Life Sciences Commons^™

Immunization By Radiotherapy: Enhancing An Immune-Mediated Abscopal Effect, Amy Steffen

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Radiotherapy aims to destroy tumors by inducing DNA damage in their cells at the local irradiation site. Its immune-mediated systemic effects, called abscopal effect, has shown to enhance anti-tumor immunity when combined with immune therapies and thus, have gained attention by researchers and clinicians to investigate. Below is a summary of the fundamentals of cancer and the immune system’s response to it, as well as the changes in the phenotype and microenvironment of tumor cells after exposure to radiation. Impacts of the abscopal effect and the induction of effective antitumor immunity with various immune therapy strategies will be outlined. The …

Increasing The Clinical Efficacy Of Radiotherapeutics For Solid Tumors By Inhibition Of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1a, Austin Levi Walz

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Radiotherapy is commonly used in a variety of tumor types and is effective in control of long term progression and may be curative under certain circumstances. Radiotherapeutics have been shown to be the single most effective therapeutic for cancer and only account for 5% of the total cost. However, treatment of cells with radiation causes the tumor microenvironment to undergo changes and leads to cycles of hypoxia inside the tumor which allows for the cell to undergo angiogenesis, metastasize and may lead to repopulation of the tumor. Current systemic chemotherapeutics typically have an additive toxicity due to the unintended targeting …

A Biological Review Of Mental Illness: An Overview Of Genetics And Pathophysiology Of Schizophrenia, Major Depression, And Addiction, Christopher R. Angerhofer

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Novel approaches in understanding mental illness present solutions to current issues in treatment and diagnosis. With advancements in genetics and neurology, the etiology and pathophysiology of mental illness is slowly unwrapping. In discovering biomarkers for depression, addiction, and schizophrenia, the precision for preventing, diagnosing, and treating these disorders increases. The aim of this paper is to review current research for addiction, major depression, and schizophrenia in genetics and physiology, while also clarifying the need for reclassifying mental illness as diseases with a pathophysiological basis, not syndromal, idiopathic disorders. Mental illness is dynamic in that it encompasses both environmental and biological …

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulaton: In-Depth Review Of Methods, Efficacy And Future Applications, Matthew Carpenter

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been regarded as a novel technique of neuromodulation with applications that span from the treatment of depression or depression related symptoms to the mapping of cerebral regions. This review takes an in depth look into the different forms of magnetic stimulation including repetitive TMS, theta-burst stimulation, and navigated TMS. The efficacy of these different forms of stimulation is addressed as well as comparisons made to current standards being used. Potential clinically relevant future applications of TMS are also discussed from the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder to improving motor function after stroke. The purpose of …

A Review Of Multiple Sclerosis Treatments: Interferon Beta, Glatiramer Acetate, Fingolimod, And Natalizumab, Ryan Golden

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s own immune system works to demyelinate the myelin sheaths in the central nervous system. The beginning of the review will concentrate on the history of MS while also describing how MS, the disease, differs from that of normal immune responses. The review then shifts to the four different stages of MS and how to differentiate between the stages, since the treatment options are often dependent on the stage of MS that the patient is in. The main focus of this review is to take an in depth look on …

Surveillance Of South Dakota Mosquito Abundance, Infection Rate, And Insecticide Susceptibility, Geoffrey P. Vincent

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this dissertation was to survey and evaluate the abundance, infection rate, and insecticide susceptibility of mosquito fauna present in South Dakota. Mosquito surveillance has been conducted across South Dakota to record and track potential West Nile virus (WNV) vectors from 2004 to 2017. The nuisance mosquito Aedes vexans was found to be the most abundant species overall in the state and most abundant in many of the regions. The WNV vector, Culex tarsalis, was found to be the second most abundant mosquito and the most abundant vector mosquito across the state. However, geospatial variation did exist between …

