Biochemistry Commons^™

The Role Of External Factors In Shaping Carbohydrate Conformational Landscapes, Murat Yaman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Carbohydrates (glycans) are among the most structurally diverse biomolecules and participate in a wide range of biological processes, including molecular recognition, cell adhesion, immune response, host-pathogen interactions, and cellular signaling. Their biological functions are governed by a complex interplay between sequence, stereochemistry, conformational flexibility, and environmental factors. However, the structural heterogeneity and dynamic nature of glycans present significant challenges for both experimental characterization and theoretical modeling. In particular, the relationships between glycan structure, conformational dynamics, and the resulting potential energy surfaces remain incomplete.

This dissertation investigates how external factors modulate the potential energy surfaces of carbohydrates through a combination of …

Waste Streams From Next Generation Molten Salt Reactors: The Challenge Of Creating An Insoluble Ceramic For Chloride Salt Waste, Alevtina A. Maksimova, Jake W. Amoroso, Matthew Page, Gregory Morrison, Hans Conrad Zur Loye

Faculty Publications

Molten salt reactors (MSRs) design development is of interest to many research groups and companies. Waste management for MSRs is one of the most important issues that needs to be resolved due to its impact on environmental safety, primarily via the dissolution of radionuclides in water. Furthermore, the waste treatment strategy will have a significant influence on the operating cost of MSRs, which is why a reliable process for the immobilization, transportation, storage and disposal of MSR waste must be addressed. This work presents a new approach for the immobilization of chloride salts from molten salt reactors in stable oxyhalide …

Synthesis, Utilization And Biological Evaluation Of Β-Hairpin Peptides As Inhibitors Of Immune Checkpoints, Sarah Naylon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Peptide therapeutics have emerged as promising alternatives to monoclonal antibodies because of their smaller size, improved tissue penetration, and synthetic versatility. Yet their broader application is often limited by poor structural stability, rapid clearance, and reduced target residence times. This dissertation describes the design, synthesis, structural characterization, and biological evaluation of β-hairpin peptides as inhibitors of immune checkpoints and as peptide vaccine scaffolds while developing strategies to overcome these limitations. At first a series of antibody-derived β-hairpin peptides (mimics of complementary determining region heavy-chain 3: CDR-H3s) as covalent inhibitors of the PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint were investigated. Electrophilic warheads were incorporated …

Crystal Structure Of New Polar Rare Earth Borates Na2.62Ln2.12(Bo3)3 (Ln = Pr, Nd, Sm) Containing Isolated Bo3 Groups, Alevtina A. Maksimova, Mark D. Smith, Hans Conrad Zur Loye

Faculty Publications

Three new rare earth borates, Na2.62Ln2.12(BO3)3 (Ln = Pr, Nd, Sm), were synthesized via a high-temperature solution reaction using a BaCO3–H3BO3–NaF flux and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The compounds crystallize in the orthorhombic space group Amm2 with lattice parameters a = 5.0985(10) Å, b = 11.180(2) Å, c = 7.1483(14) Å, and a unit cell volume of 407.48(14) ų (Z = 2) for Na2.62Pr2.12(BO3)3, a = 5.0983(10) Å, b = 11.181(2) Å, c = 7.1491(14) Å, and a unit cell volume of 407.51(14) ų (Z = 2) for Na2.62Nd2.12(BO3)3, and a = 5.08630(10) Å, b …

Single Crystal Growth Of The Orthoborate Nabalu(Bo3)2 And Optical Investigation Of Eu3+ And Tb3+ Doped Nabalu(Bo3)2, Alevtina A. Maksimova, Mark D. Smith, Lakshani W. Masachchi, Hans Conrad Zur Loye

Faculty Publications

Sodium barium lutetium borate NaBaLu(BO₃)₂ crystals were synthesized using a high-temperature solution method. The crystal structure of this layered orthoborate is described and corresponds to that of an extensive orthoborates family, NaBaR(BO₃)₂ (R = Sc, Y, Yb, Tb – Lu). NaBaLu(BO₃)₂ was doped by Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ to explore its performance as a host material and to investigate the luminescent properties of the Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ doped materials. The emission spectra of the NaBaLu(BO₃)₂:Ln (Ln = Eu, Tb) crystals are presented. The most …

