Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Nesting Environment On Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Injury, Laura Grace Rollins

Graduate Masters Theses

Term neonates with hypoxic-ischemic (HI) injury are at risk for devastating neurological sequelae. The objective of this study is to determine if altering the early environment for maternal care-taking impacts the immediate and long-term sequelae of HI offspring. The Rice-Vannucci model was used to induce HI in postnatal day (PND) 7 Long-Evans pups. Litters were assigned to a closed nest (CN) or normal standard housing (SH) condition. Neurobehavioral development, cognitive ability, and stress response were assessed to establish any benefits of the CN condition. Finally, postmortem brain tissue was analyzed for morphometric markers of injury.

Novel And Predominant Pathogen Responsible For The Enterovirus-Associated Encephalitis In Eastern China, Lei Zhang, Jie Yan, David M. Ojcius, Huakun Lv, Ziping Miao, Yin Chen, Yanjun Zhang, Jvying Yan

All Dugoni School of Dentistry Faculty Articles

Enteroviruses (EV) have been increasingly identified as the causative agent for unknown etiological encephalitis in many parts of the world, but the long period surveillance for enterovirus-associated encephalitis (EAE) was not reported in China. From 2002-2012 in Zhejiang, Coxsackieviruses A9, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5; and echoviruses 3, 4, 6, 9, 14, 25, 30 were detected from the unknown etiological encephalitis cases, with coxsackievirus B4 been identified here for the first time. From 2002-2004 and 2010-2012, echovirus 30 was found to be the periodically predominant serotype for in the EAE. The molecular typing results showed that all the EV isolates …

Spatial Analysis Of Factors Influencing Long-Term Stress In The Grizzly Bear (Ursus Arctos) Population Of Alberta, Canada, Mathieu Bourbonnais, Trisalyn Nelson, Mark Cattet, Chris T. Darimont, Gordon Stenhouse

Physiology Collection

Non-invasive measures for assessing long-term stress in free ranging mammals are an increasingly important approach for understanding physiological responses to landscape conditions. Using a spatially and temporally expansive dataset of hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) generated from a threatened grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) population in Alberta, Canada, we quantified how variables representing habitat conditions and anthropogenic disturbance impact long-term stress in grizzly bears. We characterized spatial variability in male and female HCC point data using kernel density estimation and quantified variable influence on spatial patterns of male and female HCC stress surfaces using random forests. Separate models were developed for regions …

Inflammatory Cytokine Gene Expression In Mesenteric Adipose Tissue During Acute Experimental Colitis, William Conan Mustain, Marlene E. Starr, Joseph Daniel Valentino, Donald A. Cohen, Daiki Okamura, Chi Wang, B. Mark Evers, Hiroshi Saito

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Production of inflammatory cytokines by mesenteric adipose tissue (MAT) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Animal models of colitis have demonstrated inflammatory changes within MAT, but it is unclear if these changes occur in isolation or as part of a systemic adipose tissue response. It is also unknown what cell types are responsible for cytokine production within MAT. The present study was designed to determine whether cytokine production by MAT during experimental colitis is depot-specific, and also to identify the source of cytokine production within MAT.

METHODS: Experimental colitis was induced in 6-month-old C57BL/6 …

Table Of Contents, Michele Harmon

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Sensitization Of Human Cancer Cells To Gemcitabine By The Chk1 Inhibitor Mk-8776: Cell Cycle Perturbation And Impact Of Administration Schedule In Vitro And In Vivo, Ryan Montano, Ruth Thompson, Injae Chung, Huagang Hou, Nadeem Khan, Alan Eastman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Chk1 inhibitors have emerged as promising anticancer therapeutic agents particularly when combined with antimetabolites such as gemcitabine, cytarabine or hydroxyurea. Here, we address the importance of appropriate drug scheduling when gemcitabine is combined with the Chk1 inhibitor MK-8776, and the mechanisms involved in the schedule dependence.

