the professor’s first attempt, all 12 participants in the Research Project Laboratory (BIOL 3910) course co-authored and successfully submitted a paper for publication in a scientific journal, along with two medical students who perform summer research as part of the Medical Student Research program.
“On the first day of class, the professor walks in and goes, ‘We’re changing things up with this class. Now the goal is to find something no one has ever found before and publish a paper,’ ” said Kelsie Ruble, a senior studying biology and French to achieve her goal of becoming a doctor who fluently speaks French to someday participate in Doctors Without Borders.
“I was like, what? That’s crazy. I thought there was no way I could do it. I can’t find something new right now and write about it. That’s not possible. I was mind blown. But as we went on and did the research, I thought maybe this isn’t impossible.”
Dr. Tomer Avidor-Reiss, a professor of biological sciences at UToledo and a groundbreaking scientist in the field of male infertility, leads the course.
“His lab came up with a huge discovery in 2018 about centrioles within the sperm,” said Rami Moussa, who graduated in December with a bachelor’s degree in biology. “On the first day we went over that research, and we began to understand the stakes and impact our work could have. We are studying something that could possibly take us to the next step in understanding male infertility to help families have babies.”
The resulting research identifying potential biomarkers, or early warning, for male infertility published in November in the journal microPublication Biology is a first co-authorship for undergraduate students in the spring 2022 class, including Moussa, Ruble and first-generation college student Marlena Laboy.
“It was always instilled in me to get the education and do the things my mother wasn’t able to do,” said Laboy, a senior who will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in biology. “But I didn’t know this was in the realm of possibility at my age. I can’t even describe it. I am so happy that all of this hard work amounted to something. And it’s nice to be able to tell my family, who is very proud.”
The course is designed for students to learn how to formulate a hypothesis, design and execute the experiments, and write the result for publication.
“This learning experience provides students with a comprehensive knowledge of the scientific process,” Avidor-Reiss said.
The class’s hypothesis was an attempt to advance Avidor-Reis’s previous research. In 2018, he changed the dogma in reproductive biology with his discovery that the sperm has a new structure in its neck, called the atypical distal centriole, which may be how men contribute to infertility. And then in 2021, his laboratory discovered this structure is atypical because it acts as a transmission system with moving parts, rather than a rigid structure or shock absorber, opening innovative avenues to help diagnose and treat male infertility.
The 2022 class split into groups to test its new hypothesis about a step that needs to happen in sperm for it to successfully function: To work correctly and stabilize its moving parts, the atypical distal centriole in the sperm should be chemically modified by proteins, large molecules which do most of the work in cells and play critical roles in the body, to the point that those changes act like a transmission oil to protect the moving parts.
Those chemical changes are known as post-translational modifications — processes that can determine, or disturb, a cell’s function.
In both human and cattle sperm, the class looked for the presence of three post-translational modifications known as acetylation, glutamylation and glycylation.
The idea is that without one of those, sperm can’t fertilize an egg.
“This was a very different experience from any other lab class I had been in,” Ruble said. “That’s what made it challenging. Every week we would walk in and not know what we were doing because we didn’t know if last week’s experiments went well or were contaminated. It was a surprise every single day when we walked in. Fun and a little scary.”
“We didn’t know if it was going to work because we were doing something new,” Moussa said.
“At first we worked with a graduate student but were able to take charge of the research and the direction it led after we learned how to do the experiments,” Laboy said.
Over the course of the semester, one group saw nothing, one saw something that was consistent with what was known before, and one saw a big change that wasn’t known before.
The big takeaway: The class found acetylation and glutamylation in the sperm of both species.
“A lack of one could correlate to a cause in infertility, but more research would need to be done,” Ruble said.
Most of the students went their separate ways at the end of the semester, but Moussa had a big role in the next step — helping organize and finish the paper.
“It was exciting because none of this was known and we now had the opportunity to tell the professional scientific world. You could put in a lot of time and effort and don’t get the shiny result. We found something that is new,” Moussa said. “I was writing. I was reading. I was adding any missing information we needed to find. I was preparing the pictures so we could present them in our figures.”
When the work was complete, Avidor-Reiss formally submitted the sperm research paper to a journal to enter the peer-review process.
“It wasn’t a guarantee,” Laboy said. “We worked and tried as hard as we could. Maybe the reviewers will think that it’s important. Maybe they won’t.”
“We went through three or four stages of: We sent it in, got edits back, check it again, these are the things we need to change again,” Ruble said. “And then Tomer emailed, ‘Here is the link to your published paper. Congratulations!’ ”
“It’s an exciting achievement for all of us,” said Moussa, a presidential scholar at UToledo who returned to another class taught by Avidor-Reis in fall semester. “You have new information and data in front of you so the next level of research, whether it’s you or someone else doing it, can find something else to get to the big-picture goal.”
Since completing the project, Laboy presented the research as a poster at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Diversity Day and won an award.
“Before this class, I was thinking more of medical school as my next step, but now because of the experiences we had, I’m thinking more of a research-based path,” Laboy said. “Particularly in women’s health.”
Ruble, who is pre-med, wants to be an OB-GYN. But before she graduates, she is helping UToledo students taking the course in spring 2023 complete the next project.
“It made me appreciate the people who do research a lot more,” Ruble said. “I knew it was very tedious and time-consuming, but I didn’t realize how much until I was actually doing it. It also opened my eyes to see how much we really don’t know when it comes to science. You’re never going to run out of work.”
