Biology Commons^™

Murine Models Of Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma: A Role For Cav1?, Chelsey L. Patten, Christine E. Cutucache

Biology Faculty Publications

Dozens of murine models of indolent and aggressive B-cell lymphomas have been generated to-date. These include those manifesting chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) as well as xenografts of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). These models have led to an improved understanding of disease etiology, B-cell biology, immunomodulation, and the importance of the tumor microenvironment. Despite these efforts in CLL, DLBCL, and MCL, considerably little progress toward a model of splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL) has been accomplished. Herein, we describe the similarities and differences between CLL, MCL, and SMZL, and highlight effective murine models that mimic disease …

Assessment Of Olfactory Function In Maptassociated Neurodegenerative Disease Reveals Odor-Identification Irreproducibility As A Non-Disease-Specific, General Characteristic Of Olfactory Dysfunction, Katerina Markopoulou, Bruce A. Chase, Piotr Robowski, Audrey Strongosky, Ewa Narożańska, Emilia J. Sitek, Mariusz Berdynski, Maria Barcikowska, Matt C. Baker, Jarosøaw Søawek, Christine Klein, Katja Hückelheim, Meike Kasten, Zbigniew K. Wszolek

Biology Faculty Publications

Olfactory dysfunction is associated with normal aging, multiple neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Lewy body disease and Alzheimer’s disease, and other diseases such as diabetes, sleep apnea and the autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis. The wide spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders associated with olfactory dysfunction suggests different, potentially overlapping, underlying pathophysiologies. Studying olfactory dysfunction in presymptomatic carriers of mutations known to cause familial parkinsonism provides unique opportunities to understand the role of genetic factors, delineate the salient characteristics of the onset of olfactory dysfunction, and understand when it starts relative to motor and cognitive symptoms. We evaluated olfactory dysfunction in 28 carriers …

Supportive Structures For Successful Science Teachers’ Professional Development, C. Schaben, C. Cutucache, N. Grandgenett, E. Mulkerrin, R. J. Hougham

Biology Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

The Omaha Public Schools (OPS) Science Office collaborates closely with community partners to facilitate a private foundation grant that seeks to improve science education by focusing on in-service, science teachers’ professional learning in the context of professional development (PD) experiences and targeted graduate coursework. The three goals of the K-12 Comprehensive Science Teaching and Learning Grant are to 1) increase student achievement in science, 2) increase teacher effectiveness, and to 3) align and enhance science curriculum. At the end of year one, 83 teacher participants have taken graduate courses, attended professional conferences, completed action research projects, and/or have participated in …

Transcriptomic Comparison Of Invasive Bigheaded Carps (Hypophthalmichthys Nobilis And Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix) And Their Hybrids, Jun Wang, James T. Lamer, Sarah Gaughan, Michael Wachholtz, Chenghui Wang, Guoquing Lu

Biology Faculty Publications

Bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), collectively called bigheaded carps, are invasive species in the Mississippi River Basin (MRB). Interspecific hybridization between bigheaded carps has been considered rare within their native rivers in China; however, it is prevalent in the MRB. We conducted de novo transcriptome analysis of pure and hybrid bigheaded carps and obtained 40,759 to 51,706 transcripts for pure, F1 hybrid, and backcross bigheaded carps. The search against protein databases resulted in 20,336–28,133 annotated transcripts (over 50% of the transcriptome) with over 13,000 transcripts mapped to 23 Gene Ontology biological processes and 127 KEGG metabolic …

Review Of Experimental Compounds Demonstrating Anti-Toxoplasma Activity, Madalyn M. Mcfarland, Sydney J. Zach, Xiaofang Wang, Lakshmi-Prasad Potluri, Andrew J. Neville, Jonathan L. Vennerstrom, Paul H. Davis

Biology Faculty Publications

Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous apicomplexan parasite capable of infecting humans and other animals. Current treatment options for T. gondii infection are limited and most have drawbacks, including high toxicity and low tolerability. Additionally, no FDA-approved treatments are available for pregnant women, a high-risk population due to transplacental infection. Therefore, the development of novel treatment options is needed. To aid this effort, this review highlights experimental compounds that, at a minimum, demonstrate inhibition of in vitro growth of T. gondii. When available, host cell toxicity and in vivo data are also discussed. The purpose of this review is to facilitate …

Burrowing Through The Heterogeneity: Review Of Mouse Models Of Ptcl-Nos, Christine E. Cutucache, Tyler Herek

Biology Faculty Publications

Currently, there are 19 different peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) entities recognized by the World Health Organization; however, ~70% of PTCL diagnoses fall within one of three subtypes [i.e., peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS), anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, and angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma]. PTCL-NOS is a grouping of extra-thymic neoplasms that represent a challenging and heterogeneous subset of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. Research into peripheral T-cell lymphomas has been cumbersome as the lack of defining cytogenetic, histological, and molecular features has stymied diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Similarly, the lacks of genetically manipulated murine models that faithfully recapitulate disease characteristics were absent …

Model-Based Clustering With Certainty Estimation: Implication For Clade Assignment Of Influenza Viruses, Shunpu Zhang, Zhong Li, Kevin Beland, Guoquing Lu

Biology Faculty Publications

Background

Clustering is a common technique used by molecular biologists to group homologous sequences and study evolution. There remain issues such as how to cluster molecular sequences accurately and in particular how to evaluate the certainty of clustering results.

