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Immunity Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Immunity

Antimicrobial Activity Of Cat Flea (Ctenocephalides Felis) Gut Proteins On Different Days After Blood Feeding, Dhruva K. Karnik Apr 2024

Antimicrobial Activity Of Cat Flea (Ctenocephalides Felis) Gut Proteins On Different Days After Blood Feeding, Dhruva K. Karnik

Honors College Theses

Cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) are a blood-feeding ectoparasitic insect and a common domestic pest found throughout the world. Because of their reliance on host blood, fleas are exposed to blood-borne pathogens; however, the flea gut lumen is a hostile environment for microbial colonization. For example, the gut epithelia differentially express immune genes in response to feeding. In the present study, we measured the antimicrobial activity of gut proteins from cat fleas at different days after feeding (2, 5, 7, and 14). Dissected flea guts were homogenized, passed through a syringe filter, and measured in a protein assay kit. …


Roles Of A Bradykinin Storm And A Cytokine Storm In Covid-19 Cases, Nouha H. Odeh Aug 2021

Roles Of A Bradykinin Storm And A Cytokine Storm In Covid-19 Cases, Nouha H. Odeh

Honors College Theses

In the light of recent events, it is imperative to understand the key inflammatory response elements that appear to be the source of more severe ailments resulting from a SARS-CoV-2 viral infection known as Covid-19 The more severe cases of Covid-19 are characterized by a severe inflammatory response resulting in tissue damage. My research proposal aims to investigate the two possible culprits of this response: a bradykinin (BK) storm and an interleukin-6 (IL-6) mediated cytokine storm. In both systems respectively, the excess release of these signals subsequently signals the production of even more of the same response element, resulting in …


Parasite Infection Mediates Trait Tradeoffs In Fundulus Heteroclitus, Sarah Dunn May 2015

Parasite Infection Mediates Trait Tradeoffs In Fundulus Heteroclitus, Sarah Dunn

Honors College Theses

To be successful, an animal must eat, grow, and reproduce. With limited resources, there are tradeoffs between these critical life history parameters but the direction of the tradeoffs is largely unknown in a changing environment. To determine whether environmental context affects life-history tradeoffs, I surveyed and quantified investment into reproduction, growth, and a proxy for immunity (parasitism), in the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, a common inhabitant of salt marshes in Georgia. Three salt marsh sites along coastal Georgia (Shellman Bluff, Skidaway Island, and Tybee Island) were selected using a proxy for anthropogenic disturbance (impervious surface), which also fell along a …


The Effects Of Digestion On Innate Immunity, Rachel L. Luoma Apr 2015

The Effects Of Digestion On Innate Immunity, Rachel L. Luoma

Honors College Theses

Following a meal, an animal can exhibit dramatic shifts in its physiology that can result in rapid growth of the gut and heart, as well as a massive (>40-fold) increase in metabolic rate associated with the energetic costs of processing the meal. However, little is known about the effects of digestion on an important physiological trait: immune function. Thus, I tested the following competing hypotheses. First, digesting animals may upregulate their immune systems due to increased microbial exposure from ingested food. This hypothesis predicts that animals will exhibit greater immune function during digestion. Second, digesting animals may downregulate their …