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Snare Regulation, Deborah Adams, Dr. Dixon Woodbury

Journal of Undergraduate Research

SNARE proteins are involved in transporting molecules within our cells, but their mechanism of action is not well known (Figure 1). It is established that SNARE proteins aid in the process of vesicles docking at target membranes. When neuronal cells are excited calcium enters the cell and the docked vesicles fuse to the target membrane releasing their contents into the intercellular space called the synapse. It is not exactly known by what method calcium induces membrane fusion but it has been shown that syntaxin and synaptobrevin, or VAMP, are minimal machinery for membrane fusion (1).

Understanding The Pathway Of Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein Using Bioluminescence, Andrew Miner, Dr. Allen Judd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein (StAR) is a protein involved in the genesis of cortisol, testosterone, estrogen and other steroids. In fact, it is the rate-limiting step in the process of steroidogenesis. StAR is responsible for transporting cholesterol from the outside of the mitochondrial matrix to the inside, where it undergoes chemical processes that turn it into the steroids listed above. The body is thought to increase the amount of StAR in mitochondrial membranes when it receives certain signals in order to create more steroids. My topic involves the mechanism for this upregulation.

Volume 51, Number 8: October 09, 2013, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

State V. Marks Respondent's Brief Dckt. 39684

Idaho Supreme Court Records & Briefs, All

No abstract provided.

Visualization Of Optical Wave Propagation In Femtosecond Photoemission Electron Microscopy, Rolf Kӧnenkamp, Robert Campbell Word, Joseph Fitzgerald

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) combines in a unique way photon probing and electron imaging. The imaging electrons are generated in a photoelectric process by illuminating the sample with ultra-violet or x-ray light. After generation these electrons are accelerated and introduced into an electron-optical system to produce a microscopic image of the specimen surface. The advantages of PEEM are manifold:

The avoidance of electron beam exposure makes PEEM a much gentler method than standard electron microscopy. This advantage is important when fragile organic or biological structures are studied. PEEM is also highly surface sensitive, since the photoelectrons typically escape the sample …

Sorghum Mutant Rg Displays Antithetic Leaf Shoot Lignin Accumulation Resulting In Improved Stem Saccharification Properties, Carloalberto Petti, Anne E. Harman-Ware, Mizuki Tateno, Rekha Kushwaha, Andrew Shearer, A. Bruce Downie, Mark Crocker, Seth Debolt

Horticulture Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Improving saccharification efficiency in bioenergy crop species remains an important challenge. Here, we report the characterization of a Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) mutant, named REDforGREEN (RG), as a bioenergy feedstock.

RESULTS: It was found that RG displayed increased accumulation of lignin in leaves and depletion in the stems, antithetic to the trend observed in wild type. Consistent with these measurements, the RG leaf tissue displayed reduced saccharification efficiency whereas the stem saccharification efficiency increased relative to wild type. Reduced lignin was linked to improved saccharification in RG stems, but a chemical shift to greater S:G ratios in RG stem …

Reversible Inactivation And Desiccation Tolerance Of Silicified Viruses, James R. Laidler, Jessica A. Shugart, Sherry L. Cady, Keith S. Bahjat, Kenneth M. Stedman

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Long-distance host-independent virus dispersal is poorly understood, especially for viruses found in isolated ecosystems. To
demonstrate a possible dispersal mechanism, we show that bacteriophage T4, archaeal virus Sulfolobus spindle-shaped virus Kamchatka, and vaccinia virus are reversibly inactivated by mineralization in silica under conditions similar to volcanic hot
springs. In contrast, bacteriophage PRD1 is not silicified. Moreover, silicification provides viruses with remarkable desiccation
resistance, which could allow extensive aerial dispersal.

The Bg News October 09, 2013, Bowling Green State University

BG News (Student Newspaper)

The BGSU campus student newspaper. October 09, 2013. Volume 93-Issue 21.

