Digital Commons Network^™

Runx2 Cooperates With Srebp1 To Rewire Cancer Metabolism And Promote Aggressiveness, Emanuele Vitale, Mila Gugnoni, Veronica Manicardi, Silvia Muccioli, Federica Torricelli, Benedetta Donati, Simonetta Piana, Gloria Manzotti, Elisa Salviato, Francesca Reggiani, Cristian Ascione, Rebecca Vezzani, Moira Ragazzi, Mattia Forcato, Oriana Romano, Silvio Bicciato, Aaron Goldman, Marco Tigano, Alessia Ciarrocchi

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Embryonic Transcription Factors (TFs) are often reactivated in cancer, driving developmental gene programs that support phenotypic plasticity. Metabolic adaptation fuels this plasticity by supplying energy and molecular building blocks for growth. RUNX2, the master regulator of bone morphogenesis, is ectopically expressed in epithelial cancer, promoting metastasis through trans-differentiation processes like Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) and osteomimicry. By combining omics data with functional validation, we demonstrated that RUNX2 drives cancer cell metabolic rewiring by repressing mitochondrial respiration while promoting anabolic processes. We showed that RUNX2 upregulates key genes of lipid biosynthesis by regulating and cooperating with SREBP1. In vivo expression analysis in …

Induction Of Myelopoiesis By Candida Dubliniensis Drives Protective Trained Immunity Against Sepsis In A Card9-Dependent Manner, Shannon Esher Righi, Elizabeth A. Lilly, Amanda J. Harriett, Patrick W. Daly, Maryjane Jones, Chad Steele, Mairi C. Noverr, Paul L. Fidel

School of Dentistry Faculty Publications

Trained immunity is a long-term functional reprogramming of innate cells that allows for the formation of immune memory akin to adaptive responses, but with a more rapid nonspecific response. We recently identified an anti-inflammatory trained immunity response, termed trained tolerogenic immunity (TTI), induced by low virulence Candida dubliniensis, that protects against acute lethal polymicrobial sepsis via myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Trained immunity and MDSCs arise following hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) expansion in the bone marrow. Here, we show that C. dubliniensis induces inoculum-dependent protection and HSPC expansion, whereas depletion of HSPCs following C. dubliniensis immunization abrogates protection. We …

The Key To Acquiring The Language Of Law, Science, And Technology In The Esl College Classroom, Patricia George-Hunter

Journal of English Learner Education

Since vocabulary plays a significant role in second language acquisition, expansive vocabulary targets should be set and pursued. This paper explores the results of introducing affixes to develop vocabulary and increase motivation for beginner to intermediate-level English language learners (ELLs) pursuing academic disciplines in law, science, and technology at a New York City community college. Participants included 23 ELLs with diverse linguistic, educational, and sociocultural backgrounds enrolled in an online synchronous Integrative Language Seminar (ILS) designed to develop all areas of English language proficiency. Pre‑, post‑, delayed tests, questionnaires, and post‑intervention interviews were conducted and analyzed to establish the language …

Exploring Stem Cell Therapies For Chronic Diseases, Ashley Thompson

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Research Assistant At The University Of Minnesota Advanced Research And Diagnostics Laboratory, Vishnu Vundamati

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Biol 3400 Microbiology/Lab (Tiny Earth) With Dr. Garcia, Noura Naami

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Mentored Structural Biology Of Human Pathogens (Msbio-Path) Summer Program, Harani Athwale

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Biol 1000/1001 Introduction To Biology Research I/Ii (Sea Phages), George Vasilakis

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Radiofrequency Ablation Research At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Maanya Chitrapu

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Student Athletes Abroad - Pre-Health Costa Rica, Bridget Mcgrath

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Science Alive - Stem Education Outreach, Brianna Bourke, Maggie Luo, Amaan Khan

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Md Anderson University Outreach, Sanjana Ananthula, Tulsi Desai

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Summer 2025 Surgical Internship At The Medical University Of Graz, Caroline Rodriguez Chang, Rochelle Avezki, Irene Murathe

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Discover Eden Ecology Internship, South Africa, Daphne De Sedas, Gabriella Flora, Reagan Spahr

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Analyzing The Implications Of Artificial Intelligence (Ai) For Active Learning And Assessment Globally In Healthcare And Stem, Vinay Munlapudi, Santanu De

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Optometric Internship For Biol4950: Eyes On Southern, Ella Weinlick

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Tissue Quality In Early Stages Of Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: A Pilot Study, Tyler Almquist, Gabrielle Schroeder, Ian Villegas, David A. Doubblestein

Oncology Rehabilitation in Practice

Introduction: Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a chronic condition associated with breast cancer treatments. Tissue quality assessment, commonly performed using the pitting edema test, can also be quantified with digital tissue tonometry. However, the role of tonometry in early-stage BCRL — classified as Stages 0 and I by the International Society of Lymphology (ISL) — remains unclear.