Results

We presented a model-based clustering method to analyze molecular sequences, described a subset bootstrap scheme to evaluate a certainty of the clusters, and showed an intuitive way using 3D visualization to examine clusters. We applied the above approach to analyze influenza viral hemagglutinin (HA) sequences. Nine clusters were estimated for high pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, which agree with previous findings. …

Ne Stem 4u: An Out-Of-School Time Academic Program To Improve Achievement Of Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Youth In Stem Areas, Christine E. Cutucache, Jamie L. Luhr, Kari L. Nelson, Neal Grandgenett, William E. Tapprich

Biology Faculty Publications

Background

The Nebraska Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 4U (NE STEM 4U) program was initiated at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) in 2013. NE STEM 4U is a student-run, faculty-led program facilitating problem-based learning (PBL) sessions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for socioeconomically disadvantaged kindergarten through grade 8 (K-8) students. PBL sessions are provided throughout the academic year in a twice-weekly, after-school, informal education program. The instructional material provided after school builds upon the curricula of the school day. Importantly, this program is a partnership between faculty members and administrators in higher education at UNO with …

Art Influences Hiv Persistence In The Female Reproductive Tract And Cervicovaginal Secretions, Rikke Olesen, Michael D. Swanson, Martina Kovarova, Tomonori Nochi, Morgan Chateau, Jenna B. Honeycutt, Julie M. Long, Paul W. Denton, Michael G. Hudgens, Amy Richardson, Martin Tolstrup, Lars Østergaard, Angela Wahl, J. Victor Garcia

Biology Faculty Publications

The recently completed HIV prevention trials network study 052 is a landmark collaboration demonstrating that HIV transmission in discordant couples can be dramatically reduced by treating the infected individual with antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, the cellular and virological events that occur in the female reproductive tract (FRT) during ART that result in such a drastic decrease in transmission were not studied and remain unknown. Here, we implemented an in vivo model of ART in BM/liver/thymus (BLT) humanized mice in order to better understand the ability of ART to prevent secondary HIV transmission. We demonstrated that the entire FRT of BLT …

Using Animal Models To Overcome Temporal, Spatial And Combinatorial Challenges In Hiv Persistence Research, Paul W. Denton, Ole S. Søgaard, Martin Tolstrup

Biology Faculty Publications

Research challenges associated with understanding HIV persistence during antiretroviral therapy can be categorized as temporal, spatial and combinatorial. Temporal research challenges relate to the timing of events during establishment and maintenance of HIV persistence. Spatial research challenges regard the anatomical locations and cell subsets that harbor persistent HIV. Combinatorial research challenges pertain to the order of administration, timing of administration and specific combinations of compounds to be administered during HIV eradication therapy. Overcoming these challenges will improve our understanding of HIV persistence and move the field closer to achieving eradication of persistent HIV. Given that humanized mice and non-human primate …

The Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of The Silver Chub, Macrhybopsis Storeriana, Sarah Gaughan, Robin Johnson, Jun Wang, Michael Wachholtz, Kirk Steffensen, Timothy King, Guoqing Lu

Biology Faculty Publications

The complete mitochondrial genome of the silver chub M. storeriana was determined to be 16,709 bp and contained 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and one control region. The whole genome base composition was 30.3% A, 28% T, 25.5% C and 16.2 G. This complete mitochondrial genome provides essential molecular markers for resolving phylogeny and aiding future conservation efforts.

Convergence Of Detrital Stoichiometry Predicts Thresholds Of Nutrient-Stimulated Breakdown In Streams, David W. P. Manning, Amy D. Rosemond, Vladislav Gulis, Jonathan P. Benstead, John S. Kominoski, John C. Maerz

Biology Faculty Publications

Nutrient enrichment of detritus‐based streams increases detrital resource quality for consumers and stimulates breakdown rates of particulate organic carbon (C). The relative importance of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (N) vs. phosphorus (P) for detrital quality and their effects on microbial‐ vs. detritivore‐mediated detrital breakdown are poorly understood. We tested effects of experimental N and P additions on detrital stoichiometry (C:N, C:P) and total and microbial breakdown (i.e., with and without detritivorous shredders, respectively) of five detritus types (four leaf litter species and wood) with different initial C : nutrient content. We enriched five headwater streams continuously for two years at different …

Epigenetic Response To Environmental Change: Dna Methylation Varies With Invasion Status, Aaron W. Schrey, Travis R. Robbins, Jacob Lee, David W. Dukes Jr., Alexandria K. Ragsdale, Christopher J. Thawley

