Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

Effects Of Dibutyltin Exposures On Translation Regulatory Factor S6 In Human Immune Cells, Meaghan Lewis, Amanda Ruff, Margaret Whalen

Student Research

Dibutyltin is an organotin contaminating the environment through its use as a stabilizer in polyvinylchloride, PVC plastics. DBT has been found in drinking water and beverages, such as beer and wine, due to leaching from the PVC plastics used during the distribution of these drinks. Along with PVC plastics, DBT has been used as a deworming agent in poultry, infiltrating additional food products and increasing the exposure of the toxin to humans. Due to its multiple uses, it has entered the food chain and has been detected in human blood at levels as high as 0.3μM. Inflammatory cytokines are important …

Developmental Staging And Morphological Comparisons Of Four Fern Gametophyte Species From The Santa Monica Mountains, Tristan Furlong

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The fern life cycle alternates between two distinct phases: a diploid sporophyte phase consisting of the “adult” fern, and a haploid gametophyte phase. Early events and changes in gametophyte development can have considerable consequences in the morphologies of these different fern species and may facilitate the various adaptive strategies employed by the gametophytes in their different habitats. This study investigates early developmental events in the gametophytes of four different fern species found in the Santa Monica Mountains, Adiantum jordanii (chaparral understory, summer deciduous sporophyte), Woodwardia fimbriata (riparian stream), Dryopteris arguta (chaparral understory, evergreen), and Pentagramma triangularis (chaparral understory, resurrection sporophyte). …

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals And Breast Cancer: Disparities In Exposure And Importance Of Research Inclusivity, Ashlie Santaliz Casiano, Annah Lee, Dede Teteh, Zeynep Madak Erdogan, Lindsey Trevino

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are known contributors to breast cancer development. EDC exposures commonly occur through food packaging, cookware, fabrics, and personal care products as well as through the environment. Increasing evidence highlights disparities in EDC exposure across racial/ethnic groups, yet breast cancer research continues to lack the inclusion necessary to positively impact treatment response and overall survival in these socially disadvantaged populations. Additionally, the inequity in environmental exposures has yet to be remedied. Exposure to EDCs due to structural racism poses an unequivocal risk to marginalized communities. In this review, we summarize recent epidemiological and molecular studies on two lesser-studied …

The Role Of Eicosanoid Metabolism In Mammalian Wound Healing And Inflammation, Kenneth D. Maus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Inflammatory wounds, both chronic and acute, lead to increased morbidity and mortality rates, especially in the elderly population. The annual healthcare cost for chronic wound care alone is over $39B in the US and the demographic of susceptible patients is steadily increasing due to an aging population and lifestyle-related diseases (e.g., hyperlipidemia, obesity, and type 2 diabetes). In fact, many chronic wounds currently have a worse 5-year outlook than certain types of cancers. This shows the need for expediting the wound healing process in such a way that compresses inflammatory signaling and encourages wound resolution without sacrificing pathogen removal and …

Body Mass Index And Diabetes Mellitus May Predict Poorer Overall Survival Of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients: A Retrospective Cohort From A Tertiary-Care Center Of A Resource-Limited Country, Yumna Adnan, Syed Muhammad Adnan Ali, Mohammad Sohail Awan, Nida Zahid, Muhammad Ozair Awan, Hammad Afzal Kayani, Hasnain Ahmed Farooqui

Department of Surgery Docs

Introduction: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the highest-ranking cancers among both genders in Pakistan. Obesity is linked to a much higher risk for developing multiple cancer types. Individuals with Diabetes mellitus (DM) face an increased risk for developing oral cancer. Hence, the objective of this study was to identify the effect of obesity and DM on the prognosis of OSCC patients.
Methods: This retrospective cohort analysis was conducted on 386 patients diagnosed and treated for OSCC at The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. Patient information was obtained from hospital medical records. Obesity was defined as having …

Delineating The Exocytic Fusion Machinery Required For Mast Cell Exocytosis, Pratikshya Adhikari

