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Effects Of Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor P75 On Tumor Burden In A Mouse Model Of Colorectal Cancer, Yvone Shametaj

Senior Theses

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha, an immune cytokine, has demonstrated a significant role in inflammation, which causes cancer over time. However, the effects of TNF-alpha on tumor growth are relatively unknown. Its effects are mediated via TNF receptors p55 and p75, which are expressed in different cells in the body and have slight structural differences. Studies have shown that TNFR-p55 has pro-apoptotic effects, whereas TNFR-p75 transmits survival signals. However, there is limited research available on TNF receptors and colorectal cancer.

This project focuses specifically on TNFR2, or TNFR-p75, and attempts to establish whether TNFR2 inhibition in mice with colitis-induced colorectal cancer promotes …

Tumor-Associated Macrophages In Multiple Myeloma: Advances In Biology And Therapy, Jennifer Sun, Chaelee Park, Nicole Guenthner, Shannon Gurley, Luna Zhang, Berit Lubben, Ola Adebayo, Hannah Bash, Yixuan Chen, Mina Maksimos, Barbara Muz, Abdel Kareem Azab

Open Access Publications

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow (BM) and represents the second most common hematological malignancy in the world. The MM tumor microenvironment (TME) within the BM niche consists of a wide range of elements which play important roles in supporting MM disease progression, survival, proliferation, angiogenesis, as well as drug resistance. Together, the TME fosters an immunosuppressive environment in which immune recognition and response are repressed. Macrophages are a central player in the immune system with diverse functions, and it has been long established that macrophages play a critical role in both inducing …

Socio-Economic Factors Of Environmental Problems, Manzura Kamalova, D. Shakenov

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

People consciously and intensively rebuild their nature according to their own needs, creating rural and urban areas in which they live. People care about the quality of life in the context of the unity of nature and culture. Social is a relatively new discipline that deals with urban space and environmental issues. One way to imagine what is beneficial to people is to find out what is economically best for the person. The article examines the economic factors that form the attitude towards social ecology in Kazakhstan. The article concludes that society should cooperate to achieve common things, both for …

Spare And Found Parts, Giselle Davis

Children's Book and Media Review

Nell Crane has never quite fit in. Her parents were geniuses, creating bio-mechanical body parts that save people's lives, and she needs to live up to their reputation. With time growing short before she must offer a contribution to society, the weight of expectation is heavy on her shoulders. Add to that the growing distance of her one friend Ruby and the persistent attention of Oliver Kelly, the most annoying boy in the world, and Nell is finding it difficult to act like everything is okay. However, inspiration strikes when she discovers Oliver is salvaging old models of her father's …

Research On Characteristics, Development Trend And Funding Countermeasures Of Biology, Jie Chen, Jing Qu, Zhiyong Lou, Bing Zhu, Le Kang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Strengthening the research in biology aimed at national strategic needs and major scientific frontier issues is conducive to giving full play to the strategic supporting role of biological research for national economic development and the promotion of international competitiveness. This article combs the basic characteristics and development trend of biology, summarizes the practical experience of international biological research funding, and analyzes the outstanding problems in biological research in China, such as incomplete layout, lack of sustainable and stable support, and insufficient funding for top talents and teams. By referring to the international practical experience, it puts forward policy suggestions to …

Bacteriophage That Infect Gordonia Species Show Varying Host Specificity And Infection, Lindsay Birge

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Bacteriophage (phage) are an incredibly abundant species of virus that infect bacteria. One major characteristic of phage is their small host range- many phage are known to infect only one or a few hosts. This phage and host relationship has led to phage therapy recently becoming highlighted as a possible alternative to traditional antibiotics in light of the growing antibiotic resistance crisis. The study of phage host specificity has risen in line with this concept, as a phage with a more extensive host range can provide more opportunities for use as an antibiotic. Samples of phage previously isolated on a …

Of Vascular Defense, Hemostasis, Cancer, And Platelet Biology: An Evolutionary Perspective, David G Menter, Vahid Afshar-Kharghan, John Paul Shen, Stephanie L Martch, Anirban Maitra, Scott Kopetz, Kenneth V Honn, Anil K Sood

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We have established considerable expertise in studying the role of platelets in cancer biology. From this expertise, we were keen to recognize the numerous venous-, arterial-, microvascular-, and macrovascular thrombotic events and immunologic disorders are caused by severe, acute-respiratory-syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. With this offering, we explore the evolutionary connections that place platelets at the center of hemostasis, immunity, and adaptive phylogeny. Coevolutionary changes have also occurred in vertebrate viruses and their vertebrate hosts that reflect their respective evolutionary interactions. As mammals adapted from aquatic to terrestrial life and the heavy blood loss associated with placentalization-based live birth, platelets …