Fish Tissue Digestion And Microplastic Polymer Identification Protocol Using Open-Source Ftir Database, Shawn L. Kissinger, Vick-Ariel Privert, Jason Bystriansky, Kyle A. Grice

DePaul Discoveries

Microplastic (MP) contamination in aquatic ecosystems poses significant concerns for environmental and public health, as seafood represents a critical food source worldwide. Despite increasing evidence of MP presence in marine organisms, efficient and accessible detection methods remain essential for characterizing contamination patterns and informing regulatory frameworks. This study extracted MPs from brain, gill, intestine, liver, and muscle tissues of gilt-head bream (Sparus aurata) and European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), two commercially important species from the Gulf of Cádiz, Spain, using a NaOH–HNO₃ chemical digestion protocol. Isolated particles were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, with …

Recent Advances In Phosphatidylinositol Phosphate Kinases (Pipks) And Their Inhibitors, Mengxia Sun, Jian Hu, Xuefei Huang

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinases (PIPKs) are an important class of enzymes in humans, which produce lipid signaling molecules playing central roles in pathogenesis of diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and viral infection. Consequently, they are attracting increasing attention as drug targets for disease treatment. This review summarizes the functions of the PIPK family enzymes and highlights recent efforts on designing novel inhibitors against PIPKs. These advances are extensively discussed to stimulate interest in this field and promote further development of highly potent and selective inhibitors for innovative therapeutic applications.

Main-Chain Ion-Pair Polybenzimidazole Membranes Enabling Reduced-Temperature Ht-Pemfc Operation (Down To 120°C), Brian C. Benicewicz, Huina Lin

Faculty Publications

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are promising for clean and efficient energy conversion across diverse applications. High-temperature PEM fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) using phosphoric acid (PA)-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) can operate up to 200°C, but at lower temperatures, water-induced PA loss often leads to performance degradation and reduced durability. In this work, we present a new class of main-chain ion-pair PBI membranes by integrating the imidazolium-biphosphate ion-pair units directly into the PBI backbone. This design results in membranes with high acid content, stronger acid-polymer interactions and stabilized acid retention. In single-cell tests, the Im+-PBI15-3 wt.% exhibits peak power densities of 0.79 …

Allosteric And Uncompetitive Inhibition Of Yeast Alcohol Dehydrogenase Identified By Enzyme Kinetics, Dylan Jeremy Harrison, Jenny A. Cappuccio

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

Enzyme kinetics is a powerful technique used to quantify the rate at which an enzyme converts a substrate into a product and to identify potential inhibitors. In this study, kinetic analysis was employed to assess the activity of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (YADH) in the presence and absence of sweeteners commonly found in alcoholic beverages. YADH catalyzes the oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde using NAD⁺ as a cofactor; the reduction to NADH can be monitored spectrophotometrically at 340 nm. Based on structural similarities to the ribose moiety of NAD⁺, it was hypothesized that sucrose and sucralose could directly interact with the …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Organometallic Polymers And Their Cytotoxicity Towards Human Cancer Cell Lines, Paul Peter Slawek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research aimed to synthesize organometallic polymers from dialkyl (methyl, ethyl, butyl, cyclohexyl, and octyl) and diaryl (phenyl) tin dichlorides and three organic monomers, dipicolinic acid (DPA), chloramphenicol (CH), and isomannide (IS), using interfacial polymerization. Structure-activity relationships were investigated through physicochemical characterization (light-scattering photometry, proton NMR, and IR spectroscopy) and cytotoxicity was evaluated against six human cancer cell lines (AsPC-1, PANC-1, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, HT-29, PC-3), with cisplatin serving as the reference standard.

