Digital Commons Network^™

Rapid Activation Of Hindbrain Neurons Following Glycemic Challenge: Regions And Phenotypes, Sarah D. Chenausky, Teresia A. Carreon, Arshad M. Khan

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Hindbrain neurons are critical for the coordination of feeding, autonomic, and metabolic responses to changes in circulating fuels, such as sugar and fatty acids. Using protein markers such as the Fos transcription factor, previous work has identified key regions of the hindbrain that may be involved in such coordination. However, in these studies, Fos protein staining of hindbrain neurons was performed hours after the hypo- or hyperglycemic challenge was delivered, making activation responses difficult to interpret in relation to the stimulus given. Moreover, these studies generally have employed immunoperoxidase methods to identify Fos-activated neurons without explicitly identifying the chemical phenotypes …

Inhibitors Of Polyisoprenylated Methylated Protein Methyl Esterase (Pmpmease) Cause Neurodegeneration By Altering Microtubules And Gβγ In Pc12 Cells, Jose A. Rivas Jr., Rebekah M. Bach, Jessica Martinez-Jurado, Jorge A. Siera-Fonseca, Sukla Roychowdhury

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Neurodegeneration, a progressive loss of nerve cells (neurons), occurs in many neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Schizophrenia and drug addiction. Disruption of Microtubules (MTs), a major component of cytoskeleton and aggregation of proteins associated with them is the hallmark of neurodegeneration. Gβγ, an important component of G protein signaling has been shown to induce neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells by interacting with microtubules. The goal of the present study is to understand whether interfering with Gβγ-MT mediated pathway causes neurodegeneration. Because prenylation of γ subunits is important for the interaction of Gβγ with MTs, we used inhibitors (L-23 …

Characterization Of The Infectivity Of Non-Replicating Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv)-Derived Viral Vectors., Vanessa E. Rodriguez, Manuel Llano, Luis Valdes

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

The ability of HIV-derived viral vectors to integrate genes of interest into the host genome causing permanent phenotypic modifications makes them excellent tools in gene therapy. However, integration also causes insertional mutagenesis and controlling integration site selection will increase the biosafety of these molecular tools. HIV DNA integration site selection is influenced by LEDGF/p75, a chromatin-bound cellular protein that interacts with the viral enzyme integrase through the integrase binding domain (IBD). Integrase catalyzes viral DNA integration and non-covalently associates with the HIV genome forming the pre-integration complex (PIC). Therefore, interaction of chromatin-bound LEDGF/p75 with the PIC-associated integrase tethers the HIV …

High-Throughput Of Indoline Derivatives Against Leishmania Major And Trypanozoma Cruzi, Joanna A. Olivas, Eva E. Iniguez, Miguel A. Vasquez, Elizabeth Calzada, Katja Michael, Rosa A. Maldonado

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Leishmania major and Trypanozoma cruzi are obligate intracellular parasites responsible for Leishmaniasis and Chaga’s disease, respectively. These neglected diseases are endemic in many regions such as Africa and South America, and are becoming a serious problem in the blood and tissue banks in the U.S. due to high immigration of people from endemic regions. Current treatments are characterized by their low efficacy against parasites and high toxicity in humans. Therefore, the discovery of new ways to treat these parasitoses has become urgent. Drug Screening of novel compounds serves as a starting point for the design of new therapies and for …

Gβγ-Microtubule Interaction And Neurodegeneration, Jane K. Martinez, Jorge Sierra, Sukla Roychowdhury Ph.D.

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Aberrant organization of microtubules (MTs) is known to be a feature of neurodegeneration, which occurs in many neurological disorder including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, neuropsychiatric illness such as schizophrenia, and drug addiction. Previously, Gβγ, an important component of G protein-coupled signaling pathways, has been shown to regulate neurite outgrowth by interacting with MTs. The aim of the present study is to understand the Gβγ regulation of MT assembly and its relation to neurodegeneration, using GRK-ct peptide (consists of the carboxy terminus of G protein-coupled-receptor kinase) which is known to inhibit Gβγ-dependent signaling by binding to and sequestering Gβγ. PC12 cells …

Development Of A Chaperonin Activity Assay, Timothy P. Brown, Danielle Y. Martinez, Ricardo A. Bernal

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Chaperonin-mediated protein folding by the Escherichia coli GroEL/GroES complex is pivotal in preventing premature aggregation and improper folding of proteins. In fact E. coli that have had the groE operon knocked out are not able to survive. The explicit details of facilitated folding in the interior of the chaperonin complex remain relatively unknown, although it is understood that ATP hydrolysis is essential to the chaperonin protein-folding cycle. The goal of this project is to develop an assay to detect the protein folding activity of chaperonins. ATP hydrolysis reactions allow chaperonins to undergo a series of conformational changes that alter the …