An Exploration Of Trex1 Variants Of Uncertain Significance And Their Potential Impact On Autoimmunity In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus And Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome, Jordan Peters

JSU Student Symposium 2022

TREX1 is a gene responsible for encoding a 3'-to-5' DNA exonuclease in human cells. Under normal conditions TREX1 removes bases from the free 3' end to enhance DNA damage and prevent DNA end reannealing and rapid repair. Mutations in TREX1, which result in the absence of the 3'-to-5' DNA exonuclease and the intracellular accumulation of unneeded DNA and RNA, have been shown to trigger immune dysfunction leading to diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Aicardi-Goutières Syndrome (AGS). The goal of this study is to determine the potential impact of a TREX1 missense mutation with uncertain clinical significance (VUS). …

Effects Of Specific Blocking Buffers On Histone H2b Antibodies, Noha Al-Saadi, Grace Mix, Mardasia Thompson, Elin Zaman

JSU Student Symposium 2022

Mammalian histones have been known to be one of the most highly alkaline proteins found in the nuclei. Their main function is to organize DNA into chromosomes and regulate transcription. An example of a histone would be Histone H2B, which this project focuses heavily on. Histone H2B has been seen to bind poorly to antibodies and result in a weak signal. The goal of this project is to test a multitude of blocking buffers, in triplicate, in order to find a blocking buffer that can obtain the strongest signal from the antibodies being tested. Through the use of protein gel …

Antioxidant Content In Plant-Based Diets Versus Meat-Based Diets, Lia Meadows, Peeper Walker, Reveca Tomas

JSU Student Symposium 2022

The result of naturally occurring free radicals in the body are oxidative-stress-related damages to cells, tissues, and biomolecules. Oxidative stress occurs when the balance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) outnumbers antioxidants, producing negative effects. Antioxidants exist as a natural defense mechanism utilized by the body. This defense exists in two distinct forms: enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. Non-enzymatic antioxidants consist of vitamins and bioactive compounds, such as phenols. In previous studies, plant-based diets showed promising results in reducing damage caused by oxidative-stress. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which antioxidant concentration differs between meat-based diet and …

Genetic Assessment Of Congenital Stationary Night Blindness-Associated Trpm1 Variants Of Uncertain Significance In C. Elegans, Sara Morris

JSU Student Symposium 2022

Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is a disorder of the eye that impacts the ability to see in low to no light conditions. It occurs in horses and humans. TRPM1 encodes for a member of the transient receptor potential melastatin subfamily of transient receptor potential ion channels. Mutations in TRPM1 have been identified by previous researchers in horses with leopard complex pattern (LCP) suffering also from CSNB. Phenotypic changes in these horses are a loss of spotted coat pattern. An attempt was made to locate variants of uncertain significance (VUS) in TRPM1 that had been previously identified in horses with …

Using Ecological Niche Modeling To Predict The Response Of Hydrocotyle Bonariensis To Global Climate Change, Rachel Bonner, Laura K. Dease, Elizabeth A. Hughston

JSU Student Symposium 2022

Coastal dune habitats provide valuable ecosystem services but are declining globally due to the interacting effects of multiple stressors, including global climate change (GCC). To explore the potential severity of the effects of GCC on dune plant communities of the Northern Gulf of Mexico and surrounding areas, we modeled the fundamental bioclimatic niche of a dune plant species, largeleaf pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis Comm. ex Lam.), in this region. We then projected its niche to estimate habitat suitability under current and future environmental conditions. Occurrence records were mined from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, cleaned, then thinned by spatial filtering, …

Characterization Of Anti-Microbial Properties Of Excrement And Functional Microbiome Of New World Vultures In Alabama, Bridgette Gray

JSU Student Symposium 2022

Two distinct species of New World vultures are native to North America and inhabit Alabama, black vultures (Coragyps atratus) and turkey vultures (Cathartes aura). They are scavengers that consume decaying carcasses or carrion, which helps reduce the spread of disease. Vultures are susceptible to declining population numbers as they have been trapped and killed due to the belief that they spread disease, additionally contact with poisons and habitat destruction have also led to their decline. Currently, these two vultures are one of the seven vulture species with least concern and stable in Alabama and the world. However, it is important …

Diving Into The Unknown: A Genetic Investigation Of Type-2 Diabetes-Associated Insr Variants Of Uncertain Significance, Trinity Elston

JSU Student Symposium 2022

Type 2 diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder with interactions between genetic and environmental factors, making it more complicated to understand the clinical implications of identified genetic variants and disease pathology. Many of the diabetes-associated variants are currently classified as VUS and occur within the genes involved in insulin signaling and regulation, so we turned our focus on the human INSR gene. INSR encodes the insulin receptor protein that plays a major role in insulin signaling. Furthermore, C. elegans provides a simple model system to examine the functional consequences of these diabetes-associated VUS. We examined INSR diabetes-associated VUS through the …

Applications Of Data Science In Biological Science Dsp 569, Harrison Dekker

Collection Development Reports and Documents

No abstract provided.

The University Is Part Of The Family, J. B. Clark

University of Mississippi News

Four Goulet siblings and two parents spend time together at Ole Miss

Introduction To Epigenetics, Yevgeniy Grigoryev

Open Educational Resources

Syllabus for Bio481 Introduction to Epigenetics

Vgrg Gene As A Virulence Factor In Burkholeria Cepacia, Lexie Matte

Student Presentations

Burkholderia cepacia is a gram-negative bacterium responsible for causing onion soft rot disease and has been identified as an infectious agent in people with cystic fibrosis. As this bacterium is naturally antibiotic resistant, it is important to understand the virulence factors that contribute to this bacterium’s pathogenicity. Through the use of transposon mutagenesis and bioinformatics, the vgrG gene was identified as a possible virulence factor for B. cepacia ATCC 25416. This gene encodes the tip protein of the Type Six Secretion System (T6SS), a complex structure found in many species of bacteria. In other organisms, this syringe-like system allows a …

Dna Barcoding For Molecular Prospecting Of Platyhelminthes, Logan Elkin, Will Butak

Student Presentations

DNA barcoding (Folmer et al. 1994), is an efficient method to distinguish species by short specific DNA sequences from a common region of their genome, such as the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) gene. The early primers of Folmer et al. (1994) were not as universal as desired (Elias et al. 2007). Platyhelminthes (flatworms), being the fourth most speciose animal phylum, is a taxonomic group where universal barcoding primers are not very effective (Vanhove, et al. 2013). Recently, Van Steenkiste et al. (2014) and Elbrecht and Leese (2017) developed primers for parasitic and free-living flatworms that show promise as …

Genetic Analysis Of Planarian Protonephridia Using Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization And Tunel, Liz Maastricht

Student Presentations

Polycystic Kidney Disease is one of the most common inherited genetic conditions and is often caused by dysfunction of cellular appendages called cilia. My project aims to better understand the requirement for cilia in the excretory system using planarians as a model system. Based on past experiments, we hypothesize that cilia may be important in regulating downstream pathways such as the Hippo signaling pathway. I have performed gene knockdown experiments as well as imaging techniques, such as Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization and TUNEL. These were used to test the genetic interactions between Hippo signaling components and genes required for cilia …

Bioacoustics And Regional Differences Of Florida Scrub-Jay Rattle Calls, Rose Capek

Student Presentations

Florida Scrub Jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) are endemic to Florida and use weep, scold, or growl calls to communicate. However, most female corvids produce a rattle call when alarmed that the males do not. Regional calls are common in general vocalization patterns, but have not been particularly well described in rattles outside of the Florida Scrub Jays. Due to the different dialects, birds from one region do not recognize the foreign rattle as the same species. In this project, digital recordings of bird vocalizations from different populations in Florida were accessed from the Macaulay Library and analyzed in Raven, bioacoustic analysis …

Interspecies Tissue Transplants In Planarians, Maddie Thorstad

Student Presentations

Planarian flatworms have many stem cells called neoblasts which makes them adept at regenerating tissue after injury. This project aims to determine if neoblasts from two different species of planarians—Schmidtea mediterranea and Dugesia japonica—can integrate into the regenerated tissue of the other species. This is done by transplantation of a donor tissue plug from one species into a host planarian of the opposite species. After the host planarian is injured, neoblasts travel to the site of injury and begin regeneration of tissue. We have worked to optimize the transplantation procedure to visually obtain a 75% success rate. Simultaneously, we have …

Chemical Ablation Of Stem Cells, Renata Foerstel

Student Presentations

Planarians are an amazing model system for studying regeneration due to their large population of stem cells. A critical technique in studying stem cell dynamics is to eliminate stem cells through exposure to gamma or X-ray radiation. These techniques require expensive equipment. The goal of this project was to develop a cheap alternative to kill stem cells by using the cell cycle inhibitor hydroxyurea.

Functional Analysis Of Protonephridia Genes Identified By Drop-Seq, Andrew Gaetano

Student Presentations

Schmidtea mediterranea, the freshwater planarian, possesses protonephridia, which are an organized network of branched tubules that function in waste filtration and water regulation. On a cellular and molecular level, these structures show considerable homology to the human kidney making planarians a useful model system for exploring human excretory biology and disease (Scimone, 2011 and Vu, 2015). Additionally, the planarian genome contains many flatworm-specific protonephridia genes essential for survival, making them potential drug targets for parasitic worm infections of humans. We set out to validate the expression of protonephridia genes identified by Drop-seq, a single-cell RNA sequencing technique that identified the …

Exploring The Effects Of Β-N-Methylamino-L-Alanine On Schmidtea Mediterranea’S Glun1/Glun2a Nmda Receptor Subunits., Frida Chavez

Student Presentations

β-N-methylamino-L-alanine, also known as BMAA, is a neurotoxin produced by several species of cyanobacteria and eukaryotic microorganisms such as diatoms and dinoflagellates. BMAA has been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia. Being that it biomagnifies through the food chain, accumulation occurs in its symbionts like cycad seeds and seafood, and eventually gets ingested by humans causing possible neuronal consequences. There is evidence that BMAA agonizes N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, a family of L-glutamate receptors that play a critical role in learning and memory, inducing excitotoxicity against neurons. However, exactly how it causes death of motor neurons …

Analysis Of The Zebra Finch Gut Microbiota, Cole Hanke

Student Presentations

The purpose of this study is to analyze the gut microbiota of the zebra finch. The fecal samples of both male and female birds were collected from two separate populations. The bacteria were then incubated and isolated in order to amplify and sequence their 16s rRNA. The analysis of the 16s rRNA in a bacterial database showed the presence of a variety of species from the bacillus, staphylococcus, and citrobacter genera.

Genetic Analysis Of Elephant Species In Guinea Conakry, Olivia Bruni, Olivia Groenewold

Student Presentations

In the aim of conservation, this project studied the elephant population in the transitional zone of Guinea Conakry to determine whether the individuals in the population are African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana), or a hybridized species. In the transitional zone, the elephants live under low surveillance and security, making them vulnerable to poaching. In this study, we collected genetic data from the elephants of Guinea Conakry to better understand their taxonomic affinity and added to a larger genetic database that has been developed to locate the origin of ivory seized from poachers to better direct …

Characterization Of Thig Gene In B. Cepacia As A Thiazole Synthase, Olivia Peplinski

Student Presentations

Burkholderia cepacia is a gram-negative bacterium found in water and soil that is known to cause infection in plants and humans. Limited treatments are available for this bacteria due to widespread antibiotic resistance and a lack of knowledge of the mechanisms of virulence used by B. cepacia. This work seeks to identify virulence factors needed for pathogenesis. Transposon mutagenesis in B. cepacia ATCC 25416 was used to generate mutants that were screened for defects in pathogenesis in an onion infection model and mutant 370 was selected for further studies. Recent data from the model demonstrate that the mutant produced smaller …

Antimicrobial Effects Of Compounds Used In Cleaning Wipes, Emma O'Neill, Will Butak, Audrey Makope, Morgan Gauthier

Student Presentations

The antimicrobial effectiveness and level of biofilm inhibition of three compounds from Rockline Industries were tested, along with five compounds made by the St. Norbert College Organic Chemistry Department. The Rockline compounds, ColaLipid (CL), Sodium Benzoate (NaB) and Benzoic Acid (BA), were solubilized in 10% DMSO and tested at concentrations of 0.15%, 0.10%, and 0.01%. To ensure that any growth effects were due to the compounds in question, DMSO was also tested for antimicrobial activity. The compounds were tested against safe relative of eight bacteria of clinical importance (Acinetobacter baylyi, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus raffinosus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas fluorescens, …

Characterization Of Rfbb As A Virulence-Associated Gene In B. Cepacia, Jack Klahr

Student Presentations

Burkholderia cepacia is a gram-negative bacterium that is a known pathogen of plants and humans. B. cepacia was first described as the causative agent of sour skin rot in onion crops and has more recently been recognized as an opportunistic pathogen in cystic fibrosis patients where it is able to colonize the airway and cause rapid pulmonary decline. There are limited treatments available for this bacterium due to its innate resistance to antibiotics, and the mechanisms of virulence used by B. cepacia in different contexts are not well understood. This work aims to identify and describe virulence factors necessary for …