Catp-6, A C. Elegans Ortholog Of Atp13a2 Park9, Positively Regulates Gem-1, An Slc16a Transporter, Eric J. Lambie, Pamela J. Tieu, Nadja Lebedeva, Diane L. Church, Barbara Conradt

Dartmouth Scholarship

In previous work, we found that gain-of-function mutations that hyperactivate GEM-1 (an SLC16A transporter protein) can bypass the requirement for GON-2 (a TRPM channel protein) during the initiation of gonadogenesis in C. elegans . Consequently, we proposed that GEM-1 might function as part of a Mg 2 + uptake pathway that functions in parallel to GON- 2. In this study, we report that CATP-6, a C. elegans ortholog of the P5B ATPase, ATP13A2 (PARK9), is necessary for gem-1 gain-of-function mutations to suppress the effects of gon-2 inactivation. One possible explanation for this observation is that GEM-1 serves to activate CATP-6, …

The Anchor, Volume 127.06: October 09, 2013, Hope College

The Anchor: 2013

The Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor's history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). In recent years The Anchor moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. The Anchor is now published in print twice per academic semester. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular.

The Effects During Embryogenesis And Tumorigenesis Of Dominant-Active Beta Catenin In Wnt Signaling, Melissa Schmidt, Dr. Jeffery Richard Barrow

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Cell communication is crucial in multiceullar organisms. Cells have therefore devised signaling pathways for intracellular communication. One of these is the Wnt signaling pathway. Wnt signaling plays an important role in cell fate decisions during embryogenesis. In the adult, Wnt signaling has been hypothesized to be essential in the maintenance of adult gut, blood, and skin tissues. Interestingly, aberrant Wnt signaling has been found to be the primary defect in all colon cancers and to be the cause of other tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Measurement Of Proton Flux Through Influenza A Viral Protein M2, J. Craig Moffat, Matthew A. D'Haenens, David D. Busath, Dr. Dixon J. Woodbury

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Influenza A viral protein M2 is known to conduct protons across viral, Golgi, and cell membranes. M2 allows acidification of the interior of the virion thus facilitating viral RNA uncoating. In the active form, M2 is a homotetramer. Each subunit consists of 97 amino acid residues with only one membrane-spanning region of 19 residues. The ion channel activity of M2 has been studied at physiological pH in cellular systems. It is also known that the channel is sensitive to the anti-influenza drug amantadine. Understanding M2 activity at pH 7 will give us greater knowledge of viral function, pharmacological sensitivities, …

Orca: Dna Repair, Clinton Morgan, Derek Mitchell

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Receiving an ORCA allowed me the time and means to learn how to do research. I personally only receive a portion of the award, so I will report what I personally have done. The most that I accomplished can be seen less in the results of my research and more in me. I have gained many wonderful skills and experiences through doing this research. These include research skills as well as working with a mentor.

Vesicle Fusion: A Size Dependant Factor? The Role Of Ultrasound In Manipulating Vesicle Size, Eric Richardson, Dr. Dixon Woodbury

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Vesicles are microscopic spherical capsules that have many important applications in both medicine and biology. They are the cell’s primary vehicles for transporting proteins and other chemicals to and from organelles. In the last half century, artificial vesicles (AVs) have been manufactured to explore many biological mechanisms. More recently, AVs have been used as a drug-delivery tool on a microscopic level. This is a promising technique to fight life-threatening diseases such as cancer.

Cytotoxicity Of Thirty-Six Moroccan Plants Against Four Cancer Cell Lines And 3t3 Cells, J. Aukai Riordan, Dr. Rex G. Cates

Journal of Undergraduate Research

It is not hard to believe that eighty percent of the populations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America rely principally on traditional medicine for their primary source of health care. However, many people do not realize that many of the best-selling pharmaceuticals in the Western world are derived directly from medicinal plants. Considering this great potential, it is unfortunate that scientists have only tested a small percent of plants for medicinal activity. At a time when pathogens are developing immunity to traditional antibiotics and when many new and terrifying ailments are cropping up across the world, there is an intense …

Inferring Demographic Events From Population Level Phylogenies, Steven Woolley, Dr. Keith Crandall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

While I initially proposed to perform a rather thorough comparison of methods designed to infer population level demographic events, during the course of my research, I took a different direction. In order to reliably infer such events, it is first essential to have an accurate phylogeny. Since there was no consensus in the literature about what method or algorithm provides the most accurate reconstruction of the evolutionary relationships of nucleotide data from a population sample, I devoted most of my efforts to a large-scale comparison of the methods commonly used to infer phylogenies from such samples.