Messenger Mrna Analysis As A Means To Identify Mechanisms Of Cancer Drug Resistance, Courtney L. Becerril, Irving Miramontes, Jiselle Del Cid, Natzidielly Lerma, Karla Parra, Eduardo D. Ramirez, Howard West, Paloma Valenzuela, Cynthia Rodriguez, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

On principal approach to identify the mechanisms by which cancers escape from anti-cancer therapies is the analysis of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in those tumor cells that survive treatment. Thus, by studying Her-2 positive human breast tumor cells that survived anti-Her-2 based therapies (i.e., using anti-Her-2 antibody) we observed the 3-fold or greater overexpression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) mRNA. Similarly, by studying the mRNAs of tumor cell cultures resistant to chemotherapy (such as cisplatin), we found that low levels of mRNAs for DNA mismatch repair genes correlates with drug resistance. These results suggest that two possible strategies of sensitizing …

Protein Expression Analysis Of Cell Lines Derived From Drug Resistant Tumors, Paloma Valenzuela, Karla Parra, Natzidielly Lerma, Courtney Becerril, Eduardo Ramirez, Irving Miramontes, Howard West, Cynthia Rodriguez, Yang Li, Jianying Zhang, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

There are a number of effective treatments for breast cancer, including chemotherapy and targeted strategies such as the use of the Her-2 targeting drugs lapatinib and trastuzumab. However, in a number of cases, tumors that initially respond to therapy eventually develop drug resistance, leading to the relapse of the disease. By studying protein levels in different drug resistant variants, we have observed two mechanisms by which drug resistance may develop. Thus, some Her-2 human breast cancer cells (e.g., MDA-MB-231H2N) treated with the clinically used trastuzumab agent, can escape therapy by shedding, or losing, the target Her-2 protein. Similarly, EMT-6 mouse …

The Rewarding Effects Of Nicotine Are Enhanced In Diabetic Rats Given Extended Access To Intravenous Self-Administration Procedures, Julio C. Chaparro, Jesse A. Jurado, Nicole M. Kimura, Laura E. O'Dell

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Diabetic patients who use tobacco display higher mortality rates as compared to healthy individuals who also use tobacco. Despite the magnitude of the problem, it is unclear whether diabetic subjects display enhanced rewarding effects that may lead to greater vulnerability to abuse tobacco as compared to healthy controls. To address this question, a rat model was used whereby diabetes is induced via administration of streptozotocin (STZ), a drug that is toxic to insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Following diabetes induction, control or diabetic rats were given access to intravenous self-administration (IVSA) of nicotine in extended 23-hour or limited 1-hour …

Synthesis Of The Disaccharide Αgal(1,4)Βgal Related To Trypanosoma Cruzi And Its Conjugation To A Protein, Erika Y. Monroy, Igor C. Almeida, Katja Michael*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

The disaccharide αGal(1,4)βGal was synthesized by Schmidt’s trichloroacetimidate method. α-Stereoselectivity was achieved by the sterically demanding 4,6-di-tert-butyl-silylidene protecting group in the glycosyl donor. The disaccharide was equipped with an allyl group that allowed for the installation of a thiol functionality, which was used for conjugation to the maleimide-derivatized carrier protein keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH). Among other oligosaccharides with terminal a-galactosyl moieties this disaccharide could potentially exist on the cell surface of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), which is the causative agent of Chagas disease. As of today no effective vaccine has been developed for Chagas disease. The …

Dopamine Is Critical For Courtship Behavior In Drosophila Melanogaster, Arlene C. Smith, Junghwa Lim, Kyung-An Han

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Male courtship in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an innate behavior influenced by sensory input and experience. Various aspects of male courtship behavior including motivation, pleasure, motor control, learning and memory are modulated by dopamine. For instance, the flies with increased dopamine levels show enhanced courtship activity. In Drosophila, there are four known types of dopamine receptors including D1 receptor dDA1, D2 receptor dD2R, D5 receptor DAMB, and the novel dopamine ecdysone receptor DopEcR that binds both dopamine and ecdysone steroid. The aim of this study is to elucidate the role of DopEcR in male courtship behavior. To investigate …

Calcium-Binding Proteins In The Lateral Hypothalamic Area: Spatial Relations To Hypocretin/Orexin And Melanin Concentrating Hormone, Briana E. Pinales, Paola Rojas, Claire E. Wells, Arshad M. Khan

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) neurons are critical for the coordination of feeding behavior and the autonomic control of peripheral hormone release. Although many studies have employed intracranial stimulation (chemical, electrical, optogenetic) in and around the LHA to stimulate food intake and/or control autonomic activity, the chemical phenotype(s) of the neurons responsible for these physiological functions are unknown. This is due, in part, to a lack of basic information regarding the various chemical phenotypes in the LHA and their spatial relations to one another.

