Medical Physiology Commons^™

Point Substitutions In G Protein-Coupled Receptors, Jessica Brown

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are proteins that are important in physiological regulatory processes within the body, and for this reason are important drug targets. When bound to an agonist, such as neurotransmitters or hormones, the receptor adopts an active state to allow these biochemical pathways to occur. However, mutations can arise within the receptor that affect its ability to bind its agonist. This natural variation found within the genome can make it difficult to design pharmaceuticals to target the receptors.

To see the effects of these point substitutions on agonist-induced receptor activation, mutations were made within a negative allosteric site …

Oral Contraceptives As Possible Acl Injury Prevention Method, Haley Schweizer

Capstone Showcase

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are an upsetting setback for many athletes that require a long and costly recovery process. The injury rates are four times greater in women than men. Preventative measures that help to prevent ACL injuries are limited to stretching and strengthening. Therefore, this review aims to investigate if oral contraceptive [I] usage provides a possible new avenue for prevention of ACL injury [O] in young female athletes (ages 18-30) [P] compared to those that do not take oral contraceptives [C].

Methods: A literature review was performed though PubMed, Google Scholar, SCOPUS Database, and ClinicalKey …

Developing Novel Therapeutics For Bacterial Lung Infections, Brandon J. Baer, Ruud Veldhuizen, Cory Yamashita

Western Research Forum

Background: Bacterial lung infections are leading causes of death worldwide. Unfortunately, increasing resistance to antibiotics and the inflammation often accompanying these infections are leading to poor outcomes despite antibiotic intervention. Complicating treatment further, the tree-like branching structure of the lung makes drug delivery to distal sites of infection difficult. Our research aims to address these challenges by developing new therapeutics and new tools to improve and assess drug delivery, bacterial killing and inflammation. Our therapy combines host defense peptides, which have been shown to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria and down regulate inflammation, with a pulmonary vehicle, exogenous surfactant, that can improve …