Research Methods in Life Sciences Commons^™

Invited Review: Adrenocortical Function In Avian And Non-Avian Reptiles: Insights From Dispersed Adrenocortical Cells., Rocco V. Carsia, Patrick J. Mcilroy, Henry B John-Alder

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

Herein we review our work involving dispersed adrenocortical cells from several lizard species: the Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus), Yarrow's Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus jarrovii), Striped Plateau Lizard (Sceloporus virgatus) and the Yucatán Banded Gecko (Coleonyx elegans). Early work demonstrated changes in steroidogenic function of adrenocortical cells derived from adult S. undulatus associated with seasonal interactions with sex. However, new information suggests that both sexes operate within the same steroidogenic budget over season. The observed sex effect was further explored in orchiectomized and ovariectomized lizards, some supported with exogenous testosterone. Overall, a suppressive effect of testosterone was evident, especially in cells …

Comparative Analysis Of The Effects Of Actual Versus Assumed Opioid Experience On The Regulation Of Ventral Striatal Opioid Receptor Gene Expression, Indu Mithra Madhuranthakam, Martin Job

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Rationale: We conducted experiments to assess the effect of prior opioid experience on gene expression changes. We compared the current experimenter-imposed short versus extended-access conditions of opioid self-administration and developed a new quantitative method to determine their effectiveness in identifying the role of opioid experience in regulating opioid receptor expression levels in the ventral striatum (VS) using an oxycodone self-administration/abstinence model.

Methods: In this study, male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=36) were trained for 20 days to self-administer oxycodone at 0.1 mg/kg/infusion under short access (n=15, or saline as controls n=3, for 3h/day) or extended access (n=15, or saline as controls n=3, …

Effect Of Calcium Chloride And Isoflurane On Force Frequency Relationship In Canines, Harrison Patrizio, Lawrence Mulligan

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Proper calcium cycling is critical for a optimally functioning heart.

Improper calcium cycling in humans can contribute to heart failure.

Human calcium cycling is difficult to study due to the risks of damaging the patient’s cardiac tissue.

Risk of further damaging cardiac tissue is substantially increased in a heart failure patient.

Past studies focus on studying the effects of changing calcium cycling in lab rats.

Current research shows limited alternative methods in studying relationships between calcium cycling and FFR in larger mammals.

This project analyzes data to determine the response of the canine force frequency relationship to calcium chloride and …

Investigations In The Cellular And Molecular Biology Of Human Airway Mucociliary Tissue, Vincent Manna

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Our laboratory has integrated the use of a human-derived, in vitro model of airway mucociliary tissue. We isolate human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs) from the nasal mucociliary tissue of donors with a small brush and expand the airway progenitor cells in culture. The HNECs are then seeded onto semi-permeable transwell inserts. The inserts are in contact with the media in the lower chamber but don’t contain media in the upper chamber therefore the cells are exposed to the air while drawing nutrients from the media below, this is called the Air-Liquid Interface (ALI). HNECs cultured at the ALI initiate a …

Cyclin C Regulated Oxidative Stress Responsive Transcriptome In Mus Musculus Embryonic Fibroblasts, David C Stieg, Kai-Ti Chang, Katrina F Cooper, Randy Strich

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

The transcriptional changes that occur in response to oxidative stress help direct the decision to maintain cell viability or enter a cell death pathway. Cyclin C-Cdk8 is a conserved kinase that associates with the RNA polymerase II Mediator complex that stimulates or represses transcription depending on the locus. In response to oxidative stress, cyclin C, but not Cdk8, displays partial translocation into the cytoplasm. These findings open the possibility that cyclin C relocalization is a regulatory mechanism governing oxidative stress-induced transcriptional changes. In the present study, the cyclin C-dependent transcriptome was determined and compared to transcriptional changes occurring in oxidatively …

Modulation Of Bax/Bak Dependent Apoptosis By Sirtuin 3 And Mitochondrial Permeability Transition By Sirtuin 4, Manish Verma

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that regulate a myriad of cellular functions, including energy production and metabolic regulation. Mitochondria are also a critical regulator of cell death signaling cascades modulating both apoptotic and necrotic cell death. However, what determines which cell death pathway is activated is still unclear. The mitochondrial/intrinsic pathway of apoptosis is dependent on the activation of pro-apoptotic proteins, Bax and Bak, which induce mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP). Once the integrity of outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) is compromised, pro-apoptotic intermembrane space proteins like cytochrome c, Smac/Diablo, Omi/HtrA2 and AIF are released into the cytoplasm, which activates the post-mitochondrial …