Dissertations

Mast cells undergo exocytosis to release a wide array of inflammatory mediators by utilizing membrane fusion proteins-SNAREs (soluble-N-ethyl-maleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) along with essential regulatory Munc18 and Munc13 proteins. Accumulating evidence in mast cell biology suggests the existence of distinct pools of mast cell mediators. However, the precise mechanism underlying the release of each mast cell mediator is not clear. To determine whether different exocytic machineries are required for differential mediator release, I used reconstitution to investigate the differential role of Munc18s in fusion machinery regulation. Munc18a and Munc18c stimulated VAMP2 and VAMP3-mediated lipid mixing, whereas Munc18b only …

Re-Evaluation Of The Fijianolide/Laulimalide Chemotype Suggests An Alternate Mechanism Of Action For C-15/C-20 Analogs., Joseph D. Morris, Leila Takahashi-Ruiz, Lauren N. Persi, Jonathan C. Summers, Erin P. Mccauley, Peter Y. W. Chan, Gabriella Amberchan, Itzel Lizama-Chamu, David A. Coppage, Phillip Crews, April L. Risinger, Tyler A. Johnson

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Faculty Scholarship

Herein, we report on naturally derived microtubule stabilizers with activity against triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines, including paclitaxel, fijianolide B/laulimalide (3), fijianolide B di-acetate (4), and two new semisynthetic analogs of 3, which include fijianolide J (5) and fijianolide L (6). Similar to paclitaxel, compound 3 demonstrated classic microtubule stabilizing activity with potent (GI50 = 0.7–17 nM) antiproliferative efficacy among the five molecularly distinct TNBC cell lines. Alternatively, compounds 5 or 6, generated from oxidation of C-20 or C-15 and C-20 respectively, resulted in a unique profile with …

Impact Of Arginine Metabolism And Sensing In Mouse Models Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Chao Ma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains the most common neurodegenerative disease in the central nervous system (CNS), with amyloidosis and tauopathy as their two main hallmarks. Typical AD pathologies include cerebral plaques deposited by amyloid-β, neurofibrillary tangles aggregated by tau, and neuroinflammation caused by activated brain myeloid cells. A critical theme is centered on impaired brain metabolism. Emerging evidence showed that impaired arginine metabolism was a novel biomarker pathway for AD. The manipulation of arginine metabolism by a critical enzyme arginase 1 (ARG1) in neurons indicated therapeutic benefits in alleviating tau pathology. Balanced cellular proteostasis was governed by the mechanistic target of …

Assessment Of Diversity Of Antimicrobial Resistance Phenotypes And Genotypes Of Mannheimia Haemolytica Isolates From Bovine Nasopharyngeal Swabs, Hannah F. Carter, Robert W. Wills, Matthew A. Scott, Alexis C. Thompson, Randall S. Singer, John Dustin Loy, Brandi B. Karisch, William B. Epperson, Amelia R. Woolums

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The threat of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) for cattle operations is exacerbated by increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Mannheimia haemolytica, a leading cause of BRD. Characterization of AMR in M. haemolytica by culture and susceptibility testing is complicated by uncertainty regarding the number of colonies that must be selected to accurately characterize AMR phenotypes (antibiograms) and genotypes in a culture. The study objective was to assess phenotypic and genotypic diversity of M. haemolytica isolates on nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) from 28 cattle at risk for BRD or with BRD. NPS were swabbed onto five consecutive blood agar plates; …

Characterization Of SccMec Instability In Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Affecting Adjacent Chromosomal Regions, Including The Gene For Staphylococcal Protein A (Spa), Isabella A. Tickler, Fred C. Tenover, C. R. Scharn, R. V. Goering

Biology Faculty Publications

Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) represents a sequence of clear clinical and diagnostic importance in staphylococci. At a minimum the chromosomal cassette contains the mecA gene encoding PBP2a but frequently also includes additional antibiotic resistance genes (e.g., ermA and aadC; macrolide and aminoglycoside resistance, respectively). Certain regions within SCCmec elements are hot spots for sequence instability due to cassette-specific recombinases and a variety of internal mobile elements. SCCmec changes may affect not only cassette stability but the integrity of adjacent chromosomal sequences (e.g., the staphylococcal protein A gene; spa). We investigated SCCmec stability …