Regulation Of Local Auxin Metabolism During Soybean Nodule Development, Suresh Damodaran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Legume-rhizobia symbiosis leads to the development of secondary root organs called nodules. Rhizobia bacteria housed inside nodules assimilate atmospheric nitrogen and convert them into plant usable forms thereby reducing the need for fertilizer application in crop legumes like soybean. Nodule development is a coordinated process orchestrated by multiple plant hormones. In soybean, the auxin responsive gene expression was detected in nodule primordia and in the periphery of mature nodules, primarily in nodule vasculature. Auxin hypersensitivity reduces nodule formation in soybean and also polar auxin transport inhibition at the site of nodule development is not crucial for determinate nodule formation. Therefore, …

The Role Of Genomic Versatility In Multi-Niche Preferences Of Escherichia Coli, Gitanjali Nandakafle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Escherichia coli strains are naturally present as either commensals or pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract of mammals and some other vertebrates. Until recently, it was assumed that E. coli are solely associated with the gut and are unable to survive outside of a host for a long period of time, the basis of its use as an indicator organism. Recent reports suggest that E. coli can become naturalized to several tropical, subtropical or temperate soils and aquatic environments, where they have been isolated repeatedly. Several studies have shown that these strains are capable of surviving and proliferating in the environment …

Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries And Cte: A Review Highlighting The Connection Between The Two, Leandre Kennedy

Biology and Microbiology Graduate Students Plan B Research Projects

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a traumatic brain injury based disease that is garnering a lot of attention in the United States. The purpose of this paper is to conduct an extensive review of the information available about the condition. Recently there has been a limited amount of published information and treatment opportunities are rare since the only way of diagnosing has come post mortem. Various literary reviews and experiments were analyzed for appropriate information regarding CTE’s pathology and treatments and only peer reviewed published works were allowed in this paper. This resulted in promising information about the disease and …

Identification Of Macropinocytosis Regulating Proteins And Signaling From Macropinosomes, Louise Monga

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding macrophage cell biology is important due to macrophages key roles in human health and diseases including proper immune function, wound healing, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Despite their importance, relatively little is understood about macrophage activation, growth factor signaling, and cytoskeletal regulation. This thesis presents data from investigations into mechanisms of macrophage growth factor signaling and actin polymerization for ruffling and macropinocytosis. Alt-R CRISPR-Cas9 method and dextran uptake assay were used to knock out individual genes (SHP-1, Lyn, Syk, BTK, Vav1) and determine their role in macropinocytosis and CSF-1R signaling. Dextran uptake was disrupted in SHP-1 and Lyn targeted knockout cells, …

Transcriptome Analysis Of Root Development In Wheat Triticum Aestivum Using High Throughtput Sequencing Technologies, Ghana Challa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Root provides plant water, nutrients and anchorage from soil. Most our knowledge of molecular mechanisms of root development is from the dicot model plant Arabidopsis, but very few studies have done in monocot crop systems like rice, maize, and wheat. We are studying very short root (VSR) phenotype in wheat, and lack of a sequenced reference genome in wheat prompted us to sequence and assemble the root transcriptome of the reference cultivar Chinese Spring (CS). A root transcriptome was assembled from the sequenced reads generated from root tip and the mature root tissues of CS. Approximately 169 million reads were …

Black-Tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys Ludovicianus) State-And-Transition Model For Loamy Ecological Sites In Mlra 62 In Custer State Park, South Dakota, Mark R. Hendrix

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) are native burrowing rodents that occupy large areas in the shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies of the Northern Great Plains. They are an important component of these prairie systems due to their impacts on plant communities. Currently State-and-Transition models (STMs) for grassland Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs) address grazing by livestock as a major factor affecting states and phases within states. Impacts from other grazers, such as prairie dogs, are either not addressed directly, or are included only in a transition to a generalized early seral state. There are, however, dramatic differences in plant communities …

