Biology Commons^™

Epacs: Epigenetic Regulators That Affect Cell Survival In Cancer., Catherine Murari

Theses & Dissertations

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is a second messenger responsive to many external stimuli, playing an important role in cellular gene expression, metabolism, migration, differentiation, hypertrophy, apoptosis and secretion. All of these cellular functions are important in many diseases including cancer. Most of its effects were initially attributed to the classical protein kinase A (PKA) protein, but cellular functions such as proliferation and migration were found to be PKA independent and dependent on the newly discovered exchange proteins directly activated by cAMP (EPACs). EPACs are single polypeptides that primarily function as guanine exchange factors (GEFs) for Rap proteins that allow the …

Are Immune Modulating Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Associated With Necrotizing Enterocolitis?, Ashanti L Franklin, Mariam Said, Clint D Cappiello, Heather Gordish-Dressman, Zohreh Tatari-Calderone, Stanislav Vukmanovic, Khodayar Rais-Bahrami, Naomi L C Luban, Joseph M Devaney, Anthony D Sandler

Genomics and Precision Medicine Faculty Publications

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating gastrointestinal emergency. The purpose of this study is to determine if functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in immune-modulating genes pre-dispose infants to NEC. After Institutional Review Board approval and parental consent, buccal swabs were collected for DNA extraction. TaqMan allelic discrimination assays and BglII endonuclease digestion were used to genotype specific inflammatory cytokines and TRIM21. Statistical analysis was completed using logistic regression. 184 neonates were analyzed in the study. Caucasian neonates with IL-6 (rs1800795) were over 6 times more likely to have NEC (p = 0.013; OR = 6.61, 95% CI 1.48-29.39), and over …

A Comparison Of Gastrointestinal Bacterial Population Between Indoor Cats And Outdoor Cats, Farhana Binti Ikmal Hisham

Honors Theses

This study used fecal samples from four indoor cats and four indoor-outdoor cats in order to identify the microbial communities in the gut of cats. This information was then used to compare the microbial phyla between both groups for any differences. Total microbial DNA was isolated from each fecal sample, and the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced using Illumina MiSeq high throughput method. The sequences were identified using the bioinformatics program mothur. The results show that indoor cats had a more diverse microbial community as compared to outdoor cats. Indoor cat samples had 26% more microbial species, and eight more …

Activation Of Microglia In The Rotenone Lymnaea Stagnalis Model Of Parkinson's Disease, Xiomara Galvan

Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most common irreversible neurodegenerative movement disorder affecting approximately ten million people worldwide. In the central nervous system (CNS), PD is known by the selective loss of Dopamine (DA) cells of the substantia nigra pars compacta. Although the disease has been very widely studied, the underlying mechanisms are not yet understood. Several hypotheses have arisen as result of injury of the mitochondria, some experiments include microglia activation, microtubule damage, and reactive oxidative species, which all result in the death of DA cells. The theory of microglia activation upon inflammation was explored in this study. Using the …

Normal Glycolytic Enzyme Activity Is Critical For Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1a Activity And Provides Novel Targets For Inhibiting Tumor Growth, Geoffrey Grandjean Phd

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Normal Glycolytic Enzyme Activity is Critical for Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α Activity and Provides Novel Targets for Inhibiting Tumor Growth

By Geoffrey Grandjean

Advisory Professor: Garth Powis, D. Phil

Unique to proliferating cancer cells is the observation that their increased need for energy is provided by a high rate of glycolysis followed by lactic acid fermentation in a process known as the Warburg Effect, a process many times less efficient than oxidative phosphorylation employed by normal cells to satisfy a similar energy demand ^[1]. This high rate of glycolysis occurs regardless of the concentration of oxygen in the cell and …

Scardovia Wiggsiae Prevalence In Orthodontic Patients, Brandon Joseph Streiff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Dental caries has mainly been associated with Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Actinomyces and Veillonella species. But in recent salivary studies a new cariogenic pathogen, has been identified. This new bacteria, Scardovia wiggsiae (SW), is currently being tested within the UNLV School of Dental Medicine patient population. Although these current studies are being conducted to study its prevalence in both pediatric and adult populations, it has not been evaluated among patients with an altered oral environment as seen in patients with orthodontic appliances. Fixed orthodontic appliances increase the difficulty of removing daily plaque on and in between the teeth with standard oral hygiene …

Effect Of Genetic Background On The Dystrophic Phenotype In Mdx Mice., William D Coley, Laurent Bogdanik, Maria Candida Vila, Qing Yu, Terence A Partridge, Kanneboyina Nagaraju, +12 Additional Authors