Purpose: This pilot study aimed to assess the utility of tonometry in early-stage BCRL by evaluating tissue resistance (N), volume (ml), and circumference (cm) in healthy individuals and those with ISL Stage 0 and I lymphedema.

Methods: A convenience sample of females …

The History Of Nazi Neuroscience: Tracing Evidence Through Voids, Angela Gushue

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

During the Holocaust (1933-1945), voids were created by the destruction of ethics, morality, and human life. We can detect this absence because of material traces of the events. My paper applies the theory of relational ontology of absence to a collection of empty jars on display at the Josephinum, a medical history museum in Vienna. The jars once contained human remains of children murdered in the “euthanasia” program at Am Spiegelgrund, a psychiatric clinic in Vienna where 789 were killed during the Nazi era. These victims were not commemorated until the early 2000s, when the specimen jars were emptied and …

Cohesin Haploinsufficiency Is Tolerated In Cbfb::Myh11-Driven Murine Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Shannon E Conneely, Alexis Quezada, Kristen J Kurtz, Nenggang Zhang, Josephine De La Fuente, Nesa Mercer, Jason H Rogers, Rogelio Aguilar, Geraldo Medrano, Margaret A Goodell, Paul P Liu, Debananda Pati, Rachel E Rau

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Cohesin gene mutations occur in many malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Loss-of-function mutations in the four major cohesin complex genes (RAD21, SMC3, SMC1a, and STAG2) occur across most major genetic subtypes of AML but are notably absent in AML harboring CBFB::MYH11, suggesting that cohesin mutations yield distinct biological outcomes dependent on the genetic AML driver. We hypothesized that CBFB::MYH11-expressing leukemias would be dependent on intact cohesin genes given their near-mutual exclusivity. To investigate this, we combined either germline or inducible heterozygous deletions in cohesin genes Smc3 or Rad21, respectively, with an inducible murine model of Cbfb::MYH11 AML. This approach …

A Single-Nucleus Transcriptomic Atlas Of The Adult Aedes Aegypti Mosquito, Olivia V Goldman, Alexandra E Defoe, Yanyan Qi, Yaoyu Jiao, Shih-Che Weng, Brittney Wick, Leah Houri-Zeevi, Priyanka Lakhiani, Takeshi Morita, Jacopo Razzauti, Adriana Rosas-Villegas, Yael N Tsitohay, Madison M Walker, Ben R Hopkins, Aedes Aegypti Mosquito Cell Atlas Consortium, Maximilian Haeussler, Omar S Akbari, Laura B Duvall, Helen White-Cooper, Trevor R Sorrells, Roshan Sharma, Hongjie Li, Leslie B Vosshall, Nadav Shai

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The female Aedes aegypti mosquito's remarkable ability to hunt humans and transmit pathogens relies on her unique biology. Here, we present the Aedes aegypti Mosquito Cell Atlas, a comprehensive single-nucleus RNA sequencing dataset of more than 367,000 nuclei from 19 dissected tissues of adult female and male Aedes aegypti, providing cellular-level resolution of mosquito biology. We identify novel cell types and expand our understanding of sensory neuron organization of chemoreceptors across all sensory tissues. Our analysis uncovers male-specific cells and sexually dimorphic gene expression in the antenna and brain. In female mosquitoes, we find that glial cells, rather than neurons, …

Distinct Molecular Responses Of Human Intestinal Organoids To Proton And Photon Radiation, Victoria Poplaski, Tajhal D Patel, Hoa Nguyen-Phuc, Amal Kambal, Lawrence Bronk, Mary K Estes, Cristian Coarfa, Sarah E Blutt

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Radiation exposure impairs rapidly renewing tissues like the intestinal epithelium, yet translational insights from murine models have been limited by species-specific responses. Here, we use human intestinal organoids (HIOs) derived from jejunal epithelium to evaluate human epithelial responses to low dose proton and photon (gamma) radiation. Gamma irradiation induces a unique developmental and metabolic shift in crypt-like organoids, including enrichment of amino acid metabolism pathways and activation of fetal-associated transcription factors and morphology. Integrated multi-omic profiling reveals serotonin biosynthesis as a central regenerative node. Human intestinal organoids can complement animal models and are emerging as a powerful tool in modeling …

A Bibliometric Analysis Of The 100 Most Cited Papers In Molecular Biology Studies Of Oral Submucous Fibrosis, Sahil Thuse, Abhirami Premarajan, Gargi Sarode, Muhammad Ruslin, Rajesh Shetty, Sachin Sarode

Journal of Dentomaxillofacial Science

Objective: To systematically map the existing research about molecular biology of OSF along with the notable amount of research in the past and the future insights of the same.