The Effects Of Acute Post Exercise Consumption Of Two Cocoa-Based Beverages With Varying Flavanol Content On Indices Of Muscle Recovery Following Downhill Treadmill Running, Katelyn Peschek, Robert Pritchett, Ethan Bergman, Kelly Pritchett

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Dietary flavanols have been associated with reduced oxidative stress, however their efficacy in promoting recovery after exercise induced muscle damage is unclear. This study examined the effectiveness of acute consumption of cocoa-flavanols on indices of muscle recovery including: subsequent exercise performance, creatine kinase, muscle tenderness, force, and self-perceived muscle soreness. Eight endurance-trained athletes (VO2max 64.4 ± 7.6 mL/kg/min) completed a downhill running protocol to induce muscle soreness, and 48-h later completed a 5-K (kilometer) time trial. Muscle recovery measurements were taken at PRE, 24 h-POST, 48 h-POST, and POST-5K. Participants consumed 1.0 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight …

Using Expression Profiling To Understand The Effects Of Chronic Cadmium Exposure On Mcf-7 Breast Cancer Cells, Zelmina Lubovac-Pilav, Daniel M. Borras, Esmeralda Ponce, Maggie Louie

Collected Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Cadmium is a metalloestrogen known to activate the estrogen receptor and promote breast cancer cell growth. Previous studies have implicated cadmium in the development of more malignant tumors; however the molecular mechanisms behind this cadmium-induced malignancy remain elusive. Using clonal cell lines derived from exposing breast cancer cells to cadmium for over 6 months (MCF-7-Cd4, -Cd6, -Cd7, -Cd8 and -Cd12), this study aims to identify gene expression signatures associated with chronic cadmium exposure. Our results demonstrate that prolonged cadmium exposure does not merely result in the deregulation of genes but actually leads to a distinctive expression profile. The genes deregulated …

Septins Of Platyhelminths: Identification, Phylogeny, Expression And Localization Among Developmental Stages Of Schistosoma Mansoni, Ana E. Zeraik, Gabriel Rinaldi, Victoria H. Mann, Anastas Popratiloff, Ana P.U. Araujo, Ricardo Demarco, Paul J. Brindley

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

Septins are a family of eukaryotic GTP binding proteins conserved from yeasts to humans. Originally identified in mutants of budding yeast, septins participate in diverse cellular functions including cytokinesis, organization of actin networks, cell polarity, vesicle trafficking and many others. Septins assemble into heteroligomers to form filaments and rings. Here, four septins of Schistosoma mansoni are described, which appear to be conserved within the phylum Platyhelminthes. These orthologues were related to the SEPT5, SEPT10 and SEPT7 septins of humans, and hence we have termed the schistosome septins SmSEPT5, SmSEPT10, SmSEPT7.1 and SmSEPT7.2. Septin transcripts were detected throughout the developmental cycle …

Dose Dependent Effects Of Caffeine On Cognitive Performance And Neuronal Activation, Stephan Albrecht, Helen Morris, Michelle Vieyra

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Many students assume that the more caffeine you drink, the better your cognitive performance. Over-consumption of caffeine has many negative effects, so if there are no dose related cognitive benefits to large amounts of caffeine, then college students should limit their intake. This study looked at whether ingesting a medium dose (200 mg) versus a lower dose (100 mg) of caffeine improved short term memory as measured by Flanker and n-back tests, compared to a control group. In addition, we looked at whether larger doses of caffeine produced a difference in neuronal activation during these tests as measured by functional …

Fourier Analysis Of Phase Resetting Curves Of Neural Oscillators, Robert A. Raidt, Sorinel A. Oprisan

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

We investigated the impact of changes in biologically relevant control parameters, such as the shape of an external perturbation or the conductance values of an individual model neuron, on the shape of the phase resetting curve (PRC) of that neuron. For that purpose, PRCs were generated for groups of Morris-Lecar (ML) model neurons with different conductance values but similar firing periods (within 0.005ms) using external rectangular, triangular, or trapezoidal perturbations of varying areas. These PRCs were numerically described and analyzed as a series of coefficient values using a Fourier Discrete Sine Transform (DST). We found that changes in the shape …