Genomics and Precision Medicine Faculty Publications

Genetic background significantly affects phenotype in multiple mouse models of human diseases, including muscular dystrophy. This phenotypic variability is partly attributed to genetic modifiers that regulate the disease process. Studies have demonstrated that introduction of the γ-sarcoglycan null allele onto the DBA/2J background confers a more severe muscular dystrophy phenotype than the original strain, demonstrating the presence of genetic modifier loci in the DBA/2J background. To characterize the phenotype of dystrophin deficiency on the DBA/2J background, we created and phenotyped DBA/2J-congenic Dmdmdx mice (D2-mdx) and compared them to the original, C57BL/10ScSn-Dmdmdx (B10-mdx) model. These strains were compared to their respective …

Sidestream Smoke Exposure Increases The Susceptibility Of Airway Epithelia To Adenoviral Infection, Priyanka Sharma, Abimbola O. Kolawole, Susan B. Core, Adriana E. Kajon, Katherine J.D.A. Excoffon

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Although significant epidemiological evidence indicates that cigarette smoke exposure increases the incidence and severity of viral infection, the molecular mechanisms behind the increased susceptibility of the respiratory tract to viral pathogens are unclear. Adenoviruses are non-enveloped DNA viruses and important causative agents of acute respiratory disease. The Coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) is the primary receptor for many adenoviruses. We hypothesized that cigarette smoke exposure increases epithelial susceptibility to adenovirus infection by increasing the abundance of apical CAR. Methodology and Findings: Cultured human airway epithelial cells (CaLu-3) were used as a model to investigate the effect of sidestream cigarette …

God, Human Nature, And Psychology, Mark Christians

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"God created humans to think, act, and feel and to be in relationship with other humans."

Posting about exploring the many realms of human expression­­­­­­­­ from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/god-human-nature-and-psychology/

Basal Salivary Oxytocin And Skin To Skin Contact Among Lactating Mothers Of Premature Infants, Jessica Marie Gordon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research explored mechanisms of human milk (HM) expulsion by describing the effects of skin to skin contact (SSC) on maternal basal oxytocin (OT) secretion among 20 premature mothers with hospitalized premature infants. This one-group, repeated measures design consisted of: 1) daily SSC with covariant data via self-report diary and 2) maternal salivary OT with and without SSC at 4 time points were collected over a 7 day time frame. Results indicate that mean levels of basal OT increase over time (M 234 pg/ml, SD 108 pg/ml time point 1; M 257 pg/ml, SD 125 pg/ml time point 3). …

A Tail Of Two Phages: Genomic And Functional Analysis Of Listeria Monocytogenes Phages Vb_Lmos_188 And Vb_Lmos_293 Reveal The Receptor-Binding Proteins Involved In Host Specificity, Aidan Casey, Kieran Jordan, Horst Neve, Aidan Coffey, Olivia Mcauliffe

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The physical characteristics of bacteriophages establish them as viable candidates for downstream development of pathogen detection assays and biocontrol measures. To utilize phages for such purposes, a detailed knowledge of their host interaction mechanisms is a prerequisite. There is currently a wealth of knowledge available concerning Gram-negative phage-host interaction, but little by comparison for Gram-positive phages and Listeria phages in particular. In this research, the lytic spectrum of two recently isolated Listeria monocytogenes phages (vB_LmoS_188 and vB_LmoS_293) was determined, and the genomic basis for their observed serotype 4b/4e host-specificity was investigated using comparative genomics. The late tail genes of these …

Assessing The Synergistic Effect Of Caffeine And Sugar On Cognitive Performance In Undergraduate Students, Sandra P. Urquiza, Michelle Vieyra

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Working independently, both caffeine and sugar provide benefits to attention and memory. However, there is sparse literature on the synergistic effects on improved cognitive performance between caffeine and sugar when taken together. This study explored the dynamics between caffeine and sugar when consumed under ordinary conditions – as a cup of coffee. Twenty-four undergraduate students (15 women and 9 men) were asked to complete a baseline cognitive test, and one of the three variables was given at random in the form of a cup of coffee: decaffeinated with sugar, caffeinated with no sugar, and caffeinated with sugar. The remaining two …