The Final Report On The Effect Of Iodoacetate On Plasmodium Falciparum, - -

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The first part of my experiment was to find the lowest concentration of iodoacetate that would kill the parasite. First, I made a stock solution of .1 molar. From the stock solution six different dilutions were made: 10mM, .1mM, .05mM, .01mM, .005mM, and .001mM. These different dilutions were placed in 96 well plates with the parasite. Control group was also placed in the same 96 well plates. After incubating the plate for twenty-four hours, 3H-phenyalanine was incorporated. After another twenty-four hours, the plate was harvested and the amount of incorporated radioactivity was determined.

Landscape Genetics Of The Troglophilic Crayfish Cambarus Tenebrosus, James Bradley Finlay, Dr. Keith A. Crandall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

There has always been a fascination with the great diversity of species that exist on the earth. For my project I chose to investigate this diversity phenomenon by examining the intraspecific relationships between populations of the freshwater crayfish currently considered Cambarus tenebrosus (Hay, 1902) taxonomically (by morphology). This crayfish species is found continuously throughout the central lowlands of the United States (Taylor 1997). C. tenebrosus is unique among other crayfish due to its ability to thrive in a cave environment as well as surface streams and springs. By studying these organisms one can more fully understand the effects that human …

The Crayfish Identity Crisis: A Morphological And Genetic Assessment Of Biodiversity, Matthew R. Carpenter, Dr. Keith A. Crandall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Among the most endangered animal groups of North America is the freshwater crayfish. Their survival has been hindered by rapid growth in the human population, water pollution, and habitat degradation. The American Fisheries Society has estimated that 50% of freshwater crayfishes are in need of conservation measures (Taylor et al. 1996). However, only 1% is currently protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Because crayfish are at the center of invaluable research as top predators, nutrient recyclers, and bio-indicators of our water quality, it is important that conservation measures are taken.

A Systematic Classification Of Fungus Gnats (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) Of The Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (Gsenm), Utah, Mark Robert Nelson, Dr. C. Riley Nelson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Mycetophilidae (fungus gnat) is a species-rich family of flies, existing on every continent but Antarctica, which has received little documentation on a global basis and no documentation in Utah (Vockeroth, 1981). In the most recent and comprehensive catalog of flies in North America only about sixty of the thousands of fungus gnats known are predicted to be found in Utah (Laffoon, 1965). My mentor, Riley Nelson, and I believe that this figure is likely a gross underestimate that will be rectified, in part, with the conclusion of my study. Not only will my research document the known fungus gnats in …

Pioneer Lizards: Speciation In South America, Cameron R. Turner, Dr. Jack W. Sites

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Understanding the processes by which new species are formed is a primary objective of evolutionary biology. My project aimed to contribute to this understanding by measuring the genetic and geographic structure of a population of South American lizards, Liolaemus koslowskyi. Previous research (1) had provided evidence for a trend of more complex genetic structure in northern versus southern ends of distribution ranges in several lizard complexes of the genera Liolaemus and Cnemidophorus in temperate South America. L. koslowskyi is limited to the extreme northern end of the genus’ distribution and by sampling its entire range I would be able to …

An Objective Means Of Diagnosing Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia Nervosa Using 15n/14n And 13c/12c Ratios In Hair, Kent A. Hatch, Morgan A. Crawford, Amanda W. Kunz, Steven R. Thomsen, Dennis L. Eggett, Stephen T. Nelson, Beverly L. Roeder

Journal of Undergraduate Research

An objective means based on the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of five hairs per individual is presented for distinguishing between individuals with anorexia nervosa and/or bulimia nervosa from non-clinical individuals (i.e. clinically normal controls).