Breaks In Longitudinal Elastic Fibers Of Human Femoropopliteal Arteries, Elham Zamani

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Breaks in Longitudinal Elastic Fibers of Human Femoropopliteal Arteries

Elham Zamani1, Majid Jadidi1

1 Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE

Introduction: Elastin is a major protein in the body with half-life >50 years. It is thought that elastic fibers are formed before the postnatal period. In the femoropopliteal artery (FPA), the main artery in the leg, longitudinal elastic fibers are present in External Elastic Lamina (EEL). Our team has studied more than 1000 cadaveric human FPA and has noticed that there are big breaks in their longitudinal elastic fibers in some subjects. Our goal in this work …

Conventional Therapies Deplete Brain-Infiltrating Adaptive Immune Cells In A Mouse Model Of Group 3 Medulloblastoma Implicating Myeloid Cells As Favorable Immunotherapy Targets, Zahra Abbas, Courtney George, Mathew Ancliffe, Meegan Howlett, Anya C. Jones, Mani Kuchibhotla, Robert J. Wechsler-Reya, Nicholas G. Gottardo, Raelene Endersby

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Medulloblastoma is the most common childhood brain cancer. Mainstay treatments of radiation and chemotherapy have not changed in decades and new treatment approaches are crucial for the improvement of clinical outcomes. To date, immunotherapies for medulloblastoma have been unsuccessful, and studies investigating the immune microenvironment of the disease and the impact of current therapies are limited. Preclinical models that recapitulate both the disease and immune environment are essential for understanding immune-tumor interactions and to aid the identification of new and effective immunotherapies. Using an immune-competent mouse model of aggressive Myc-driven medulloblastoma, we characterized the brain immune microenvironment and changes induced …

Interruption Of Junctional Adhesion Molecules Shows Developmental Defects, Wesley Allen, Nathan Beckett, Lauren Hall, Emma Holdaway, Sion Jung, Meredith Mann, Spencer Thacker, Jacob Wengler, Cailey Winn, Dario Mizrachi, Michael Stark

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

Development of the central nervous system, the brain and the spinal cord, starts initially with the formation of the neural tube. This vital process starts as a sheet of cells which then folds into a cylindrical structure in the early stages of embryo development (Fig1). Defects in the formation of the neural tube can lead to permanent disabilities in babies after birth. This is important to understand as current statistics show that approximately 300,000 babies are born annually with neural tube defects. (NTDs). In addition to NTDs there are many other dangerous birth defects that are important to understand as …

Salicylic Acid And N-Hydroxypipecolic Acid At The Fulcrum Of The Plant Immunity-Growth Equilibrium, Alyssa Shields, Vanessa Shivnauth, Christian Danve M. Castroverde

Biology Faculty Publications

Salicylic acid (SA) and N-hydroxypipecolic acid (NHP) are two central plant immune signals involved in both resistance at local sites of pathogen infection (basal resistance) and at distal uninfected sites after primary infection (systemic acquired resistance). Major discoveries and advances have led to deeper understanding of their biosynthesis and signaling during plant defense responses. In addition to their well-defined roles in immunity, recent research is emerging on their direct mechanistic impacts on plant growth and development. In this review, we will first provide an overview of how SA and NHP regulate local and systemic immune responses in plants. We …

Staying Hydrated: A Comparative Analysis Of Humectants In Human Skin, Ayden Olsen, Rachel Prince, Craig Reeves, Cassie Peterson, Jason Adams

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

Humectants are an important class of compounds that attract and retain water within a cell. When mixed with water to create wetting solutions, humectants can prevent desiccation of cadaveric specimens. Recognizing a relative scarcity of comparative studies analyzing the effects of various wetting solutions on post preservation cadaveric maintenance, we utilized wet-dry analysis in order to compare the effects of four common humectants on water retention in human skin tissue. We created a concentration gradient for each humectant to identify the optimal concentrations of each compound for water retention, after which we compared water retention in tissue at the optimal …

A Ketogenic Diet Enhances Hippocampal Mitochondrial Efficiency, Cali E. Warren, Erin R. Saito, Benjamin T. Bikman

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

Mitochondrial dysfunction and cognitive impairment are common symptoms in many neurologic disorders, as well as in nonpathological aging. Ketones have been suggested as therapeutic for their relevance in epilepsy and other neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and major depressive disorder.