Whole-Genome Sequencing Of Kshv From Zambian Kaposi’S Sarcoma Biopsies Reveals Unique Viral Diversity, Landon N. Olp, Adrien Jeanniard, Clemence Marimo, John T. West, Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiological agent for Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). Both KSHV and KS are endemic in sub-Saharan Africa where approximately 84% of global KS cases occur. Nevertheless, whole-genome sequencing of KSHV has only been completed using isolates from Western countries—where KS is not endemic. The lack of whole-genome KSHV sequence data from the most clinically important geographical region, sub-Saharan Africa, represents an important gap as it remains unclear whether genomic diversity has a role on KSHV pathogenesis. We hypothesized that distinct KSHV genotypes might be present in sub-Saharan Africa compared to Western countries. Using a KSHV-targeted enrichment …

Lifting Weights: Sculpting The Body Into An Artform, Stormi Knight

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

I believe the Body is a perfectly designed machine, many people underestimate the body’s ability to do marvelous things. One of the many great things the body can do is maneuver weight. What has this to do with art-science? At first glance weight lifting may not seem like anything but part of an athlete’s routine, however when we think about women there is much more that is to do with aesthetics and real science.

The Conserved G-Protein Coupled Receptor Fshr-1 Regulates Protective Host Responses To Infection And Oxidative Stress, Elizabeth V. Miller, Leah N. Grandi, Jennifer A. Giannini, Joseph D. Robinson, Jennifer R. Powell

Biology Faculty Publications

The innate immune system’s ability to sense an infection is critical so that it can rapidly respond if pathogenic microorganisms threaten the host, but otherwise maintain a quiescent baseline state to avoid causing damage to the host or to commensal microorganisms. One important mechanism for discriminating between pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria is the recognition of cellular damage caused by a pathogen during the course of infection. InCaenorhabditis elegans, the conserved G-protein coupled receptor FSHR-1 is an important constituent of the innate immune response. FSHR-1 activates the expression of antimicrobial infection response genes in infected worms and delays accumulation …

Gene Diversification Of An Emerging Pathogen: A Decade Of Mutation In A Novel Fish Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (Vhs) Substrain Since Its First Appearance In The Laurentian Great Lakes, Carol A. Stepien, Lindsey R. Pierce, Douglas W. Leaman, Megan D. Niner, Brian S. Shepherd

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHSv) is an RNA rhabdovirus, which causes one of the world's most serious fish diseases, infecting >80 freshwater and marine species across the Northern Hemisphere. A new, novel, and especially virulent substrain—VHSv-IVb—first appeared in the Laurentian Great Lakes about a decade ago, resulting in massive fish kills. It rapidly spread and has genetically diversified. This study analyzes temporal and spatial mutational patterns of VHSv-IVb across the Great Lakes for the novel non-virion (Nv) gene that is unique to this group of novirhabdoviruses, in relation to its glycoprotein (G), phosphoprotein (P), …

Macroecology Of North American Suckers (Catostomidae): Tests Of Bergmann's And Rapoport's Rules, Stephen J. Jacquemin, Jason C. Doll

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Discerning spatial macroecological patterns in freshwater fishes has broad implications for community assembly, ecosystem dynamics, management, and conservation. This study explores the potential interspecific covariation of geographic range (Rapoport's rule) and body size (Bergmann's rule) with latitude in North American sucker fishes (Cypriniformes: Catostomidae). While numerous tests of Rapoport's and Bergmann's rules are documented in the literature, comparatively few of these studies have specifically tested for these patterns, and none have incorporated information reflecting shared ancestry into analyses of North American freshwater fish through a hierarchical model. This study utilized a hierarchical modeling approach with Bayesian inference to evaluate the …

Role Of Macrophages In Muscle Transfection With Pdna/Pluronic Formulation, Vivek Mahajan

Theses & Dissertations

Non-ionic amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO), Pluronics, arranged in a tri-block structure PEO-PPO-PEO, have raised a considerable interest in skeletal muscle Gene Therapy. Previous studies have demonstrated that co-administration of Pluronics with naked plasmid DNA (pDNA) by direct i.m. injection enhanced transgene expression not only in muscle but also in distal lymphoid organs (spleen and lymph nodes) and this response was strain-dependent; not observed in athymic (BALB/c nu/nu) mouse; suggesting a role of immune cells in gene transfer to skeletal muscles. Therefore, we first evaluated the role of inflammation and inflammatory cells, on muscle …

Viewing The Extracellular Matrix: An Imaging Method For Tissue Engineering, Michael Drakopoulos, Sarah Calve