Material and Method: The analysis evaluates the research trends in OSF using Scopus as a primary source due to its comprehensive coverage of peer reviewed literature. The search was performed on 25 April 2025. Only original and review articles were selected wherein "molecular biology" and "oral submucous fibrosis" were the Boolean terms applied. Hundred most cited articles were shortlisted. Network visualisation and bibliometric mapping was performed by VOS viewer. Keyword co-occurrence …

Examining Effective Translation And Implementation Methods For Equitable Access And Scaling Of Nutrition Programs—A Report From The “Biomarkers Of Nutrition For Development: Knowledge Indicating Dietary Sufficiency (Bond-Kids)” Project Working Group 4, Christina D. Economos, Juliana Cohen, Daniel J. Raiten, Omar Dary, Diane Debernardo, Boitshepo Giyose, Marianella Herrera-Cuenca, Deanna Hoelscher, Rachel Novotny, Angela Odoms-Young, Thomas N. Robinson, Mary Rozga, Mary Story, Donald Bundy

Health Sciences Faculty Publications

School-age years (5–19 y) are a critical development period, bridging early childhood and adulthood. Nutrition during this stage is essential for supporting physical, cognitive, and socioemotional/psychological well-being. Moreover, nutritional status in these years has lasting effects on lifelong health, well-being, productivity, and human capital. In 2022, the National Institutes of Health “Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development: Knowledge Indicating Dietary Sufficiency (BOND-KIDS)” Project was launched to explore how to advance the assessment and impact of nutrition programs and policies for school-age children. The aim of this study is to use an ecological approach and available evidence to develop actionable tools for …

Mosquito Classification And Explainability From Image Data Via Deep Learning Techniques, Farhat Binte Azam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on Earth, responsible for more human deaths annually than any other species. Mosquito-borne illnesses continue to pose severe risks to global health. In 2015 alone, there were an estimated 214 million malaria cases worldwide. Similarly, a 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that Puerto Rico’s Department of Health received over 62,500 suspected cases of Zika, with 29,345 confirmed positive cases. In 2019, Southeast Asia experienced its worst dengue outbreak in recorded history. Of the approximately 4,500 mosquito species distributed across 34 genera, …

Nasal Microbionts Differentially Colonize And Elicit Cytokines In Human Nasal Epithelial Organoids, Andrea I Boyd, Leah A Kafer, Isabel F Escapa, Amal Kambal, Hira Tariq, Susan G Hilsenbeck, Hoa Nguyen-Phuc, Anubama Rajan, Joshua M Lensmire, Kathryn A Patras, Pedro A Piedra, Sarah E Blutt, Katherine P Lemon

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Nasal colonization by Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pneumoniae is associated with an increased risk of infection by these pathobionts, whereas nasal colonization by Dolosigranulum species is associated with health. Human nasal epithelial organoids (HNOs) differentiated at air-liquid interface (ALI) physiologically recapitulate human nasal respiratory epithelium with a robust mucociliary blanket. Due to their natural stem-like properties, HNO lines are a long-term experimental resource that offers genetic diversity based on the different donors. To develop HNOs as a new model system for bacterial nasal colonization, we reproducibly monocolonized HNOs differentiated at ALI with S. aureus, S. pneumoniae, or Dolosigranulum …

Prevalence And Clinical Impact Of Pseudohypercalcemia In Paraproteinemia: A Case And Cohort Study, Usman Sunusi, Li Chen, Nianyi Li, Jason K Y Lee, Irmeen Siddiqui, Erin Goodhue, Rongrong Huang, Jieli Li

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Hypercalcemia is a common and serious complication of malignancy, often contributing to morbidity and mortality. In patients with paraproteinemia, elevated total calcium with normal ionized calcium, termed pseudohypercalcemia, can complicate diagnosis and lead to inappropriate treatment. While this phenomenon has been described in case reports, its prevalence and clinical impact in routine practice remain poorly defined.