A Review Of “An Ethical Market In Human Organs,” By Charles A. Erin And John Harris, And A Proposed Solution To The Current Organ Shortage, Rachel Rattenni Fcrh '14

The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal

In 2005, an Israeli man named Nick Rosen answered an ad in his local Tel Aviv newspaper searching for someone interested in selling a kidney. Through funding from the broker who placed the ad, Rosen was flown to New York and set up with a dialysis patient from Brooklyn. After Rosen and the dialysis patient passed a simple procedure for the screening of illegal organ sales by saying the two were old friends, the successful transplant surgery was performed at the esteemed Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. The Brooklyn resident walked away never again needing to go on …

Divergent Antibody Subclass And Specificity Profiles But Not Protective Hla-B Alleles Are Associated With Variable Antibody Effector Function Among Hiv-1 Controllers, Jennifer I. Lai, Anna F. Licht, Anne-Sophie Dugast, Todd Suscovich, Ickwon Choi, Chris Bailey-Kellogg, Galit Alter, Margaret E. Ackerman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Understanding the coordination between humoral and cellular immune responses may be the key to developing protective vaccines, and because genetic studies of long-term HIV-1 nonprogressors have associated specific HLA-B alleles with spontaneous control of viral replication, this subject group presents an opportunity to investigate relationships between arms of the adaptive immune system. Given evidence suggesting that cellular immunity may play a role in viral suppression, we sought to determine whether and how the humoral immune response might vary among controllers. Significantly, Fc-mediated antibody effector functions have likewise been associated with durable viral control. In this study, we compared the effector …

Valproic Acid Causes Proteasomal Degradation Of Dicer And Influences Mirna Expression, Zhaiyi Zhang, Paolo Convertini, Manli Shen, Xiu Xu, Frédéric Lemoine, Pierre De La Grange, Douglas A. Andres, Stefan Stamm

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Valproic acid (VPA) is a commonly used drug to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorders. Known properties of VPA are inhibitions of histone deacetylases and activation of extracellular signal regulated kinases (ERK), which cannot fully explain VPA's clinical features. We found that VPA induces the proteasomal degradation of DICER, a key protein in the generation of micro RNAs. Unexpectedly, the concentration of several micro RNAs increases after VPA treatment, which is caused by the upregulation of their hosting genes prior to DICER degradation. The data suggest that a loss of DICER protein and changes in micro RNA concentration contributes to the …

Dog Behavior Co-Varies With Height, Bodyweight And Skull Shape, Paul D. Mcgreevy, Dana Georgevsky, Johanna Carrasco, Michael Valenzuela, Deborah L. Duffy, James A. Serpell

Eidonomy Collection

Dogs offer unique opportunities to study correlations between morphology and behavior because skull shapes and body shape are so diverse among breeds. Several studies have shown relationships between canine cephalic index (CI: the ratio of skull width to skull length) and neural architecture. Data on the CI of adult, show-quality dogs (six males and six females) were sourced in Australia along with existing data on the breeds’ height, bodyweight and related to data on 36 behavioral traits of companion dogs (n = 8,301) of various common breeds (n = 49) collected internationally using the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire …

Biochemical Assay Optimization And Computational Screening Efforts To Identify Potential Luxs Inhibitors, Keeshia Q. Wang

Master's Theses

Quorum sensing (QS) is a process of coordination of bacterial gene expression in response to cell population. System two QS is regulated by the small signaling molecule autoinducer-2 (AI-2) and is implicated in the infectious behaviors of various bacterial species. AI-2 is biosynthesized from S-ribosylhomocysteine (SRH) by the enzyme LuxS and induces interspecies cell-to-cell communication. Inhibition of LuxS would therefore inhibit interspecies QS. Herein, a search for novel molecular species that will competitively bind with SRH in the LuxS binding site is performed in silico. Computational screening results are then validated in vitro using an optimized LuxS inhibition …

