Life Sciences Commons^™

Differentiating The Mechanistic Role And Chemotherapeutic Potential Of Src And Podoplanin In Oncogenic Transformation, Edward P. Retzbach

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

There were an estimated 20 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2020, resulting in nearly 1000 deaths per hour [1]. Oral cancer exemplifies the difficulties of treating cancer patients. The first line for oral cancer treatment is surgery and radiation that can lead to patient disfigurement and decreased quality of life in cancer survivors [2-4]. Though there have been many developments in chemotherapy in the last 30 years, the 50% mortality rate associated with oral cancer has not changed [4, 5]. Longitudinal studies that track survival rates in oral cancer patients demonstrate a 3-fold reduction in patient deaths when patients …

Lipoxin A 4 (Lxa 4 ) Promotes Reduction And Antibiotic Efficacy Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilm, Julianne M. Thornton, Jean Walker, Prem Y.K. Sundarasivarao, Bernd Spur, Ana Rodriguez, Kingsley Yin

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P aeruginosa) is an opportunistic bacterium commonly found in wound infections and airways of cystic fibrosis patients P aeruginosa readily forms biofilms which can reduce the efficacy of antibiotics used to eradicate the pathogen We have previously shown that a Specialized Pro resolving Mediator ( Lipoxin A 4 (LxA 4 is a quorum sensing inhibitor which can reduce P aeruginosa virulence In this study, we examined the direct actions of LxA 4 and RvD 2 on P aeruginosa biofilm formation and virulence gene expression The influence of LxA 4 on antibiotic efficacy and the combined effects on biofilm …

The Dopamine D3 Receptor Antagonist Vk4-40 Attenuates Morphine-Induced Hyperactivity But Not Cocaine-Induced Hyperactivity In Mice, Desta M. Pulley, Jessica J. Debski, Daniel Manvich

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

In light of the increasing rates of opioid abuse in the US, the search for viable medications to treat opioid abuse disorder (OUD) has become ever more urgent. Opioids exert their abuse-related effects in part by indirectly increasing dopamine (DA) neurotransmission in the mesolimbic system, a dopaminergic projection arising in the ventral tegmental area and terminating in the nucleus accumbens. The DA D3 receptor (D3R), which belongs to the D2 family of dopamine receptors (D2, D3 , D4 receptor subtypes), is highly expressed in these brain regions and has shown strong potential as a pharmacotherapeutic target for the treatment of …

Novel Technology Enables Diagnostic Ultrasound Machine To Treat Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Mice, Ryan Morrison, Mrigendra B. Karmacharya, Chandra M. Sehgal

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

An off-the-shelf diagnostic transducer (ULTRASONIX C5-2) was modified with custom-built circuitry to enable the transducer to produce therapeutic ultrasound in order to ablate hepatocellular carcinomas grown in immunodeficient athymic nude mice (25-35 g; Charles River Laboratories, Wilmington, MA, USA). The therapeutic antivascular ultrasound (AVUS) produced by the off-the-shelf abdominal transducer was unfocused, continuous 2.8MHz ultrasound targeting contrast-enhancing perflutren lipid microbubbles within tumor vasculature. Previous research with a dedicated physiotherapy ultrasound machine (D150 Plus, Dynatronics Corp., Salt Lake City, UT, USA) targeting similar hepatocellular carcinomas showed disrupted tumor neovasculature and irreparable dilation of tumor capillaries with subsequent intercellular edema and hemorrhage.1-3 …

Effect Of High Intensity Interval Training Vs Low Intensity Training On Fat Loss In Patients With Obesity, Jonathan Aaron Deck, Adarsh Gupta

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Nowadays, there are several exercise modalities to lose weight, retain, and or build lean body mass. A widely known training philosophy that has gained increased popularity is high intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT is based on exercising at submaximal or maximal intensity for a brief period then reducing work to minimal intensity for a longer duration in a series of repeated bouts. The benefit of HIIT is to increase fat loss through the scientific principle of EPOC (excess post exercise oxygen consumption). Low intensity training (LIT) also has its benefits in that it is more sustainable but with the caveat …

Replication Protein A (Rpa) Targeting Of Uracil Dna Glycosylase (Ung2), Derek Chen, Brian P Weiser

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Replication Protein A (RPA) is a single stranded DNA binding protein which stabilizes ssDNA for replication and repair. One function of RPA is to bind the DNA repair enzyme uracil DNA glycosylase (UNG2) and direct its activity towards ssDNA dsDNA junctions.

UNG2 removes uracil bases from DNA which can appear through dUMP misincorporation or through cytosine deamination. If uracil is present instead of a cytosine, then the original GC pair becomes a GU pair. The uracil will then base pair to adenine in the replicated daughter strand. This results in a GC → AT mutation that could contribute to cancer …

Long-Term Impacts Of Acute Stressor Exposure On Locus Coeruleus Function And Anxiety-Like Behavior In Rats, Olga Borodovitsyna

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Stress is a physiological state characterized by behavioral arousal that occurs during exposure to harmful or threatening stimuli, and usually facilitates an adaptive behavioral response. The persistence of stress sometimes causes it to become maladaptive, potentially contributing to disease development, including physiological complications with altered neuroendocrine signaling and impaired function of organ systems, and psychological conditions including depression and anxiety. Anxiety disorders in particular are associated with a history of stress and are the most common class of mental disorders, with a lifetime prevalence of 33.7% in the general population. The locus coeruleus (LC) is a major node in the …

A High-Throughput Approach To Characterizing Arv1 On The Regulation Of Lipid Homeostasis Uncovers A Novel Interaction With Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor, Nicholas Anthony Wachowski

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Acyl-CoA cholesterol acyl transferase related enzyme-2 required for viability 1 (ARV1) was first recognized in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a study done in 2000 by Tinkelenberg et al. In yeast, the deletion of ARV1 results in numerous defects including abnormal sterol trafficking [1], the reduction of sphingolipid metabolism [2], synthesis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor [3], ER stress [4], and hypersensitivity of fatty acids leading to lipoapoptosis [5]. Arv1 germline deletion in mice displayed a lean phenotype with increased energy [6]. In humans, ARV1 mutations lead to epileptic encephalopathy [7].

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) consists of simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis …