Digital Commons Network^™

Redox Potential Tuning By Mixed-Ligand Quadruply Bonded Dimolybdenum Compounds, Nathalie Valdez, Dino Villagran

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Oxidation-reduction reactions are crucial in chemistry. They are vital for biochemical reactions such as cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Redox reactions are also important in industrial processes, such as the reduction of ores to obtain metals and to produce electrochemical cells. While this field of chemistry has been studied extensively, this project attempts to get a better understanding of electron donor properties of basic ligands attached to bimetallic units. The more basic a ligand is, the better its electron donor properties are which allows us to stabilize higher oxidations states. Guanidine ligands have been found to be able to stabilize higher …

Development Of A New Protecting Group For N-Acetylneuraminic Acid In Glycopeptide Synthesis, Luis A. Barrera, Katja Michael

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

N-acetylneuraminc acid (Neu5Ac) is contained in a tumor-associated antigen called STn, which is expressed in form of glycoproteins on the cell surface of many carcinomas. Synthesized partial sequences (glycopeptides) of these cell surface glycoproteins could potentially be used as anticancer vaccines, or for the production of antibodies which could be useful for immunotherapy. STn-containing glycopeptides are sensitive to acid and base catalyzed decomposition, which makes their chemical synthesis quite challenging. If this research is successful, we may be able to contribute to the advancement of cancer research by making sensitive STn-containing glycopeptides more accessible through chemical synthesis.

My current project …

Research And Development Of An Expert System In Idea Generation Methods To Aid In The Engineering Design Process, Rodrigo Enriquez, Noe Vargas-Hernandez

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

The objective of this research is to develop an Expert System (i.e. software) to aid designers in selecting appropriate idea generation methods for their specific design situation. This expert system would help designers generate creative ideas more frequently, and hence better designs and better products for society. The first step is to understand the creative design process in detail; this involves the engineering design process, cognitive processes, and other related elements. This understanding is represented initially as a conceptual model. Following an Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach, this model is then developed into a Logical model that defines entities, attributes, and …

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 …

Real Time Stereo Vision Using Dynamic Programming On A Graphics Processing Unit (Gpu), Janet Marie Mendoza, Rodrigo Antonio Romero, Olac Fuentes

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Stereo vision is an important research topic in computer vision. It attempts to emulate the human vision system by using two or more images of the same scene to estimate depth information in three dimensions. The development of this topic is of much importance to many applications that vary from medical to entertainment. Currently, many researchers are searching for a method that will increase the speed of the process and still obtain high-quality results. Dynamic programming, which is a method for solving complex problems by breaking them down into simpler sub problems, has been successfully applied in stereo vision. We …

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 …

Power Tac 2012: Agent Technologies For The Smart Grid, Carlos E. Montijo, Daniel H. Grajeda, Christopher Kiekintveld

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Intelligent agents are a critical technology in managing the increasingly complex and decentralized energy systems that are evolving. These technologies, often called the "smart grid," have the potential to improve the efficiency and reliability of future energy markets. This project focuses on developing a trading agent to compete in the 2012 Power TAC game, a new scenario this year that is part of the annual Trading Agent Competition. Modeling a liberalized retail electrical energy market, Power TAC is a simulation in which competing trading agents or brokers offer energy services to customers via tariff contracts. The brokers must also serve …

Synthesis Of Metal Organic Framework Composites For Improved Porosity, Jesse Murillo, Venkata P. Neti, Luis Echegoyen*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

The synthesis of new highly porous composite materials, by combining Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and graphene derivatives is described. The porosity of these composite materials is confirmed by pore volume, nitrogen uptake, BET and Langmuir surface area calculations. Structural information for the composites is accomplished through powder x-ray diffraction measurements, thermal gravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. MOF-210, reported by Yaghi et al. in 2010, was chosen for composition with a graphene oxide composite due to its record holding pore size and internal surface area. The synthetic route to creation of precursors for MOF-210, as well as MOF-210 synthesis, is …