Molecular Evolution Of Protein-Rna Mimicry As A Mechanism For Translational Control, Assaf Katz, Lindsey Solden, S. Betty Zou, William Wiley Navarre, Michael Ibba

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Elongation factor P (EF-P) is a conserved ribosome-binding protein that structurally mimics tRNA to enable the synthesis of peptides containing motifs that otherwise would induce translational stalling, including polyproline. In many bacteria, EF-P function requires post-translational modification with (R)-β-lysine by the lysyl-tRNA synthetase paralog PoxA. To investigate how recognition of EF-P by PoxA evolved from tRNA recognition by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, we compared the roles of EF-P/PoxA polar contacts with analogous interactions in a closely related tRNA/synthetase complex. PoxA was found to recognize EF-P solely via identity elements in the acceptor loop, the domain of the protein that interacts with the …

Characterizing The Human Vaginal Microbiome Using High-Throughput Sequencing, Jean Megan E. Macklaim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The human vaginal microbiome undoubtedly has a significant role in reproductive health and for protection from infectious organisms. Recent efforts to characterize the bacterial species of the vagina using molecular techniques have uncovered an unexpected diversity. Using high-throughput sequencing I sought to describe the structure and function of the vaginal microbiome under different physiological states including healthy, bacterial vaginosis (BV), post-menopausal vaginal atrophy, and acute vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC).

Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that healthy, asymptomatic women most often have vaginal biotas dominated by Lactobacillus iners or L. crispatus. In contrast, BV is a heterogeneous, highly diversified condition …

Definition Of An Hla-Dpw2-Restricted Epitope On Ns3, Recognized By A Dengue Virus Serotype-Cross-Reactive Human Cd4+ Cd8- Cytotoxic T-Cell Clone, Ichiro Kurane, Li Chen Dai, Peter G. Livingston, Elaine Reed, Francis A. Ennis

Li Dai

We previously reported that the clone JK34 was cross-reactive for dengue virus types 1, 2, 3, and 4 and recognized NS3 (I. Kurane, M. A. Brinton, A. L. Samson, and F. A. Ennis, J. Virol. 65:1823-1828, 1991). In the present experiments, we defined the epitope at the amino acid level, with 93 15-mer overlapping peptides which cover the entire NS3. A peptide 4 which contains amino acids 251 to 265 of NS3 sensitized the autologous B lymphoblastoid cell line (LCL) to the lysis by JK34. The smallest peptide recognized by JK34 was a 10-mer peptide which contains amino acids 255 …

Mutation Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 At Amino Acid 585 On Gp41 Results In Loss Of Killing By Cd8+ A24-Restricted Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes, Li Chen Dai, Kim West, Rebecca A. Littaua, Kazuo Takahashi, Francis A. Ennis

Li Dai

A human leukocyte antigen A24-restricted CD8+ cytotoxic T-cell clone specific for gp41 of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 was isolated from an infected individual. The epitope was localized to amino acids 584 to 591 (YLKDQQLL, NL43 env sequence) of gp41 by using a panel of recombinant vaccinia viruses that contain truncated env genes and synthetic peptides. The clone killed autologous B-lymphoblastoid cell lines pulsed with a synthetic peptide reflecting the sequence of the IIIB and MN strains. This clone, however, failed to kill target cells pulsed with the peptides that have a mutation from Lys to Arg or Gln at …

Use Of Irf-3 And/Or Irf-7 Knockout Mice To Study Viral Pathogenesis: Lessons From A Murine Retrovirus-Induced Aids Model, Megan A. O'Connor, William R. Green

Dartmouth Scholarship

Interferon regulatory factor (IRF) regulation of the type I interferon response has not been extensively explored in murine retroviral infections. IRF-3(-/-) and select IRF-3/7(-/-) mice were resistant to LP-BM5-induced pathogenesis. However, further analyses strongly suggested that resistance could be attributed to strain 129-specific contamination of the known retrovirus resistance gene Fv1. Therefore, caution should be taken when interpreting phenotypes observed in these knockout mice, as strain 129-derived genetic polymorphisms may explain observed differences.