New Treatment For Multiple Sclerosis Could Halt Disease Progression Without Weakening Immune System, Carter Helquist, Dario Mizrachi

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

• Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neurological and autoimmune disease in which immune cells cause demyelination of axons in nervous tissue.
• Current treatments for the disease are principally aimed at weakening the immune system to therefore weaken the autoimmune attack on the brain. This leaves patients prone to other sicknesses.
• We seek a treatment that prevents the immune cells from entering the central nervous system (CNS) thereby protecting its cells.
• We can prevent immune cells from entering the CNS by strengthening the blood brain barrier through targeting claudin 5 proteins in the tight junctions.
• This new treatment could mean increased …

Chimeric Claudins Reveal Role In Neural Tube Defects, Wesley Allen, Nathan Beckett, Emma Brenchley, Jacob Wengler, Lauren Hall, Cailey Winn, Meredith Mann, Sion Jung, Spencer Thacker, Rachel May, Dario Mizrachi, Micheal Stark

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

Claudins (CLDN), a family of proteins found in the tight junction, play a major role in membrane permeability. While claudin disruption is known to contribute to the formation of neural tube defects (NTD), current research methods rely heavily on a non-specific toxin, CPE, when exploring the importance of CLDNs within neural tube formation. This makes it difficult to identify individual CLDN’s contribution to NTD formation, creating a need for a more specific method.

Natural Phaeosphaeride A Derivatives Overcome Drug Resistance Of Tumor Cells And Modulate Signaling Pathways, Victoria Abzianidze, Natalia Moiseeva, Diana Suponina, Sofya Zakharenkova, Nadezhda Rogovskaya, Lidia Laletina, Alvin A. Holder, Denis Krivorotov, Alexander Bogachenkov, Alexander Garabadzhiu, Anton Ukolov, Vyacheslav Kosorukov

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

n the present study, natural phaeosphaeride A (PPA) derivatives are synthesized. Anti-tumor studies are carried out on the PC3, K562, HCT-116, THP-1, MCF-7, A549, NCI-H929, Jurkat, and RPMI8226 tumor cell lines, and on the human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cell line. All the compounds synthesized turned out to have better efficacy than PPA towards the tumor cell lines listed. Among them, three compounds exhibited an ability to overcome the drug resistance of tumor cells associated with the overexpression of the P-glycoprotein by modulating the work of this transporter. Luminex xMAP technology was used to assess the effect of five synthesized compounds …

Evaluation Of Pd-L1 Expression On Circulating Tumour Cells In Small-Cell Lung Cancer, Emmanuel Acheampong, Afaf Abed, Michael Morici, Isaacs Spencer, Aaron B. Beasley, Samantha Bowyer, Du Bois Asante, Chris Lomma, Weitao Lin, Michael Millward, Elin S. Gray

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Antibodies against the programmed death-1 (PD-1) receptor and its ligand (PD-L1) have been recently approved for small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) treatment. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) have emerged as an appealing liquid biopsy candidate that could enhance treatment decision-making in systemic therapy for SCLC patients. Several current technologies enrich CTCs using specific surface epitopes, size, rigidity, or dielectric properties. However, they are hampered by the heterogeneity of the enriched cells from blood samples. Methods: We evaluated two CTC enrichment systems: EpCAM conjugated to magnetic beads and a microfluidic device (Parsortix, Angle plc). PD-L1 expression was evaluated on the isolated CTCs. …