Biology Faculty Publications

Epigenetic mechanisms may be important for a native species’ response to rapid environmental change. Red Imported Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta Santschi, 1916) were recently introduced to areas occupied by the Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus Bosc & Daudin, 1801). Behavioral, morphological and physiological phenotypes of the Eastern Fence Lizard have changed following invasion, creating a natural biological system to investigate environmentally induced epigenetic changes.We tested for variation in DNA methylation patterns in Eastern Fence Lizard populations associated with different histories of invasion by Red Imported Fire Ants. At methylation sensitive amplified fragment length polymorphism loci, we detected a higher diversity …

De Novo Assembly And Analysis Of The Chilean Pencil Catfish Trichomycterus Areolatus Transcriptome, Thomas T. Schulze, Jonathan Ali, Maggie Bartlett, Madalyn Mcfarland, Emalie Clement, Harim Won, Austin G. Sanford, Elyssa Monzingo, Matthew C. Martens, Ryan M. Hemsley, Sidharta Kumar, Nicolas Gouin, Alan Kolok, Paul H. Davis

Biology Faculty Publications

Trichomycterus areolatus is an endemic species of pencil catfish that inhabits the riffles and rapids of many freshwater ecosystems of Chile. Despite its unique adaptation to Chile’s high gradient watersheds and therefore potential application in the investigation of ecosystem integrity and environmental contamination, relatively little is known regarding the molecular biology of this environmental sentinel. Here, we detail the assembly of the Trichomycterus areolatus transcriptome, a molecular resource for the study of this organism and its molecular response to the environment. RNA-Seq reads were obtained by next-generation sequencing with an Illumina® platform and processed using PRINSEQ. The transcriptome assembly was …

The Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of The Shoal Chub, Macrhybopsis Hyostoma, Sarah Gaughan, Robin Johnson, Jun Wang, Michael Wachholtz, Kirk Steffensen, Timothy King, Guoqing Lu

Biology Faculty Publications

The complete mitochondrial genome of the shoal chub (Macrhybopsis hyostoma) was determined to be 16,899 bp and contained 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and 1 control region. The whole genome base composition was 30.5% A, 28.5% T, 24.9% C and 16.1 G. This complete mitochondrial genome provides essential molecular markers for resolving phylogeny and future conservation efforts.

Broad Activation Of Latent Hiv-1 In Vivo, Kirston Barton, Bonnie Hiener, Anni Winckelmann, Thomas Aagaard Rasmussen, Wei Shao, Karen Byth, Robert Lanfear, Ajantha Solomon, James Mcmahon, Sean Harrington, Maria Buzon, Mathias Lichterfeld, Paul W. Denton, Rikke Olesen, Lars Østergaard, Martin Tolstrup, Sharon R. Lewin, Ole Schmeltz Søgaard, Sarah Palmer

Biology Faculty Publications

The ‘shock and kill’ approach to cure human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) includes transcriptional induction of latent HIV-1 proviruses using latency-reversing agents (LRAs) with targeted immunotherapy to purge infected cells. The administration of LRAs (panobinostat or vorinostat) to HIV-1-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy induces a significant increase in cell-associated unspliced (CA-US) HIV-1 RNA from CD4+ T cells. However, it is important to discern whether the increases in CA-US HIV-1 RNA are due to limited or broad activation of HIV-1 proviruses. Here we use single-genome sequencing to find that the RNA transcripts observed following LRA administration are genetically diverse, indicating activation of …

Acoustic Detection Reveals Fine-Scale Distributions Of Myotis Lucifugus, Myotis Septentrionalis, And Perimyotis Subflavus In Eastern Nebraska, Jeremy A. White, Cliff A. Lemen, Patricia W. Freeman

Biology Faculty Publications

Before white-nose syndrome arrives in Nebraska, it is important to document the preexposure distributions of cave bats in the state. We examined the distributions of Myotis lucifugus (little brown myotis), Myotis septentrionalis (northern long-eared myotis), and Perimyotis subflavus (tri-colored bat) in eastern Nebraska by setting acoustic detectors for a single night at 105 sites in wooded habitats during summers of 2012 and 2014. We compared 2 methods of determining presence at each site. Results of our analyses are fine-scale distributional maps for these bats and some range extensions from published records. Results for M. septentrionalis and P. subflavus are largely …

Enhancing The Stem Ecosystem Through Teacher-Researcher Partnerships, William E. Tapprich, Neal Grandgenett, Heather Leas, Steven N. Rodie, Robert Duncan Shuster, Chris Schaben, Christine E. Cutucache

Biology Faculty Publications

STEM faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) have partnered with teachers and administrators in the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) to implement a Teacher-Researcher Partnership Program. This program establishes resources and infrastructure that engage K-12 science teachers in scientific research experiences. In the first implementation of this program, eleven UNO faculty mentors, drawn from several STEM disciplines, were matched with eleven OPS teachers to conduct genuine research projects in support of their teaching.