Evolution And Functional Morphology Of The Cephalic Lobes In Batoids, Samantha Lynn Mulvany

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cephalic lobes are unique structures derived from the anterior pectoral fins, found in select myliobatid stingrays. Many benthic batoids utilize undulatory locomotion and use their pectoral fins for both locomotion and prey capture. Pelagic myliobatids that possess cephalic lobes utilize oscillatory locomotion, using their pectoral fins to locomote and their cephalic lobes for prey capture. Despite differences in habitat usage and locomotor modes, these batoids feed on very similar benthic organisms. The purpose of this study was to 1.) compare the morphology of the cephalic lobes and anterior pectoral fins in lobed and lobeless species, looking at skeletal elements, musculature …

Life In Groups: The Roles Of Oxytocin In Mammalian Sociality, Allison M.J. Anacker, Annaliese K. Beery

Psychology: Faculty Publications

In recent decades, scientific understanding of the many roles of oxytocin (OT) in social behavior has advanced tremendously. The focus of this research has been on maternal attachments and reproductive pair-bonds, and much less is known about the substrates of sociality outside of reproductive contexts. It is now apparent that OT influences many aspects of social behavior including recognition, trust, empathy, and other components of the behavioral repertoire of social species. This review provides a comparative perspective on the contributions of OT to life in mammalian social groups. We provide background on the functions of OT in maternal attachments and …

Exploring The Structure And Biochemistry Of Oxidation-Mediated Inhibitation Of The Peptidyl-Prolyl Isomerase Pin1, Brendan T. Innes

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Pin1 is a phosphorylation-dependent peptidyl-prolyl isomerase that has been shown to be neuroprotective in aging-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, it is not active in AD brain, and a recent proteomic screen of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) brain samples revealed that Pin1 is oxidized in the brains of these pre-AD patients. This suggests that this oxidation may be the cause of the loss of the neuroprotective Pin1 function in AD. The Pin1 active site contains a functionally critical cysteine residue (Cys113) with a low predicted pKa, making it highly susceptible to oxidation. We hypothesize that Pin1 is …

A Prospective Study Of The Transient Decrease In Ovarian Cancer Risk Following Childbirth, Qin Liu, Mats Lambe, Inkyung Baik, Sven Cnattingius, Tomas Riman, Anders R. Ekbom, Hans-Olov Adami, Chung-Cheng Hsieh

Qin Liu

Epidemiologic evidence shows that the risk of ovarian cancer is decreased following childbirth. We examined the time points when the decreased risk of postpartum maternal ovarian cancer reaches the lowest point and whether the protective effect diminishes over time. A case-control study nested within the Swedish Fertility Register included 10,086 cases of epithelial ovarian cancer recorded in the Swedish Cancer Register from 1961 to 2001. From the Fertility Register, 49,249 eligible subjects matched to the cases by age were selected as controls. The analysis contrasted risk between adjacent parities through logistic regression models that included indicator variables representing each year …

Profiles Of Human Serum Antibody Responses Elicited By Three Leading Hiv Vaccines Focusing On The Induction Of Env-Specific Antibodies, Michael Vaine, Shixia Wang, Qin Liu, James Arthos, David C. Montefiori, Paul Goepfert, M. Juliana Mcelrath, Shan Lu

Qin Liu

In the current report, we compared the specificities of antibody responses in sera from volunteers enrolled in three US NIH-supported HIV vaccine trials using different immunization regimens. HIV-1 Env-specific binding antibody, neutralizing antibody, antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), and profiles of antibody specificity were analyzed for human immune sera collected from vaccinees enrolled in the NIH HIV Vaccine Trial Network (HVTN) Study #041 (recombinant protein alone), HVTN Study #203 (poxviral vector prime-protein boost), and the DP6-001 study (DNA prime-protein boost). Vaccinees from HVTN Study #041 had the highest neutralizing antibody activities against the sensitive virus along with the highest binding antibody …