Carbapenemase-Producing Pseudomonas Aeruginosa – An Emerging Challenge, Fred C. Tenover, David P. Nicolau, Christian M. Gill

Biology Faculty Publications

Carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CR-PA) is a major healthcare-associated pathogen worldwide. In the United States, 10–30% of P. aeruginosa isolates are carbapenem-resistant, while globally the percentage varies considerably. A subset of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa isolates harbour carbapenemases, although due in part to limited screening for these enzymes in clinical laboratories, the actual percentage is unknown. Carbapenemase-mediated carbapenem resistance in P. aeruginosa is a significant concern as it greatly limits the choice of anti-infective strategies, although detecting carbapenemase-producing P. aeruginosa in the clinical laboratory can be challenging. Such organisms also have been associated with nosocomial spread requiring infection prevention interventions. The carbapenemases …

Effect Of Rehmannia Glutinosa Libosch Extract On Proliferation And Cardiogenic Pre-Differentiation Of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Huu Dat Nguyen, Len Ho Thi, Xuan Bach Ho, Van Anh Cao, Duy Minh Le Hoang

BioMedicine

Background: Vietnamese medicine tried and tested certain bioactive compounds from plants to increase the rate of tissue immunomodulation, regeneration, and differentiation. Although there are many research papers discovered about phytochemicals of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch and differentiation induction potential of some substances purified from this herbal, it finds difficult to seek research that investigated the effect of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch extract on proliferation and cardiogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, even though it has commonly been used for a long time because of its function as a restorative and as a critical role in cardiovascular treatment in traditional.

Results: Our …

Vaccinia Virus Arrests And Shifts The Cell Cycle, Caroline K. Martin, Jerzy Samolej, Annabel T. Olson, Cosetta Bertoli, Matthew S. Wiebe, Robertus A. M. De Bruin, Jason Mercer

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Modulation of the host cell cycle is a common strategy used by viruses to create a proreplicative environment. To facilitate viral genome replication, vaccinia virus (VACV) has been reported to alter cell cycle regulation and trigger the host cell DNA damage response. However, the cellular factors and viral effectors that mediate these changes remain unknown. Here, we set out to investigate the effect of VACV infection on cell proliferation and host cell cycle progression. Using a subset of VACV mutants, we characterise the stage of infection required for inhibition of cell proliferation and define the viral effectors required to dysregulate …

A Facial Congenital Anomaly In A Mature Male White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus), Travis Cunningham, Al Mead

Georgia Journal of Science

Congenital anomalies are rarely documented in wild ungulates. This study describes a congenital facial malformation in a mature male white-tailed deer harvested in central Georgia in 2020. The skull displays a mediolateral deflection of the rostrum, and the mandibles display similar deflection with posterior rotation at the mandibular symphysis, a maxillofacial malformation commonly called wry face. Based on physical examination and radiographic imagery, there were no signs of neoplasia or healed bone trauma on the skull or jaws, suggesting a congenital origin for the deformity. Studies of domestic horses displaying wry face conclude that the malformation arises from fetal mispositioning …

Adrenergic Modulation Of Precursor Cells Of Ovarian Cancer, Sweta Dash

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ovarian cancer remains one of the most lethal gynecological cancer and ranks eighth in cancer-related mortality among women. The high mortality rate can be attributed to majority of the cases being diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease when the survival rate and overall prognosis are poor. There is lack of effective screening modalities to detect ovarian cancer at early stages. Hence, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to ovarian cancer initiation is required.