We have extended our initial chemoarchitectural profiling efforts of the LHA to examine the LHA distribution of …

The Structural Investigation Of An Early Gene Product Of The Avian Adenovirus Celo, Ricardo Parra, Scott Rush, Gustavo A. Avila, Susanna Chiocca, Chuan Xiao

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

After folding into their proper three-dimensional shapes, some proteins will undergo posttranslational modifications in order to fully attain their final function or change among different biologically functional forms. Sumoylation is a posttranslational modification process in which small proteins called SUMO (Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier) will modify the target proteins and alter their functions. The protein under investigation is Gam1, an early gene product of adenovirus CELO (Chicken Embryo Lethal Orphan) which not only inhibits global sumoylation of the host cell facilitating viral propagation, but is also itself sumoylated. This research aims to crystallize and determine the atomic structure of Gam1 in …

Evaluating Ceramide Analogs, 5-Lipoxygenase Expression, And Lipid Raft Biology In Breast Cancer, Jiselle Del Cid, Debarshi Roy, Atasi De Chatterjee, Karla Parra, Howard West, Guido Bocci, Cynthia Rodriguez, Siddhartha Das, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

To investigate the role of lipid rafts in the biology of breast cancer cells, we designed a human breast cancer cell line panel (using MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and HCC1419 cells) to test the anti-tumor impact of new ceramide analogs. Our aim is to use such a screening to ultimately develop a project to investigate the role of 5-lipoxygenase enzyme on the behavior of breast cancer cells, including MDA-MB231 that express 5-lipoxygenase and MCF-7 which do not, and to ask whether ceramide analogs can have an impact on this behavior.

To date, we have evaluated three ceramide analogs, termed C2, C6 and …

Characterization And Localization Of Glycinergic Neurons From The Mouse Brain Stem, Astrid M. Rodriguez, Alejandra C. Camacho, Manuel Miranda

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

The neurotransmitter glycine functions as the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain stem, cerebellum and spinal cord, where is contained in synaptic vesicles within glycinergic neurons. However the location of cell bodies, neuronal projections and connections are undefined to date. While the presence of glycine, the glycine transporters GlyT1, GlyT2 and the vesicular glycine transporter VIAAT may define a glycinergic neuron, little efforts have been made to investigate these neurons. To better identify and characterize these glycinergic neurons, we prepared primary cultures from the brain stem and the retina, using a transgenic mouse that expresses the green fluorescent protein (GFP) …

Do Roads Affect Genetic Diversity Of Lizard Populations In Southern New Mexico?, Raul F. Marin, Kevin Floyd, Elizabeth J. Walsh

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Roads can increase mortality rates, potentially decreasing population sizes. This could increase inbreeding, which will decrease genetic diversity. Decreased genetic diversity can negatively affect long-term viability of populations. We investigated how genetic population structure of the Western Whiptail lizard (Aspidocelis marmorata) is affected by an interstate highway (I-10) in Southern New Mexico. We hypothesize that animals near the road will have lower genetic diversity then individuals farther from the road. We used microsatellites to investigate patterns of genetic diversity (allelic richness and observed heterozygosity) near and away from I-10. Microsatellites are highly variable genetic markers widely used for studying the …

Purification And Characterization Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Esx-1 Secreted Protein Esat-6, Sebastian Montalvo, Gouzhong Jiang, Jianjun Sun

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Mycobacterium tuberculosis ESX-1 secreted protein ESAT-6 has been shown to contribute to the pathogenesis and virulence of M. tuberculosis. Despite many studies, little is known about how this protein interacts with the host’s membrane and evades the host’s defense mechanism. In this project, we successfully purified and characterized of ESAT-6 wild type (E6-WT) and ESAT-6 mutant with either a single (E6-S) or double (E6-D) amino acid mutation that are supposed to diminish the membrane-interacting activity of ESAT-6. The methods used in our project include: cloning in plasmid vectors, cloning in PCR products with T-Vectors, chemical transformation of E. coli, affinity …

