Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Designing An Instrument Based On Native Fluorescence To Determine Soil Microbial Content At A Mars Analog Site, Heather D. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For this research project we designed an instrument to detect bacteria via biomolecular fluorescence. We introduce the current understanding of astrobiology, our knowledge of life beyond Earth, and the commonality of Earth life as it pertains to the search for life on Mars. We proposed a novel technique for searching for direct evidence of life on the surface of Mars using fluorescence. We use the arid region of the Mojave Desert as an analog of Mars. Results indicate the fluorescence of the biotic component of desert soils is approximately as strong as the fluorescence of the mineral component. Fluorescence laboratory …

Synchronization And Media Exchange In Large-Scale Caenorhabditis Elegans Cultures, Jason D. Brown

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a model organism for understanding sensory molecules of multicellular organisms. Ovulating hermaphrodites produce putative pheromone(s) that cause male attraction. Because pheromones are produced in such small quantities, adult conditioned-media from large-scale synchronous culture is necessary to analyze these pheromones. Current protocols for culture synchronization have volume constraints that limit large-scale synchronous cultures and current methodology for adult conditioned-media production is impractical.

Modification of Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF) systems was investigated for use as a method to increase the volume limits of bleach egg harvest for C. elegans culture synchronization. Also, an adult retention device built …

Inducing A Normal Phenotype In Breast Epithelial Cells Using A Three-Dimensional Basement Membrane Extract Culture System: A Study On The Reversion Of Cancer, Ross H. Booth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Experimentally, traditional developmental models and transgenic animals consistently underscore the importance of studying cell behavior in the correct tissue context. However, live animal experimentation is inherently complex, and systematic assessment of the effects of individual variables, such as cell shape and matrix compliance on cell behavior, is extremely difficult at best. Two-dimensional monolayer culture of key individual cell types has provided abundant, fundamental information on cell response, but cannot be used to show the normal phenotype of breast epithelial cells. Furthermore, their results often fail to translate into in vivo and clinical studies. It has been previously established that normal …

Controlling Nonspecific Adsorption Of Proteins At Bio-Interfaces For Biosensor And Biomedical Applications, Harshil D. Dhruv

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Partitioning of poly(ethyleneglycol) (PEG) molecules in 2-D and 3-D systems is presented as a self-assembly approach for controlling non-specific adsorption of proteins at interfaces.

Lateral restructuring of multi-component Langmuir monolayers to accommodate adsorbing proteins was investigated as a model 2-D system. Ferritin adsorption to monolayers containing cationic, nonionic, and PEG bearing phospholipids induced protein sized binding pockets surrounded by PEG rich regions. The number, size, and distribution of protein imprint sites were controlled by the molar ratios, miscibility, and lateral mobility of the lipids.

The influence of PEG chain length on the ternary monolayer restructuring and protein distribution was also …