Five DPA/tin polymers were synthesized, with IC₅₀ values in the range of 0.60–0.71 μg/mL. Their cytotoxicity was significantly lower than that of cisplatin (0.0023-0.044 μg/mL), suggesting that …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Synergistic Bioactive– Organometallic Condensation Polymers, Francesca Isabel Mosca

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on the synthesis and structural characterization of polymers with anticipated anticancer and antiviral properties by combining metal-containing Lewis acids, organotin dichlorides (R2SnCl2), Group 4 metallocene dichlorides (Cp2TiCl2, Cp2ZrCl2 and Cp2HfCl2), and triphenyl Group 15 metal dichlorides (Ph3AsCl2, Ph3SbCl2 and Ph3BiCl2), with biologically active Lewis bases, lamivudine, a synthetic nucleoside, and camphoric acid, a dicarboxylic acid, to achieve synergistic effect.

Five classes of polymers were synthesized using interfacial polymerization: lamivudine and organotin dichlorides, lamivudine and Group 4 metallocene dichlorides, camphoric acid and triphenyl Group 15 metal dichlorides, camphoric acid and organotin dichlorides, and camphoric acid and Group 4 …

Identifying Textual Predictors Of Early Termination In Clinical Trials In Medicine: An Explainable Machine-Learning Study, Rohan Ramnarain

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

About one in five clinical trials in medicine ends early, wasting valuable resources and reducing the evidence available for developing life-saving medical treatments. This project uses a method called Trial2Vec, which is a self-supervised machine-learning method that converts clinical trial documents into dense numerical representations that capture their key design and clinical characteristics, to turn each proposed clinical trial’s written protocol into a compact numerical profile (a process referred to as embedding). These profiles are then paired with a predictive machine learning models to identify the words and phrases in the trial documents that can signal a higher risk of …

High-Throughput Robotic Ethanol Inhibition Assays For Engineered Thermophilic Biofuel Strains, Kevin He, Daniel Olson, Marybeth Maloney, Anthony Lanahan

Wetterhahn Science Symposium Posters

Ethanol stress assays are commonly used to evaluate microbial tolerance, metabolic adaptation, and fermentation performance. However, manual liquid handling introduces variability across replicate wells and small-volume pipetting steps, limiting reproducibility and throughput. This study developed an automated OT-2 robotic workflow to generate replicated ethanol concentration gradients for high-throughput inhibition assays in engineered thermophilic biofuel strains. Kinetic plate-reader measurements were used to quantify ethanol-dependent growth responses under anaerobic fermentation conditions. The reasearch question is: How do engineered thermophilic biofuel strains differ in ethanol-dependent growth inhibition under anaerobic fermentation conditions, and can automated robotic assays improve the reproducibility of these measurements? Can …

Microtubules In Breast Cancer: Exploring The Α/Β-Tubulin Toggle Switch And Its Implications In Human Breast Cancer, Annemarie Ianos

Student Theses and Dissertations

Microtubules, composed of a/b-tubulin heterodimers, play a central role in breast cancer tumor growth by polymerizing, leading to metastasis and depolymerizing, contributing to proliferation. Human enzymes protein kinase Ca (PKC-a) and cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk-1) mediate phosphorylation at sites a:Ser165 and b:Ser172, respectively, influencing the growth of microtubules. It is possible that alternating phosphorylation at these sites contribute to an a/b-tubulin “toggle switch” that mediates microtubule instability and tumor growth.

The project investigates the influence of the toggle switch model on microtubule stability by determining the impact of mutants (a:S165D, a:S165N, a:S165S_P, b:S172S_P and a:S165S_P/b:S172S …

Computational Design Of Peptides And Proteins Through Machine Learning Approaches, Emily J. Hendrix

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

Advancements in machine learning have emerged as a pivotal tool in computational biochemistry, offering new advancements to address challenges in protein structure and function. However, current machine-learning approaches offer limited insight in understanding protein dynamics. The purpose of this work is to combine traditional physics-based computational tools, such as molecular dynamics and coarse-grained simulations, with recently developed AI-driven computational tools to bridge gaps and advance the understanding of proteins in both structural and dynamic aspects. I investigated several approaches such as (i) traditional physics-based methods to study protein conformation and ensembles; (ii) identifying a peptide inhibitor for the PICK1 PDZ …

Functionalized Nanodiamonds As Binding Platforms For Single-Stranded Dna, Mallory A. Chapman

Honors Theses

Nanodiamonds (NDs) offer a promising platform for biomolecular applications due to their stability, biocompatibility, and three-dimensional structure. This study focused on developing a nanodiamond–DNA complex in which streptavidin-functionalized NDs would form a protective shell around biotinylated single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), creating a core–shell system like an “M&M” candy with DNA at the center and a protective coating on the outside. DNA has many uses in nanotechnology, including DNA origami, nanomachines, and drug delivery systems, but its degradation limits its practical use, making protective strategies essential.