Real Time Face Hallucination For Recognition, Alexander Knaust, Olac Fuentes

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Low resolution video and images are a common hindrance in recognition of people or enjoyment of a communication service, but are often necessary due to high hardware costs or low bandwidth availability. In particular, surveillance images of faces are commonly of too low a resolution to recognize reliably, hampering their purpose. Face Hallucination consists of Super-Resolution techniques to enhance the images of faces beyond what can be achieved by standard interpolation techniques. Unfortunately, the facial hallucination algorithms in present literature are slow, taking up to an hour with modestly sized images. We propose optimizations of the Eigentransform Super Resolution algorithm …

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 …

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, Laiwu Chen, Agustin Molina Ontoria, Luis A. Echegoyen

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a low-cost device for converting solar energy and possesses a large-area, flexible, colorful and lightweight devices. It is based on a semiconductor (TiO₂) deposited on a layer of conductive ITO glass. The dye is placed over this semiconductor film, in contact with an electrolyte in order to close the circuit .

The crucial requirements for dye-sensitized solar cells are: (a) wide absorption spectrum; (b) the right anchor to the TiO₂, for instance -COOH; (c) match the energy of the LUMO level of the photosensitizer with the Fermi level of the …

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 …

Low Power Sigma Delta Converter, Noel P. Martinez, Praveen K. Palakurthi, Eric Macdonald

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Sub threshold technology allows for circuits to run at their best efficiency with the lowest amount of energy possible. The aim of this research was to combine this technology along with radiation hardness, or the ability for circuits to resist radiation without getting corrupted data. A chip that can convert digital data into analog data (DAC) was created and programmed using verilog, a Hardware Description Language (HDL). With verilog, we created digital data that would eventually be fed into the chip using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) board. We tested our digital data using a test bench on the computer …

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 …

Characterization Of Subthreshold Delta-Sigma Dac And Level Converters For Energy Efficient Systems, Jorge D. Martinez-Garcia, Parveen K. Palakurthi, Eric Macdonald

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Almost every activity in modern life is becoming integrated to an electronic device. These applications require developing energy efficient, faster, and smaller devices. Lowering supply voltages has been an effective strategy to dramatically increase energy efficiency in electronics. Subthreshold circuits run at unconventionally low voltages that can deliver the minimum energy per computation, but limit the performance. During 2011 Dr. Eric MacDonald and his team in collaboration with the Naval Research Laboratories in San Diego, fabricated the UTEP DACs Test Boards v. 1.0. This board includes a MOSIS chip designed at UTEP’s ASIC lab by Dr. MacDonald’s team. The chip …

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 …

Study Of Multielectron Redox Chemistry Through Multiple Bonded Bimetallic Species Of The Type M2-L-M, Nancy Rodríguez, Dino Villagrán

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Multielectron redox chemistry is fundamental for the activation of small molecules, such as H₂O, N₂ and CO₂. Currently, these multielectron redox processes are not well understood and are presently the subject of active research throughout the world due to the evident energy and environmental implications of these small molecules. The goal of this project is the study of multielectron redox chemistry on compounds of the type M₂-L-M. We want to manipulate the reactivity of a M (M=Zn, Co, Ni, Rh, Ir) redox center by a quadruply bonded Mo₂ dimolybdenum core through a …

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 …

Seismic Tomography And Smoothing Filters, Mathew Guevara, Olac Fuentes

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Seismic Tomography and Smoothing Filters Seismic Tomography is a technique used by geologists to map the Earth's crust. Seismic Tomography is an iterative process that develops a model based on travel times of waves from explosion sites to sensors. First, travel times are gathered by using shot points and sensors. Then an optimization process begins with an initial simple model (velocity increasing monotonically with depth), is used to predict the travel times. These predictions are compared to the observed travel times, and the model is refined so that it can better match the observed data until a satisfactory solution is …

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 ( …