Microbial Communities And Their Impact On Bioenergy Crops In Dynamic Environments, Brandon Monier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Native perennial grasses, such as prairie cordgrass (PCG, Spartina pectinata Link), and switchgrass (SG, Panicum virgatum L.) have a great potential as bioenergy crops, because they require fewer inputs, produce more energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in comparison to annual cropping systems such as corn and soybean. SG has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for development as bioenergy crop, but studies have shown that PCG can outcompete switchgrass in terms of biomass production. These crops can also form associations with a wide variety of plant growth promoting microbes including arbuscular mycorrhial (AM) fungi. In CHAPTER 2, …

Identification Of Qtl Modifying The Activity Of The Tcb1-S Locus And Characterization And Sequencing Of Two Plutonium-Beryllium Induced Reduced Gametophyte Transmission Mutants In Maize, Merritt Bryer Burch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is split into two independent projects both involving the male gametophyte generation of maize. The first project looks at how pollen interacts with the female gametophyte to reduce its transmission in cross-incompatible reactions controlled by the unilateral cross-incompatibility system, teosinte crossing barrier 1. The second project explores two plutonium-beryllium induced male gametophyte mutants and attempts to uncover their genetic basis.

Identification of QTL Modifying the Activity of the Tcb1-s Locus
Teosinte crossing barrier 1 (Tcb1) is a unilateral cross-incompatibility system present in maize that provides a pre-zygotic pistil barrier to plants carrying Tcb1-s (strong allele) from pollen …

Mechanisms By Which Mechanotransduction Promotes Proliferation In Keratinocytes, Chhavi Chaudhary

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chronic wounds are wounds that do not heal within 30 days and often they can last over a year. Interference in any of the wound healing stages may hinder the process. Some of the local and systemic factors such as infection, old age, diabetes, AIDS, and the regular application of corticoids may also have negative effects on the healing process. Cell proliferation is an important phase in epidermal wound healing in which surviving epithelial cells replicate independently into daughter cells through mitosis and maintain a balance between cell growth and cell loss during the cell cycle. Physical and chemical stimuli …

Evaluation Of Dietary Phytochemicals As Rumen Modifiers In Lactating Dairy Cows, Sonia Rodriguez Jimenez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Phytochemicals such as tannins included in dairy cow nutritional programs, as a natural feed additive, promise to improve rumen bypass protein and consequently reduce the feeding cost by decreasing the amount of CP needed in the ration. Additionally, if tannins are fed along with high quality protein sources, this could improve the AA profile reaching the small intestine and potentially improving health and performance of dairy cows. The black pepper, specifically its alkaloid piperine, is a nontoxic, natural dietary compound with a broad range of physiological activity. Lactating dairy cows ingesting these phytochemicals (tannin extracts and black pepper) will potentially …

Expression Analyses And Identification Of Key Molecular Participants In Plant Responses To Environmental Cues, Praveena Kanchupati

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plants constantly engage and interact with the environment and respond to the changes in conditions like temperature, water, and photoperiod, by regulating expression of genes of multiple regulatory and signaling pathways. Insight into these pathways and their participants has provided and will provide candidates to improve various agronomically important traits in crops through marker-assisted breeding and genetic manipulation. With this aim in mind, in the present study, I attempted to identify key candidate genes that are involved in the regulation of; i) plant response to low temperature stress, ii) plant roots’ response to soil moisture content and iii) flowering time. …

The Contributions Of Fc Gamma Receptors And Macropinocytosis To The Internalization, Sorting And Clearance Of Antibody Coated Nanovesicles In Macrophages, George Opoku-Kusi Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Macrophages are tissue-resident phagocytes that play critical roles in immune response and tissue homeostasis. They have a tremendous capacity to internalize objects of various sizes ranging from nanoscale viral particles to micron sized bacteria and tumor cells. This phenomenon, termed phagocytosis for the uptake of large particles, or endocytosis for the uptake of small particles, is integral to the immune response in multicellular organisms. Macrophages express FcγRs, which are tyrosine kinase receptors that bind IgG on an opsonized target. Binding of IgG Fc domain to the extracellular domain of an FcγR triggers signaling cascades that coordinate internalization of the opsonized …