Development Of Software Program For Organizing Dna Sequence Data From Genbank, Heather Vernon, Dr. David Mcclellan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Nucleotide sequence data on GenBank (a government sponsored repository located on http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/) is organized in a flat file format that can be accessed by searches. Obtaining a large volume of sequences from GenBank is a tedious process because the sequence data must be extracted from the flat files for every sequence. The goal of this project was develop a java program to upload many sequences from GenBank in one file, extract the gene names to allow the user to group synonyms, and save the data into either tab-delimited or FASTA format for easy importation into other sequence manipulating programs. This …

A Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis Of The Genus Habromys (Rodentia: Muridae), Christopher Funk, Dr. Duke Roger

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Habromys (crested-tailed mice) is a rodent genus that historically has not been analyzed well enough to be accurately classified. Before 1980, Habromys had been relegated as a subgenus of Peromyscus (deer mice), a closely related genus. As a subgenus, Habromys consisted of only three arboreal species living in the cloud forests of Southern Mexico and Central America (P. simulatus, P. lophurus, and P. lepturus – Hooper and Musser, 1964; Hall, 1981; Musser, 1969). Despite the distinct morphological features of Habromys, it remained as a subgenus due to small sample size and limited morphological analysis. Upon more closely examining its morphology, …

Functional Comparisons Of Lta And Tnf-A Gene Protein, Raymond Gram Ii, Dr. David Mcclellan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

TNF-a is a cytokine released by activated macrophages and lymphotoxin alpha (LTA) is a cytokine released by activated lymphocytes. Both proteins act as modulators of the immune response and competitively bind to the same protein receptors TNFR-1 and TNFR-2. The protein sequences themselves are 35% identical and 50% homologous to one another.

The Effects Of Stage Of Reproduction On Survival Of The Livebearing, Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia Affinis), Jacob Michael Condon, Dr. Mark C. Belk

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Reproduction is costly not only in terms of energy allocated to form embryos (allocation costs), but also because of a potential decrease in the probability of survival of the female as a result of reproduction (viability costs).

The Cftr Protein: Evolution And Disease, Adam Allred, Dr. David Mcclellan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The principal aim of my research has been to aid in the understanding of complex molecular pathologies by identifying evolutionary patterns that maintain the structural and functional integrity of a particular protein product. A disease phenotype often results when such delicate patterns are disturbed. The Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR), an epithelial chloride channel, has proven to be an especially worthy vehicle for understanding the link between molecular evolution and human disease. Aberrant functioning of this physiologically important channel results in cystic fibrosis, the most common lethal genetic disorder among European-derived populations.

The Effect Of Celecoxib On 17-Estradiol (E2) Treated Mcf-7 Cells Using The Enzyme Linked Immunoabsorbent Assay (Elisa), Jason Kinyon

Journal of Undergraduate Research

There has been evidence that shows inhibiting Cyclo-oxygense 2 (COX-2) enzymes may decrease angiogenic factors such as Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), which may prove beneficial in halting angiogenesis and metastasis, stopping cancer progression. It has been shown that there is a significant positive correlation between COX-2 and VEGF mRNA expression in breast cancer specimens. 17b-Estradiol (E2) has shown to increase VEGF production by binding to estrogen receptor positive breast cancer cell lines such as MCF-7. The COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib can be added to E2 treated MCF-7 cells to determine its effect on VEGF production using the Enzyme Linked Immunoabsorbent …

The Effects Of A Restoration Project On The Feeding Habits Of Local Trout Populations In The Provo River System, Lance Bastian, Dr. Dennis Shiozawa

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the fall of 1999, the state of Utah began to implement a plan involving several diversions of the Provo River. Over the course of the next several years, there arose a heated debate between the state, local ecologists and local fisherman with regard to the trout populations that inhabit the river. The fishermen claimed to be pulling out overly skinny fish, and the restoration project was blamed. Many claimed that debris from the project had washed down the river and settled on the feeding areas of the local species of insects and gastropods. As a result, these primary prey …

The Effect Of P53 And Resveratrol On Cell Growth And Repair, Meredith Bergin, Dr. Kim L. O'Neill

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Macrophage migration inhibition factor (MIF) induces many positive immune activities, but it has been implicated in causing cancer, specifically through its inhibition of p53, a tumor suppressing protein. It has been suggested that resveratrol, a grape seed extract, activates p53, thus suppressing tumors by inducing apoptosis.