Pcet With Bimetallic Systems, Maripaz A. Calderon, Dino Villagran

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Electron-transfer (ET) is one of the simplest chemical events, yet it is a vital process for chemical reactivity. Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) is the concerted transfer of protons and electrons which is fundamental in chemical and biological systems and processes in electrochemistry, photosynthesis, and enzymatic activity. Similarly, mixed-valence (MV) systems are pervasive in nature and provide a platform for multiple electron transfers systems in nature. While both fields have been studied extensively, little work has been done on the intersection of the two. This project explores the elegant use of MV bimetallic systems through hydrogen-bonded networks. Using standard Schlenk and …

Enhanced Rewarding Effects Of Nicotine Are Observed In Diabetic Rats As Assessed By Conditioned Place Preference Procedures, Nicole M. Kimura, Ivan D. Torres, Julio Chaparro, Laura E. O'Dell

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Previous work in our laboratory has shown that diabetic rats self-administer more nicotine compared to healthy controls, possibly because diabetic animals find nicotine more rewarding. This study further compared the rewarding effects of nicotine in diabetic and control rats using conditioned place preference (CPP) procedures. CPP examines whether animals prefer a side of the chamber where they previously received nicotine as compared to a neutral side. Diabetes was induced using streptozotocin (STZ), a drug that is toxic to insulin producing cells in the pancreas. STZ- or vehicle-treated rats (n=11-16) were tested for their initial preference for the 2 compartments of …

Synthesis Of Palmitoyl Dihydroxyacetonephosphate, Merieme Khamsi, Igor C. Almeida, Katja Michael

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

The parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) causes Chagas disease which is a big problem in Central and South America, affecting 16-18 million people annually. While there are two non-FDA approved drugs to treat acute Chagas disease, there is no treatment available for its chronic stage. The objective of this project is to synthesize the substrate for acyl dihydroxyacetonephosphate synthase (ADS). This enzyme participates in the first step of alkyl lipid synthesis which is very abundant in T. cruzi, and is a potential target for developing more efficient drugs or inhibitors to treat Chagas disease. Recently, several alkyl phospholipid derivatives …

Solar Synthesis Of Acyl Hydroquinones And Their Bioactivity., Fernando De Leon, Shizue Mito

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Without the Sun, we would not enjoy the benefits of life here on the Earth. This energy is essential and crucial for sustaining life: playing important roles in circadian rhythms and photosynthesis in plants. In our research, this endlessly renewable clean energy source is utilized for photo-Friedel-Crafts acylation of 1,4 - benzoquinones and 1,4 - naphthoquinones. Photo-Friedel-Crafts acylation was first discovered in 1891 and although there have been reported examples of acylated products, the substrates are still limited. In this project a variety of aldehydes having different substituents are examined, and bioassays were performed. While conventional methods for photochemistry use …

Development Of New Models To Study Human Her-2 Positive Breast Cancer, Howard J. West, Karla Parra, Natzidielly Lerma, Paloma Valenzuela, Eduardo Ramirez, Courtney L. Becerril, Irving Miramontes, Elizabeth Gamez, Cynthia Rodriguez, Guido Bocci, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

To study the evolution of human Her-2 positive breast cancer, we evaluated a model of three dimensional spheroid co-culture using H2N human breast cancer cells that express high amounts of Her-2 protein, with the Her-2 negative MDA-231 cells. Human HCC1419, which can form compact spheroids, were used as controls. In tissue culture plates, H2N cells were found to have a doubling rate of about 48 hours, compared to around 144 hours for MDA231. Since H2N cells were engineered to express a fluorescent protein, we could note that these cells did not immediately overgrow the non-fluorescent MDA231 cells in a mixed …

Phytochemical Intervention In Protein Misfolding Linked To Neurodegenerative Diseases, Acantha A. Abdulla, Emmanuel Zubia, Mahesh Narayan

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Protein Disulfide Isomerase (PDI) is the chief protein folding chaperone found in the rough endoplasmic reticulum. While folding maturation is accelerated in the presence of PDI, S-nitrosylated PDI, arising from reactive oxygen species stress, causes accumulation of misfolded debris. S-nitrosylated PDI has been found in the neuronal cells of victims of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Our objective is to introduce antioxidant-rich extracts from the Azadirachta Indica (Neem) leaf to protect PDI from reactive oxygen species (S-nitrosylation). We anticipate that Neem extracts can be neuroprotective and serve as a prophylactic for mitigating the incidence of reactive-oxygen species related neurodegenerative diseases. …

