Life Sciences Commons^™

Nullomer Derived Anticancer Peptides (Nullops): Differential Lethal Effects On Normal And Cancer Cells In Vitro, Abdelkrim Alileche, Jayita Goswami, William Bourland, Mike Davis, Greg Hampikian

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We demonstrate the first use of the nullomer (absent sequences) approach to drug discovery and development. Nullomers are the shortest absent sequences determined in a species, or group of species. By identifying the shortest absent peptide sequences from the NCBI databases, we screened several potential anti-cancer peptides. In order to improve cell penetration and solubility we added short poly arginine tails (5Rs), and initially solubilized the peptides in1M trehalose. The results for one of the absent sequences 9R (RRRRRNWMWC), and its scrambled version 9S1R (RRRRRWCMNW) are reported here. We refer to these peptides derived from nullomers as PolyArgNulloPs. A control …

When Dna Won't Work, Rick Visser, Greg Hampikian

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Within the criminal justice system, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) evidence has often been heralded as the gold standard of forensic science. In a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that "DNA testing has an unparalleled ability both to exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty. It has the potential to significantly improve both the criminal justice system and police investigative practices." The phrases “unparalleled ability” and “significantly improve” reflect the high standard that DNA has attained in both forensic science and the entire criminal justice system.

Forensic DNA technology has a major advantage over other forensic …

Identification Of An Amino-Terminal Fragment Of Apolipoprotein E4 That Localizes To Neurofibrillary Tangles Of The Alzheimer’S Disease Brain, Troy T. Rohn, Lindsey W. Catlin, Kendra G. Coonse, Jeffrey W. Habig

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although the risk factor for harboring the apolipoprotein E4 (apoE4) allele in late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is well known, the mechanism by which apoE4 contributes to AD pathogenesis has yet to be clarified. Preferential cleavage of the ApoE4 isoform relative to other polymorphic forms appears to be significant, as the resulting fragments are associated with hallmarks of AD. To examine the possible role of apoE4 proteolysis in AD, we designed a site-directed antibody directed at position D172, which would yield a predicted amino-terminal fragment previously identified in AD brain extracts. Western blot analysis utilizing this novel antibody, termed the amino-terminal …

Oncostatin M Promotes Mammary Tumor Metastasis To Bone And Osteolytic Bone Degradation, Celeste Bolin, Ken Tawara, Caleb Sutherland, Jeff Redshaw, Patrick S. Aranda, Jim Moselhy, Robin Anderson, Cheryl Jorcyk

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Oncostatin M (OSM) is an interleukin-6 (IL-6) family cytokine that has been implicated in a number of biological processes including inflammation, hematopoiesis, immune responses, development, and bone homeostasis. Recent evidence suggests that OSM may promote breast tumor invasion and metastasis. We investigated the role of OSM in the formation of bone metastases in vivo using the 4T1.2 mouse mammary tumor model in which OSM expression was knocked down using shRNA (4T1.2-OSM). 4T1.2-OSM cells were injected orthotopically into Balb/c mice, resulting in a greater than 97% decrease in spontaneous metastasis to bone compared to control cells. Intratibial injection of these same …

Morphology And Phylogeny Of A New Woodruffiid Ciliate, Etoschophrya Inornata Sp. N. (Ciliophora, Colpodea, Platyophryida), With An Account On Evolution Of Platyophryids, William A. Bourland, Greg Hampikian, Peter Vďačný

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We studied the morphology, morphometry, resting cysts and molecular phylogeny of a new woodruffiid ciliate, Etoschophrya inornata, from ephemeral puddles and two lacustrine habitats in Idaho, North-west USA. Up to now, the genus Etoschophrya has included a single species, Etoschophrya oscillatoriophaga, from which our new form is distinguished by (i) the absence of interkinetal cortical granules and, consequently, the absence of extrusible red material in methyl green-pyronin stains, (ii) usually ≥5 adoral membranelles vs. usually four, (iii) greater length and length/width ratio, (iv) prominent cortical furrows vs. inconspicuous and (v) adaptation to non-saline semi-terrestrial and lacustrine habitats in …

Novel Mouse Mammary Cell Lines For In Vivo Bioluminescence Imaging (Bli) Of Bone Metastasis, Celeste Bolin, Caleb Sutherland, Ken Tawara, Jim Moselhy, Cheryl Jorcyk

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Tumor cell lines that can be tracked in vivo during tumorigenesis and metastasis provide vital tools for studying the specific cellular mechanisms that mediate these processes as well as investigating therapeutic targets to inhibit them. The goal of this study was to engineer imageable mouse mammary tumor cell lines with discrete propensities to metastasize to bone in vivo. Two novel luciferase expressing cell lines were developed and characterized for use in the study of breast cancer metastasis to bone in a syngeneic mouse model.

Results

The 4T1.2 luc3 and 66c14 luc2 cell lines were shown to have high …

Nuclear Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (Its) Region As A Universal Dna Barcode Marker For Fungi, Eric Tretter, Yan Wang, Eric M. Johnson, Merlin M. White

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Six DNA regions were evaluated as potential DNA barcodes for Fungi, the second largest kingdom of eukaryotic life, by a multinational, multilaboratory consortium. The region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 used as the animal barcode was excluded as a potential marker, because it is difficult to amplify in fungi, often includes large introns, and can be insufficiently variable. Three subunits from the nuclear ribosomal RNA cistron were compared together with regions of three representative protein-coding genes (largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, and minichromosome maintenance protein). Although the protein-coding …