ND–DNA conjugates were prepared using biotin–streptavidin interactions and analyzed using gel electrophoresis. Initial separation on agarose …

Isolation, Purification, And Characterization Of Α-Galactosidase From Watermelon (Citrullus Lanatus), Christopher Henley Jr.

Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Honors Theses

The enzyme α-galactosidase is a type of glycosidase that removes galactose sugar units from larger molecules in cells. Compounds that inhibit glycosidases have been useful for understanding the structure and function of the enzymes they inhibit, and some have been used to treat certain diseases. Using inhibitors of α-galactosidase to study its characteristics and mechanisms may provide insights into its role in disease and its general utility. Advances in fields such as agriculture, sustainable fuels, and biomedicine may be facilitated by inhibition studies of α-galactosidase, but the current library of known inhibitors is relatively lacking. Obtaining α-galactosidase enzymes from chemical …

Shark Immunology And Its Biomedical Potential: Evolution, Innovation, And The Imperative Of Conservation, Reesha Bhagat

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This review aims to shed light on a significant ecological deficit and its implications for the future of science and medicine. Sharks possess a uniquely adaptive, cancer-resistant, and evolutionarily refined immune system with transformative biomedical potential, making their conservation a scientific and medical imperative. We are losing something medically irreplaceable, and we don’t even fully understand it yet. Shark conservation is a pressing scientific imperative because sharks are ecologically essential and represent an irreplaceable biomedical resource.

Asphalt Pavement Rejuvenation Investigated By Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry, Catherine Skaggs

Miners Solving for Tomorrow Research Conference

Asphalt is a relatively inexpensive material commonly used for road pavements; however, asphalt ages from exposure to oxygen and UV radiation, leading to loss of elasticity, which leads to cracks and potholes. To slow or reverse asphalt aging, pavement preservation treatments are in use. It’s unclear whether these treatments truly rejuvenate the pavement structure or merely offer a short-term benefit. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) relaxometry is an analytical technique that uses the recovery of excited nuclear magnetization as a parameter to gain insights into molecular environments. Recovery-time distributions gathered from asphalt materials show differences between regular and rejuvenated asphalt samples, …

Dendrimer Nanogels With Built-In Free Radical Scavenging Enable Efficient Topical Delivery Of A Hydrophilic Antioxidant To Restore Lens Redox Balance For Cataract Treatment, Lin Qi, Huari Kou, Anna Chernatynskaya, Da Huang, Vimalin Jeyalatha Mani, Humeyra Karacal, Nuran Ercal, Hu Yang

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Cataract is a leading cause of vision impairment worldwide and are primarily caused by oxidative stress that damages and aggregates lens proteins, leading to lens opacification. However, the eye's anatomical barriers limit the penetration and bioavailability of antioxidant therapies. To address this challenge, a dendrimer-based nanogel with a built-in reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging capability developed by us was employed to deliver the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to the lens. NAC was loaded into a generation-5 PEGylated poly(amidoamine) dendrimer (G5-PEG-TK, termed the GPT) nanogel. The resulting NAC-GPT was characterized for its ROS-scavenging activity, bioavailability, and corneal permeability. The efficacy of NAC-GPT was …

Synthesis Of Copper-Phenanthroline Complexes: A Solvothermal-Compatible Approach For The Exploration Of Metal Complexes, Yunping Zhoujin, Michael Anim Safo, Navindra Keerthisinghe, Mark D. Smith, Sophya Garashchuk, Hans Conrad Zur Loye