Correlation Of Umbilical Cord Blood Hormones And Growth Factors With Stem Cell Potential: Implications For The Prenatal Origin Of Breast Cancer Hypothesis, Todd M. Savarese, William C. Strohsnitter, Hoi Pang Low, Qin Liu, Inkyung Baik, William C. Okulicz, David P. Chelmow, Pagona Lagiou, Peter J. Quesenberry, Kenneth L. Noller, Chung-Cheng Hsieh

Qin Liu

INTRODUCTION: Prenatal levels of mitogens may influence the lifetime breast cancer risk by driving stem cell proliferation and increasing the number of target cells, and thereby increasing the chance of mutation events that initiate oncogenesis. We examined in umbilical cord blood the correlation of potential breast epithelial mitogens, including hormones and growth factors, with hematopoietic stem cell concentrations serving as surrogates of overall stem cell potential. METHODS: We analyzed cord blood samples from 289 deliveries. Levels of hormones and growth factors were correlated with concentrations of stem cell and progenitor populations (CD34+ cells, CD34+CD38- cells, CD34+c-kit+ cells, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming …

A Functional Notch-Survivin Gene Signature In Basal Breast Cancer, Connie Wing-Ching Lee, Karl Simin, Qin Liu, Janet Plescia, Minakshi Guha, Ashraf Khan, Chung-Cheng Hsieh, Dario C. Altieri

Qin Liu

INTRODUCTION: Basal-type, or triple-negative, breast cancer (lacking estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 expression) is a high-risk disease for which no molecular therapies are currently available. We studied genetic signatures of basal breast cancer potentially suitable for therapeutic intervention. METHODS: We analyzed protein expression of the Notch-1 intracellular domain and survivin by immunohistochemistry in a series of basal breast cancer patients. A hierarchical clustering and overall survival analysis was carried out on a microarray mRNA database of 232 breast cancer patients. Fifteen published mRNA datasets containing estrogen receptor-negative or estrogen receptor-positive samples were subjected to meta-analysis …

Genetic Sex Conditions And Redefining Sex, Jayce O'Shields

Student Scholarship

Western culture has a tendency to value binaries and discreet categories that separate its social structure and provide a sense of order and organization. The value placed on binaries and categories may be advantageous in some aspects, but when it starts to infringe upon the legal and medical rights of individuals not easily placed in either binary category, it can become less advantageous.

A baby is usually classified as either male or female shortly after birth, and all future legal, social, and economic actions and rights of that individual are more or less decided according to this classification. A problem …

Differential Actions Of Orexin Receptors In Brainstem Cholinergic And Monoaminergic Neurons Revealed By Receptor Knockouts: Implications For Orexinergic Signaling In Arousal And Narcolepsy, Kristi Kohlmeier, Christopher Tyler, Mike Kalogiannis, Masaru Ishibashi, Iryna Gumenchuk, Masashi Yanagisawa, Christopher S. Leonard

NYMC Faculty Publications

Orexin neuropeptides influence multiple homeostatic functions and play an essential role in the expression of normal sleep-wake behavior. While their two known receptors (OX1 and OX2) are targets for novel pharmacotherapeutics, the actions mediated by each receptor remain largely unexplored. Using brain slices from mice constitutively lacking either receptor, we used whole-cell and Ca(2+) imaging methods to delineate the cellular actions of each receptor within cholinergic [laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT)] and monoaminergic [dorsal raphe (DR) and locus coeruleus (LC)] brainstem nuclei-where orexins promote arousal and suppress REM sleep. In slices from OX(-/-) 2 mice, orexin-A (300 nM) elicited wild-type responses …