Life Sciences Commons^™

Characterizing The Expression Pattern And Function Of Tartan During Drosophila Development, Alaina Baggett

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The development of complex structures and organs by multicellular organisms relies on the ability of epithelial cells to self-organize. Epithelia are sheets of connected cells, and compartment boundaries are formed between certain epithelial cells to create distinct tissue compartments. Compartment boundaries are specialized cell-cell interfaces that are enriched for the cytoskeletal proteins actin and myosin, leading to straight cell edges under relatively high tension that act as fences keep cells from moving between compartments. In the model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly), compartment boundaries in the early embryo are established in response to the non-uniform striped expression of the cell-surface …

Investigating The Impact Of Hypoxia On Reactive Oxygen Species Generation Within Murine Breast Cancer Cells, Jared Mcpeake

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

When cancer metastasizes from a primary tumor site to secondary site through the bloodstream or lymph, the cancer becomes more difficult to treat. For this reason, it is vital to study what indicates the metastatic potential of a tumor. Current research has shown that cell lines with high metastatic potential display increased levels of metabolic adaptability over their nonmetastatic counterparts after undergoing hypoxic conditions. One method of assessing this adaptability is to measure the concentration of reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by the cells while undergoing oxidative stress. In highly adaptable metastatic cells, an increase of ROS buildup within the …

Sequential Illumination In A Tomographic Microendoscopic Probe For Imaging Tumor Microvasculature, Zachariah Neumeier

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Knowledge of colorectal cancer biology is improving how we approach cancer treatment. Specifically, the tumor microenvironment and abnormal angiogenesis are of particular interest. Optical methods are a prime candidate for research of the tumor microenvironment due to their ability to quantitively assess tissue structure and perfusion in real time. Particularly, the “transport scattering regime” has been identified as a method of obtaining high-resolution images and reflectance spectroscopy data; this light scattering regime has been demonstrated compatible with endoscopic imaging systems. In this study, a proof-of-concept optical imaging system is presented, capable of resolving absorbers within scattering turbid media using a …

Involvement Of The Ino80 Chromatin Remodeling Complex In Cell Division And Genomic Stability, Ethan Chen

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cell division is a vital biological process for growth and development in both single and multi-cellular organisms—whereby the cell must duplicate its organelles and genome in entirety and appropriately distribute the copied contents to the daughter cells. Cells undergo a cycle of two distinct phases: interphase and mitosis. During interphase, the cell replicates its genomic DNA (in the form of chromosomes) located within the nucleus. DNA replication is carried out in a euchromatin state, where the chromosome structure is loose and easily accessible by DNA polymerase and other replication enzymes. Upon the completion of replication, chromatin is condensed into highly …

Baseline Data Collection On The Overall Health Of First-Year Engineering Students At The University Of Arkansas, Braeley George

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many factors contribute to college student's success both inside and outside of the classroom. Physical activity, mental health, sleep, and grit are key influences for academic achievement and retention. Exercise is Medicine (EIM) On Campus is part of a worldwide initiative through the American College of Sports Medicine that recognizes the importance of physical activity for health by both assessing and promoting physical activity to all students, faculty, and staff. The EIM survey is a tool for collecting general health information about a campus population, as it consists of questions on demographic information, health status, familial health history, diet choices, …

Comparative Genomics Of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells And Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells, Samia Ismail

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

As of 2017, vascular diseases contributed to 23.1% of all deaths in America. To address the need for more effective and sustainable treatment options for these ailments, stem cell differentiation and implantation has emerged as a viable alternative to standard bypass and graft insertions. A completely autologous treatment can be achieved by extracting adult stem cells, differentiating them into vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), and then reimplanting these cells at the affected tissue site. This study aims to investigate the efficiency of the VSMC differentiation from human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) by comparing 4 cell lines of untreated hMSCs with …

Optimizing A Standard Fasting Time For 2-Nbdg Uptake Studies In Murine Breast Cancers, Andrew C. Briley

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Recently, there has been a larger use of 2-NBDG, a fluorescent glucose analog, to study glucose uptake in different cell types. These cell types have ranged anywhere from bacteria to human cancer cells. However, there has yet to be a standard procedure and practice for using 2-NBDG. In this study, our goal is to create a standard fasting time for the cells before introducing 2-NBDG to them. This study uses 4T07 cells, a murine breast cancer cell line, to help optimize this fasting time. These cells were fasted at different time points in order to find the ideal fasting time. …

Detection Of Leukocytes Stained With Acridine Orange Using Unique Spectral Features Acquired From An Image-Based Spectrometer, Courtney J. Hunter

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A leukocyte differential count can be used to diagnosis a myriad blood disorders, such as infections, allergies, and efficacy of disease treatments. In recent years, attention has been focused on developing point-of-care (POC) systems to provide this test in global health settings. Acridine orange (AO) is an amphipathic, vital dye that intercalates leukocyte nucleic acids and acidic vesicles. It has been utilized by POC systems to identify the three main leukocyte subtypes: granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes. Subtypes of leukocytes can be characterized using a fluorescence microscope, where the AO has a 450 nm excitation wavelength and has two peak emission …

Role Of Trpv4 In Astrocyte Extracellular Matrix Production, Abby Terlouw

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is an alteration of brain pathology following damage of the central nervous system (CNS) by an external force. In the CNS, glial scar formation often occurs following TBI, and astrocytes are widely believed to contribute to this scar formation. While the role of astrocytes in extracellular matrix (ECM) production is known, the exact mechanism(s) for this event remain unclear. One possible method is the activation of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4). TRPV4 is a channel protein found in the astrocyte membrane which has been shown to generate intracellular calcium ions following mechanical stimulation. Previous research …

Immunomodulation Of Breast Cancer Cells For Whole Tumor Vaccination, Kristina G. Maxwell

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hematogenous metastasis causes 90% of breast cancer-related deaths.Current therapies include chemotherapy and irradiation following surgery. These therapies are very harmful to the human body and do not elicit an anti-tumor immune response. To create a novel therapeutic, an autologous vaccine increasing the immunogenicity of non immunogenic breast cancer cell lines has been proposed.

To create this vaccine, 4T1 mouse mammary breast cancer cells have been selected as the desired cell line to treat. They are non immunogenic and highly invasive. In order to increase their immunogenicity, first projected, was the addition of cytokines to 4T1 cells to increase the expression …