Faculty Publications

Inorganic–organic hybrid materials have been widely investigated for their applications in catalysis, optics, magnetism, and biomedicine. Copper halide complexes are of particular interest due to their structural diversity and physicochemical properties. Conventional crystal growth approaches, such as slow evaporation and hydro(solvo)thermal synthesis, typically require extended reaction times and often favor thermodynamically stable phases. In this study, we prepared ten copper-phenanthroline halide (X = Cl, Br, and I) complexes using both traditional hydrothermal reactions and microwave-assisted hydrothermal methods and obtained [CuI(C₁₂H₈N₂)₂][I₃], [C₁₂H₉N₂][CuI₂]·(H_{2 …}

Increased Backbone Rigidity Of Artificial Transcription Factors, Jasmine Glover, Emma Otey, Joanna K. Kwao, Nicholas Truex

Senior Theses

Programming DNA-binding proteins is an effective strategy for developing therapeutics that regulate gene expression. These proteins can directly bind to DNA to activate or repress transcription of specific genes. Zinc finger proteins are a class of DNA-binding proteins commonly found in eukaryotic organisms. Their DNA-binding function is derived from unique amino acid sequences within each domain that recognizes specific nucleotides, allowing each finger to selectively recognize three DNA base pairs. Adjoining of multiple domains in tandem allows recognition of a specific DNA sequence. Artificial transcription factors can be made of multiple zinc finger domains arranged in tandem and engineered to …

Design And In Silico Modeling Of Heterocyclic-Based Xanthone Derivatives As Potential Anticancer Agents Through Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition, Yehezkiel Steven Kurniawan, Ervan Yudha, Nela Fatmasari, Radite Yogaswara, Harno Dwi Pranowo, Eti Nurwening Sholikhah, Jumina Jumina

Makara Journal of Science

Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases nowadays, and tyrosine kinase receptors play crucial roles in cancer cell survival, differentiation, proliferation, and migration. This study designed and developed a new inhibitor from heterocyclic-based xanthone derivatives to target two tyrosine kinase receptors, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), through in silico screening. Eighteen heterocyclic-based xanthones were evaluated through molecular docking for both receptors. All heterocyclic-based xanthones gave the root mean square deviation (RMSD) value lower than 2.00 Å. Xanthone with isobenzothiazole substituent (iBzThio) was found as the most potent inhibitor with binding energies of -10.60 and …

Interview With Orca Award Winner David Hage, Unl Chemistry; Drug-Protein Interactions, Mark Griep, David Hage

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Prof. David Hage was awarded the ORCA in 2018. He was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and earned a bachelor’s in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse. Next, he earned a doctorate from Iowa State University and did postdoctoral work at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In 1989, he joined UNL as an assistant professor of chemistry and quickly rose through the ranks. He has won many awards and, for the past 13 years, has been the James Hewet University Professor of Chemistry. Allow me to share some remarkable facts about Dave before we get into …

Role Of Wadsley Defects And Cation Disorder To Enhance Monb12O33 Diffusion, Cj Sturgill, Manish Kumar, Nima Karimitari, Iva Millisavljevic, Coby S. Collins, Aaron Hegler, Hsin-Yun Joy Chao, Santosh Kiran Balijepalli, Scott T. Misture, Christopher Sutton, Morgan Stefik

Faculty Publications

Wadsley-Roth (WR) niobates have emerged as high-rate anode materials that can combine rapid ionic diffusion with good electronic conductivity. WR compounds have been defect-enhanced by limited annealing, however, such materials often contain multiple types of defects. In particular, both Wadsley defects (variable block size) and transition metal disorder have the potential to modify transport rates, however the corresponding effects are not well understood mechanistically. Here, MoNb12O33 (MNO) was calcined at two different temperatures to compare a defect-rich condition (MNO-800) with a proximal order-rich condition (MNO-900) as assessed through XRD, XANES, EXAFS, and STEM characterizations. Galvanostatically cycled lithium half cells of …

Main-Chain Ion-Pair Polybenzimidazole Membranes Enabling Reduced-Temperature Ht-Pemfc Operation (Down To 120°C), Huina Lin, Brian C. Benicewicz