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The field of regenerative medicine seeks to create replacement tissues and organs, both to repair deficiencies in biological function and to treat structural damage caused by injury. Scaffoldings mimicking extracellular matrix (ECM), the structure to which cells attach to form tissues, have been developed from synthetic polymers and also been prepared by decellularizing adult tissue. However, the structure of ECM undergoes significant remodeling during natural tissue repair, suggesting that ECM-replacement constructs that mirror developing tissues may promote better regeneration than those modeled on adult tissues. This work investigated the effectiveness of a method of viewing the extracellular matrix of developing …

Bioregulatory Systems Medicine: An Innovative Approach To Integrating The Science Of Molecular Networks, Inflammation, And Systems Biology With The Patient's Autoregulatory Capacity?, Alyssa W Goldman, Yvonne Burmeister, Konstantin Cesnulevicius, Martha Herbert, Mary Kane, David Lescheid, Timothy Mccaffrey, Myron Schultz, Bernd Seilheimer, Alta Smit, Georges St Laurent, Brian Berman

Medicine Faculty Publications

Bioregulatory systems medicine (BrSM) is a paradigm that aims to advance current medical practices. The basic scientific and clinical tenets of this approach embrace an interconnected picture of human health, supported largely by recent advances in systems biology and genomics, and focus on the implications of multi-scale interconnectivity for improving therapeutic approaches to disease. This article introduces the formal incorporation of these scientific and clinical elements into a cohesive theoretical model of the BrSM approach. The authors review this integrated body of knowledge and discuss how the emergent conceptual model offers the medical field a new avenue for extending the …

Prevalence Of A Chytrid Pathogen (Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis) In Eastern Hellbender Salamanders In New York And Pennsylvania, Linxuan Wu

Biology Theses

Amphibian populations are currently declining globally. There are many possible causes for these declines, among which an emerging infectious disease, chytridiomycosis, has been implicated. Chytridiomycosis in the U.S.A. is mainly caused by the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. In this study, I used qPCR assays to detect the existence of this pathogen in the Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) populations in the Allegheny and Susquehanna River drainages of New York and Pennsylvania. Chytrid is most often tested by using skin swabs, but in this study, tail clips, dorsal skin, blood and eggs were tested as well. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis was detected …

Gating Mechanisms Of The Canonical Trp Channel Isoform Trpc4, Dhananjay P. Thakur

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Non-selective cation channels formed by Transient Receptor Potential Canonical (TRPC) proteins play important roles in regulatory and pathophysiological processes. These channels are known to be activated downstream from phospholipase C (PLC) signaling. However, the mechanism by which the PLC pathway activates TRPC4/C5 remains unclear. Uniquely, TRPC4 is maximally activated only when two separate G protein pathways, G_q/11 and G_i/o, are co-stimulated, making it a coincidence detector of G_q/11- and G_i/o -coupled receptor activation. Using HEK293 cells co-expressing mouse TRPC4β and selected G protein-coupled receptors, I observed that coincident stimulation of G_i/o proteins and …

Investigating The Interaction Of Aurka And Ube2c In Colorectal Cancer Cells, Apurva M. Hegde

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US. Among the many genomic aberrations previously implicated in colorectal cancer, recurrent amplification of chromosome 20q is frequently associated with liver metastasis. Previous research in our lab identified a gene signature on chromosome 20q associated with colorectal cancer progression. In this study, one of the genes in the signature, the ubiquitin conjugating enzyme UBE2C, was identified through preliminary bioinformatics analysis as a candidate for further examination of its role in CRC progression. Co-expression analysis of UBE2C in tumor-normal datasets from the public database Oncomine revealed all the …

Kaposi’S Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Transmission And Infection Among Young Zambian Children, Landon N. Olp

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiologic agent for all forms of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS)—one of the most common pediatric cancers in sub-Saharan Africa during the AIDS epidemic. KS was endemic in sub-Saharan Africa prior to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, but KS cases drastically increased thereafter. Our laboratory previously observed that KSHV infection is common among Zambian children and saliva is the major route of transmission. However, additional factors associated with the transmission of KSHV to children are poorly understood. Since a vaccine against KSHV is not currently available, it is paramount to understand factors associated with transmission so that alternative …

The Fkbp52 Cochaperone Acts In Synergy With Β-Catenin To Potentiate Androgen Receptor Signaling, Cheryl Samaniego, Ji Ho Suh, Arundhati Chattopadhyay, Karen Olivares, Naihsuan Guy, Jeffrey C. Sivils, Prasenjit Dey, Fumiak Yumoto, Robert J. Fletterick, Anders M. Strom, Jan-Åke Gustafsson, Paul Webb, Marc B. Cox