Ef24, A Curcumin Analogue Inhibits The Migration And Invasion Of Highly Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells, Noor Abushagur, Debarshi Roy, Atasi De Chatterjee, Siddhartha Das

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

In 2011, American Cancer Society reported that about 230,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in the US, and among them 40,000 died. This disease targets women of all ages and races, and although survival rates have increased recently, it is still a huge problem that influences the lives of millions of people. In case of non-metastatic breast cancers, patients are usually responsive to various treatments, but in patients with metastatic breast cancer the current medications are not fully effective. The goal of the current study is to evaluate the efficacy of a newly synthesized anti-cancer agent, EF-24, on metastatic …

Cholesterol Degradation Pathways As Therapeutic Targets In Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Veronica Escalante, Johnathan Abou-Fadel, Rhone A. Mendoza, Hugues Ouellet

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is an intracellular pathogen responsible for about 2 million deaths worldwide annually. During infection, Mtb faces the nutrient-deficient environment of the macrophage phagosome and switches to lipids, including cholesterol, as its main source or carbon and energy. Extensive work has been done on the cholesterol AB rings degradation, but much less is known about the degradation of the CD rings and aliphatic side-chain, which are thought to be shortened by β-oxidation reactions. In this study, we investigate the role of four fadD (fadD3, fadD17, fadD19 and fadD36) and eight fadE ( …

The Regulation Of The Glycine Transporter 1 By Phosphorylation, Alejandro A. Acuna, Qi Zhang, Vicente Castrejon, Luciana Girotto Gentil, Manuel Miranda

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

The plasma membrane glycine transporters 1 (GlyT1) is the carrier molecule responsible for the fast removal of the inhibitory neurotransmitter glycine from the synaptic cleft back into the presynaptic terminals of glycinergic neurons by an electrogenic, Na⁺-Cl^- transport couple mechanism maintained by the Na⁺,K⁺-ATPase. GlyTs belong to SLC6 family that includes other neurotransmitter transporters, such as the dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and GABA transporters. In order to determine the role of PKC-dependent phosphorylation on GlyT1, we have analyzed the effect of PKC activation by phorbol ester (PMA) on the activity, post-translational modifications and the …

Surveillance Of Mosquitoes For Arthropod-Borne Viruses In El Paso, Tx., Stephanie Coronado, Douglas Watts

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

West Nile encephalitis is the only arthropod-borne virus that causes annual cases of human illness in El Paso, Texas. Cases more commonly affect the young and elderly and the illness may range from a mild febrile disease to fatal encephalitis. The primary vector(s) of West Nile virus are Culex species mosquitoes, including Culex tarsalis and Culex quinquefaciatus. Further, surveillance is needed to determine the relative importance of these and possibly other mosquito species. More recently, cases of dengue fever and fatal hemorrhagic fever have been occurring in communities along the USA-Mexico border. Dengue has been endemic in Mexico since the …

Immediate Versus Delayed Loading Of Two Implants Supporting A Locator Retained Mandibular Overdenture. A Randomized Controlled Study., Sejal R. Thacker

Master's Theses

The aim of this study was to evaluate immediate versus delayed loading of two implants, six months post-surgery, supporting a locator retained mandibular overdenture. The objective was to evaluate implant bone remodelling using radiographic bone level changes (RBL) as the variable, from baseline to six months, between the test and the control groups. The secondary objectives included (1) evaluation of implant survival, (2) nature and frequency of surgical and prosthetic complications, and (3) correlation of implant length and insertion torque on RBL.

Eligible patients were randomized into test (immediate loading) and control group (delayed loading). Five patients were allocated to …

The Leadership Of Sustainable Cities: A Multiple-Case Study Of Two Oregon Cities, Kenneth L. Weaver

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In order for cities to become more sustainable it is necessary for the leaders of the efforts to change the organizations and governments so that they understand and embrace what it means to be more sustainable. This study examined the change processes of two Oregon Cities, Corvallis and Eugene, that had made the choice to become more sustainable as a community. The approaches that the participant leaders used demonstrated the use of different ways of thinking about the leadership of change. The ways of thinking of the community leaders were formed by their unique personal backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and abilities. …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Workshop/Support Group For Parents Raising Children With Type 1 Diabetes, Christina Marie Yazzie

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a workshop/support group for parents raising children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Diagnosis of a chronic disease in a child generally arouses acute anxiety and stress in parents. Parental stress when raising a child with type 1 diabetes is often centered on worry about their child's health and parents' ability to maintain the care activities needed by these children. Parents are the primary caregivers of children with Type 1 diabetes, and the effect of stress on parents can impact the health of both children and parents. The present …