Faculty Publications

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are promising for clean and efficient energy conversion across diverse applications. High-temperature PEM fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) using phosphoric acid (PA)-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) can operate up to 200°C, but at lower temperatures, water-induced PA loss often leads to performance degradation and reduced durability. In this work, we present a new class of main-chain ion-pair PBI membranes by integrating the imidazolium-biphosphate ion-pair units directly into the PBI backbone. This design results in membranes with high acid content, stronger acid-polymer interactions and stabilized acid retention. In single-cell tests, the Im⁺-PBI15-3 wt.% exhibits peak power densities …

Exosome Engineering For Blocking Gut Dysbiosis And Inducing Cell Death Mechanisms In Glioblastoma Multiforme, Ahalya Muraleedharan, Karthik Rangavajhula, Swapan K. Ray

Faculty Publications

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most lethal primary brain tumor in adults. Emerging evidence endorses that gut dysbiosis contributes to GBM progression through the gut–brain axis (GBA), promoting inflammation and therapeutic resistance via abnormal short-chain fatty acid production and cytokine dysregulation. Exosomes, naturally occurring nanovesicles (30–150 nm), offer promising therapeutic potential due to their blood–brain barrier permeability, biocompatibility, and versatile cargo capacity. This review examines exosome engineering strategies for dual targeting: inhibiting alterations in gut microbiome and inducing regulated cell death mechanisms such as apoptosis and ferroptosis in GBM. We describe exosome engineering with detailed focus on cargo loading approaches …

Rapid Single-Cell Measurement Of Transient Transmembrane Water Flow Under Osmotic Gradient, Hong Jiang, Jinnawat Jongkhumkrong, Y. J. Chao, Qian Wang, Guiren Wang

Faculty Publications

Aquaporins (AQPs) are critical for transmembrane water transport in response to osmotic gradients, but their gating and regulatory mechanisms remain poorly understood. A central challenge is the lack of methods to measure water flow across AQPs from individual cells with the spatiotemporal resolution and sensitivity equivalent to patch-clamp recordings of ion fluxes—a limitation stemming from the electrically silent nature of water flow. Here, we present a novel optical technique—Flow-Induced Fluorescence Increase Velocimetry (FIFIV) based on Laser-Induced Fluorescence Photobleaching Anemometry (LIFPA)—that enables direct, real-time monitoring of cytoplasmic flow induced by transmembrane water transport under osmotic pressure gradients. Using small molecular fluorescent …

The Structure, Pathogenesis, And Inhibition Of The P53-Mdm2 Pathway, Amanda L. Brown, Xiaoying Lian, Qian Wang

Faculty Publications

The p53 tumor suppressor protein plays a central role in maintaining genomic stability by regulating cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and DNA repair under cellular stress. Mouse double minute 2 (MDM2), an E3 ubiquitin ligase, negatively regulates p53 via direct binding and proteasomal degradation. Overexpression or amplification of MDM2 can disrupt this pathway and promote tumorigenesis, even in cancers with wild-type p53. This review outlines the structural features of MDM2, particularly its N-terminal hydrophobic pocket and C-terminal RING domain, and their roles in p53 regulation. We further examine the pathological effects of MDM2 dysregulation and SNPs linked to increased cancer risk. …

Ecologic Factors Contributing To West Nile Virus Hyperendemicity In Central South Carolina: An Integrated Vector–Human–Environmental Study, Elba S. Fridriksson, Ahayla Muraleedharan, Kyndall C. Dye-Braumuller, Madeleine M. Meyer, Kia Zellars, Hiuxuan Li, Melissa S. Nolan Ph.D., Mph

Faculty Publications

West Nile virus (WNV) is an endemic arboviral infection in the United States that has undergone phyloge-netic evolution since its introduction 25 years ago. An integrated vector–human–pathogen study was conducted in the summer of 2023 to unearth contemporary Culex quinquefasciatus habitat patterns and human transmission spillover foci in South Carolina, a state with historically little WNV data. A serosurvey revealed WNV seroprevalence 10 times the national average (22% versus 2%, respectively), with unusual epidemiologic risk factors. Female Culex quinquefas-ciatus WNV positivity was low (2.7%), with viral phylogenetics 100% homologous to the WN02 clade. Mosquito vectors clustered in affluent urban neighborhoods …