Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Bioactive Recombinant Human Oncostatin M For Nmr-Based Screening In Drug Discovery, Olga A. Mass, Joseph Tuccinardi, Luke Woodbury, Cody L. Wolf, Bri Grantham, Kelsey Holdaway, Xinzhu Pu, Matthew D. King, Don L. Warner, Cheryl L. Jorcyk, Lisa R. Warner

Biomolecular Research Center Publications and Presentations

Oncostatin M (OSM) is a pleiotropic, interleukin-6 family inflammatory cytokine that plays an important role in inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer progression and metastasis. Recently, elevated OSM levels have been found in the serum of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units. Multiple anti-OSM therapeutics have been investigated, but to date no OSM small molecule inhibitors are clinically available. To pursue a high-throughput screening and structure-based drug discovery strategy to design a small molecule inhibitor of OSM, milligram quantities of highly pure, bioactive OSM are required. Here, we developed a reliable protocol to produce highly pure …

Anatomy And Physiology Preparatory Course Textbook (2nd Edition), Carlos Liachovitzky

Open Educational Resources

The goal of this preparatory textbook is to give students a chance to become familiar with some terms and some basic concepts they will find later on in the Anatomy and Physiology course, especially during the first few weeks of the course.

Organization and functioning of the human organism are generally presented starting from the simplest building blocks, and then moving into levels of increasing complexity. This textbook follows the same presentation. It begins introducing the concept of homeostasis, then covers the chemical level, and later on a basic introduction to cellular level, organ level, and organ system level. This …

Rapid Production And Purification Of Dye-Loaded Liposomes By Electrodialysis-Driven Depletion, Gamid Abatchev, Andrew Bogard, Zoe Hutchinson, Jason Ward, Daniel Fologea

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Liposomes are spherical-shaped vesicles that enclose an aqueous milieu surrounded by bilayer or multilayer membranes formed by self-assembly of lipid molecules. They are intensively exploited as either model membranes for fundamental studies or as vehicles for delivery of active substances in vivo and in vitro. Irrespective of the method adopted for production of loaded liposomes, obtaining the final purified product is often achieved by employing multiple, time consuming steps. To alleviate this problem, we propose a simplified approach for concomitant production and purification of loaded liposomes by exploiting the Electrodialysis-Driven Depletion of charged molecules from solutions. Our investigations show that …

Computational Modeling, Energy State Calculations, And Determination Of The Barriers To Rotation Of Atropisomeric Β-Carbolines, Lorenzo Battistoni

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Scholarship

Major: Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Seann Mulcahy

Axially chiral molecules that have high barriers to rotation about a single bond are called atropisomers. This project aims to expand information on atropisomeric β-carbolines by utilizing computational chemistry to generate energy profiles and determine the barriers to rotation of a library of atropisomeric β-carboline compounds using the program Spartan. Various substituents on the atropisomeric β-carboline scaffold can impact steric strain, electronic effects, and intramolecular hydrogen bonding in the molecule. These factors can impede bond rotation. We will be able to determine which atropisomeric β-carbolines are the best suited to synthesize experimentally using …

An Investigation Of K2 Mycobacteriophage Lysin A Proteins, Ethan Dionne

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Scholarship

Major: Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kathleen Cornely, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Botanical Inventory Highlights And Management Considerations For Covenant Park, David Warners, Garrett Crow, Haley Weesies

Faculty and Professional Research

In the spring and summer of 2021, Calvin University students and faculty conducted a botanical inventory and assessment of the natural areas in Covenant Park, located at 3724 Shaffer Avenue SE, Kentwood, MI 49512. Given that the property was recently acquired by the City of Kentwood Parks & Recreation, the purpose of this inventory is to inform Kentwood Parks and Recreation staff about the site’s floristic quality, diversity, and ecological significance. The specific objectives of this study are to 1) provide a comprehensive inventory of the species of plants occurring on the property, 2) identify particular areas that would benefit …