Methods: We report a case of pseudohypercalcemia in a patient with IgG κ multiple myeloma and conducted a retrospective review of de-identified data to assess the prevalence and biochemical associations of pseudohypercalcemia in paraproteinemia. Available data included serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP), …

Translational Framework Linking Perfluoroheptanoic Acid (Pfhpa) Exposure To Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease In Adolescents, Brittney O Baumert, Ana C Maretti-Mira, Douglas I Walker, Zhenjiang Li, Nikos Stratakis, Hongxu Wang, Yinqi Zhao, Fabian Christoph Fischer, Qiran Jia, Damaskini Valvi, Scott M Bartell, Jiawen Carmen Chen, Thomas Inge, Justin R Ryder, Todd Jenkins, Stephanie Sisley, Stavra Xanthakos, David E Kleiner, Rohit Kohli, Sarah Rock, Sandrah P Eckel, Michele A La Merrill, Max M Aung, Matthew P Salomon, Rob Mcconnell, Jesse Goodrich, David V Conti, Lucy Golden-Mason, Lida Chatzi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: The rising prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), particularly among pediatric populations, requires identification of modifiable risk factors to control disease progression. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have emerged as potential contributors to liver damage; however, their role in MASLD remains underexplored. This study aimed to develop a translational framework integrating human and in vitro data to elucidate the effect of PFAS on MASLD development.

Methods: We measured PFAS plasma levels in the Teen-LABS cohort (n = 136), comprising adolescents with obesity (mean age = 16.8 years) undergoing bariatric surgery. Plasma samples were also analyzed using proteomic …

Fastk Post-Transcriptional Regulators – A ‘Fast-Track’ In Mitochondrial Gene Expression, Justin Van Riper, Bridget J Corsaro, Monica C Pillon

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Fas-activated serine/threonine kinase (FASTK) proteins comprise one of the largest families of mitochondrial post-transcriptional regulators. Members are classified based on their conserved C-terminus, which shows homology with the PD-(D/E)XK superfamily of endoribonucleases. However, it is still uncertain which of these FASTK members are catalytic. The six human FASTK homologs rely on their RNA-binding activity to regulate distinct stages of mitochondrial gene expression, including early processing of nascent RNA, 3'-end messenger RNA (mRNA) maturation, ribosomal RNA (rRNA) modification, mRNA stability, and translation. Genetic and genomic studies have highlighted the crucial role of FASTK proteins in balancing the mitochondrial transcriptome and controlling …

Rebound Bursting Selectively Enables Fast Dynamics In Dopamine Midbrain Neurons Projecting To The Dorsolateral Striatum, Strahinja Stojanovic, Christopher J. Knowlton, Richard Egger-Mackrodt, Johanna Mankel, Josef Shin, Stephan Lammel, Carmen C. Canavier, Jochen Roeper

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Dopamine (DA) midbrain neurons are involved in a wide array of key brain functions including movement control and reward-based learning. They are also critical for major brain disorders such as Parkinson's disease or schizophrenia. DA neurons projecting to distinct striatal territories are diverse with regard to their molecular makeup and cellular physiology, which are likely to contribute to the observed differences in temporal DA dynamics. Among these regions, the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) displays the fastest DA dynamics, which might control the moment-to-moment vigor and variability of voluntary movements. However, the underlying mechanisms for these DLS-specific fast DA fluctuations are unresolved. …

Chromatin Profiling Identifies Putative Dual Roles For H3k27me3 In Regulating Cell Type-Specific Genes And Transposable Elements In Choanoflagellates, James M Gahan, Lily W Helfrich, Laura A Wetzel, Natarajan V Bhanu, Zuo-Fei Yuan, Benjamin A Garcia, Robert J Klose, Alex De Mendoza, David S Booth

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Chromatin-based mechanisms contribute to the exquisite regulation of gene expression during animal development. But how those mechanisms evolved remains elusive. Here we investigate chromatin regulatory features in the closest relatives of animals, choanoflagellates. In a model choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta, we compare chromatin accessibility and histone modifications to gene expression. Accessible genomic regions in S. rosetta primarily correspond to gene promoters, and we find no evidence of distal gene regulatory elements that resemble enhancers deployed to regulate developmental genes in animals. Remarkably, the histone modification H3K27me3 decorates genes with cell type-specific expression, revealing a functional similarity in S. rosetta and animals. …