Epidemiological studies have reported that conditions which cause chronic behavioral stress are associated with a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer. The activation of …

Escherichia Coli Alanyl-Trna Synthetase Maintains Proofreading Activity And Translational Accuracy Under Oxidative Stress, Arundhati Kavoor, Paul Kelly, Michael Ibba

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are enzymes that synthesize aminoacyl-tRNAs to facilitate translation of the genetic code. Quality control by aaRS proofreading and other mechanisms maintains translational accuracy, which promotes cellular viability. Systematic disruption of proofreading, as recently demonstrated for alanyl-tRNA synthetase (AlaRS), leads to dysregulation of the proteome and reduced viability. Recent studies showed that environmental challenges such as exposure to reactive oxygen species can also alter aaRS synthetic and proofreading functions, prompting us to investigate if oxidation might positively or negatively affect AlaRS activity. We found that while oxidation leads to modification of several residues in Escherichia coli AlaRS, unlike …

A Novel Non‑Selective Atypical Pkc Agonist Could Protect Neuronal Cell Line From A Β ‑Oligomer Induced Toxicity By Suppressing A Β Generation, Dongmei Zou, Qian Li, Wenyang Pan, Peng Chen, Miao Sun, Xiaofeng Bao

Publications and Research

Atypical protein kinase C (aPKCs) serve key functions in embryonic development by regulating apical-basal polarity. Previous studies have shed light on their roles during adulthood, especially in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although the crystal structure of PKCι has been resolved, an agonist of aPKCs remains to be discovered. In the present study, by using the Discovery Studio program and LibDock methodology, a small molecule library (K66-X4436 KINA Set) of compounds were screened for potential binding to PKCι. Subsequently, the computational docking results were validated using affinity selection-mass spectrometry, before in vitro kinase activity was used to determine the …

Combination Of Tipifarnib And Sunitinib Overcomes Renal Cell Carcinoma Resistance To Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Via Tumor-Derived Exosome And T Cell Modulation, Jacob W. Greenberg, Hogyoung Kim, Miae Ahn, Ahmed A. Moustafa, He Zhou, Pedro C. Barata, A. Hamid Boulares, Asim B. Abdel-Mageed, Louis S. Krane

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Background: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) were initially demonstrated as an efficacious treatment for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, after a median treatment length of 14 months, a vast majority of patients develop resistance. This study analyzed a combination therapy of tipifarnib (Tipi) + sunitinib that targeted exosome-conferred drug resistance. Methods: 786-O, 786-O-SR (sunitinib resistant), A498, A498-SR, Caki-2, Caki-2-SR, and 293T cells were cultured. Ex-osomes were collected using differential ultracentrifugation. Cell proliferation, Jurkat T cell immune assay, and immunoblot analysis were used for downstream analysis. Results: SR exosomes treatment displayed a cytotoxic effect on immune cells. This cytotoxic effect was associated …

Cilia Proteins Are Biomarkers Of Altered Flow In The Vasculature, Ankan Gupta, Karthikeyan Thirugnanam, Madhan Thamilarasan, Ashraf M. Mohieldin, Hadeel T. Zedan, Shubhangi Prabhudesai, Meghan R. Griffin, Andrew D. Spearman, Amy Pan, Sean P. Palecek, Huseyin C. Yalcin, Surya M. Nauli, Kevin R. Rarick, Rahima Zennadi, Ramani Ramchandran

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Cilia, microtubule-based organelles that project from the apical luminal surface of endothelial cells (ECs), are widely regarded as low-flow sensors. Previous reports suggest that upon high shear stress, cilia on the EC surface are lost, and more recent evidence suggests that deciliation—the physical removal of cilia from the cell surface—is a predominant mechanism for cilia loss in mammalian cells. Thus, we hypothesized that EC deciliation facilitated by changes in shear stress would manifest in increased abundance of cilia-related proteins in circulation. To test this hypothesis, we performed shear stress experiments that mimicked flow conditions from low to high shear stress …

Detection Of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Infections Using Molecular Methods, Fred C. Tenover, Isabella A. Tickler

Biology Faculty Publications

The application of molecular detection methods for bacterial pathogens has dramatically improved the outcomes of septic patients, including those with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. Molecular methods can be applied to a variety of clinical specimens including nasal swabs, growth in blood culture bottles, and wounds. While data show that the overall accuracy of molecular tests for MRSA is high, results can be confounded by the presence of multiple staphylococcal species in a specimen, insertions and deletions of DNA in and around the Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec) element, and point mutations in mecA. Herein, we explore the complexities of …