Biology Publications

FKBP52 and β-catenin have emerged in recent years as attractive targets for prostate cancer treatment. β-catenin interacts directly with the androgen receptor (AR) and has been characterized as a co-activator of AR-mediated transcription. FKBP52 is a positive regulator of AR in cellular and whole animal models and is required for the development of androgendependent tissues. We previously characterized an AR inhibitor termed MJC13 that putatively targets the AR BF3 surface to specifically inhibit FKBP52-regulated AR signaling. Predictive modeling suggests that β-catenin interacts with the AR hormone binding domain on a surface that overlaps with BF3. Here we demonstrate that FKBP52 …

Bacterially-Based Immune Challenges And Trauma Elicit Terminal Investment In Male Aedes Aegypti, Molly K. Schumacher

Theses and Dissertations

Investment in life history traits such as immune function and reproduction is constrained by finite available resources. A cost-of-immunity trade-off may occur in response to infection when resources are diverted away from reproductive effort and into an immune response. Alternatively, an infected individual may enhance reproductive effort to maximize terminal reproductive success in response to the survival threat inherent to infection (terminal investment). We measured male Aedes aegypti reproductive behavior following inoculations with: living bacteria; killed bacteria as an immune elicitor; and a sham control. Mating competitiveness relative to naïve males was also determined through a binary mate choice experiment …

Lesion-Specific Immune Response In Granulomas Of Patients With Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Pilot Study, Selvakumar Subbian, Liana Tsenova, Mi-Jeong Kim, Helen C. Wainwright, Annalie Visser, Nirmalya Bandyopadhyay, Joel S. Bader, Petros C. Karakousis, Gabriele B. Murrmann, Linda-Gail Bekker, David G. Russell, Gilla Kaplan

Publications and Research

The formation and maintenance of granulomas is central to the host response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. It is widely accepted that the lungs of patients with tuberculosis (TB) usually contain multiple infection foci, and that the granulomas evolve and differentiate independently, resulting in considerable heterogeneity. Although gene expression profiles of human blood cells have been proposed as biomarkers of Mtb infection and/or active disease, the immune profiles of discrete lesion types has not been studied extensively. Using histology, immunopathology and genome-wide transcriptome analysis, we explored the immunological profile of human lung TB granulomas. We show that although the different …

The Mouse That Trolled: The Long And Tortuous History Of A Gene Mutation Patent That Became An Expensive Impediment To Alzheimer's Research, Tania M. Bubela, Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Robert Cook-Deegan

Office of the Provost

This case study presents the tale of the academic discovery of a rare mutation for early-onset Alzheimer's disease that was patented by a sole inventor and licensed to a non-practicing entity (NPE), the Alzheimer's Institute of America (AIA). Our aims are (1) to relate this story about patents, research tools, and impediments to medical progress, and (2) to inform ongoing debates about how patents affect research, disposition of university inventions, and the distribution of benefits from publicly funded research. We present an account of the hunt for Alzheimer's genes, their patenting, assignment, and enforcement based on literature, litigation records and …

Development Of A Dna Barcoding Reference Library For Identification Of Medicinal Plant Materials Used In The Rio Grande Valley Of Texas: A Representative Case Study Using Arnica (Asteraceae), Hector G. Aguilar De Alba

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

DNA barcoding is a technique that uses a short DNA fragment to identify a specimen to the species level. This technique is essential in situations where a lack of distinguishing morphological characteristics makes identification impossible. In the Río Grande Valley a variety of herbal supplements are cheap, readily available and sold as “Arnica” with no information to identify the contents. The appearance of dried and shredded material suggests that a variety of plant species are involved, belonging to the family Asteraceae. Arnica montana, also part of Asteraceae, is found in Europe and has anti-inflammatory properties used to externally treat bruises …

The Effects Of Arginine Vasopressin On Maternal Behavior And Aggression In Peromyscus Californicus Mothers, Nathaniel Ng

Honors Projects

Research studies since the 1950s have shown that a chemical within the brain called arginine vasopressin (AVP) is associated with the modulation of many different social behaviors in mammals. Some of these behaviors are related to parenting, such as parental care initiation, aggression, social recognition, depression and anxiety. Understanding the physiology behind AVP regulation could allow for the creation of new therapies for treating human social disorders, such as using an AVP receptor antagonist to attenuate anxiety. This project examines how neural injections of AVP and an AVP receptor antagonist affect both maternal care and aggression in female Peromyscus californicus …