Laboratory and Basic Science Research Commons^™

Modulation Of Glucose Homeostasis By Nucleotide P2y2 Receptor And Biological Sex, Hailee Anne Marino

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Recent insights into the pathological role of Nucleotide P2Y₂ receptor suggest P2Y₂R involvement in high fat diet-induced obesity and potentiates insulin resistance. However, these recent insights do not demonstrate how P2Y₂R modulates glucose homeostasis under physiological conditions. Further, it remains unknown how sex biological factors influence P2Y₂R receptor signaling in the regulation of glucose homeostasis. The research objective for the present study is to elucidate the novel roles of P2Y₂ in fasting blood glucose and glucose tolerance (basal insulin sensitivity) under resting conditions in males and females. We expected that under physiological …

Unveiling Global Roles Of G-Quadruplexes And G4-22 In Human Genetics, Ruth Barros De Paula

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

G-quadruplexes are non-B DNA structures formed by four or more runs of repeated guanines that confer unique features to living organism’s genomes. These sequences are enriched in regulatory regions, such as promoters and 5’ UTRs, and have distinct regulatory roles in both health and disease states. Even though previous studies showed the impact of G4 in gene expression, none of them summarized the location-specific effect of G4. Also, there is no broad understanding about the most common G4 repeat in the human genome, named here as G4-22, and how it links to the evolution of mammals and their biology. In …

Comparative Genomics Methods And Applications, Emily N. Alden

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Virtually all fields of biology have benefited from the advancements in comparative genomics technologies, specifically in the study of evolution. In this dissertation I develop and use comparative genomic technologies to investigate the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus, assembly the first genome of the black lace domestic angelfish and identify germline genetic variants associated with altered breast cancer-specific survival. Our genome tiling array for the novel coronavirus presents a rapid and cost-effective method to sequence the entire viral genome and can be used to track the rapid evolution of viral variants in the population. The domestic angelfish is a member of the …

The Probability Of Success-Through Fault Tree Analytical Binomial Result, Tyleka Riddle

Night Flight: Online Literary Journal

Prestigious Appeal Rule of Thumb (Ear Drum Plugs)

In truant fashion, with proven accidental probabilistic perception for proposed cued facial expression recognition and voice commands without filtering. The estimated cost analysis for design and development generated from the enhanced project in the word "no”: Additionally, an audio noise effect size (ES) for desired level of comprehensive sensory receptors in sound reference to noisy party syndrome. Sytoss, (2019) "Resulting in a cocktail party theory for chalkboard distinction and conversation with applied facial recognition. As well as, the enhanced project management tool, EPMT, to provide output and input determination for higher-level acoustic …

Search For Palladin, An Actin-Associated Protein, In Pig Retinal Pigmented Epithelium And Its Role In Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Katrina Powell

Undergraduate Theses

This study investigates the expression of Palladin, a phosphoprotein product of the PALLD gene, in the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE). Palladin is an actin cross-linking protein and plays a role in cell adhesion and motility. Published reports have demonstrated that a down regulation of Palladin in colon cancer cells results in a reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, causing the cells to lose their typical shape, become proliferative and migratory. This process is otherwise known as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). A similar EMT phenomenon is observed when the RPE is exposed to the vitreous humor in patients with proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). In …

Biomedical Porcine Models For The Study Of Surgical Hemostasis, Hindlimb Ischemia, And Pancreatic Cancer, Shruthishree Aravind

Theses & Dissertations

Murine models have dominated the world of biomedical research and comparative medicine since their development in the early 1900s. [1] While they may be suitable models to study proteomics and genomics, they may not serve as effective translational models. [2-4] Murine models do not accurately model the pathophysiology of human disease and are limited by their size, application of medical imaging and intervention, which reduces their overall preclinical predictive value. [2-4]

Porcine models on the other hand, are slowly and steadily bridging the gap between murine models and human patients. [5] Pigs …

Safety Of Silver Oxide Coated Biomaterials In Mice, Michael Klug, Darien L. Seidman, Rahyan Mahmoud, Destiny Morot, Lei Yu, Jeffrey D Hettinger, Renee M Demarest

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

It has been demonstrated that silver oxide coatings designed by our collaborators are able to prevent E. coli and P. aeruginosa attachment to biomaterials in vivo. These findings demonstrate that such coatings show promise in preventing the development of biofilm on biodevices. However, it is unknown if the use of silver oxide in this fashion is toxic in vivo. The goal of this project was to determine whether our silver oxide coatings are safe to use in vivo. To assess the toxicity of our silver oxide formula, mice were implanted with either silver oxide coated titanium discs or uncoated titanium …

Neuroactivational And Behavioral Correlates Of Psychosocial Stress-Induced Cocaine Seeking In Rats, Nicole M. Hinds, Ireneusz D. Wojtas, Desta M. Pulley, Stephany J. Mcdonald, Samantha De Guzman, Nicole E. Hubbard, Colin M. Kulick-Soper, Jessica J. Debski, Bianca Patel, Daniel Manvich

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

A prominent feature of cocaine abuse is a high risk of relapse even despite prolonged periods of abstinence. Psychosocial stress is thought to be a major contributor to the onset of cocaine craving and relapse in human substance abusers, yet most preclinical models of stress-induced relapse employ physical stressors (e.g., unpredictable footshock) or pharmacological stressors (e.g., yohimbine to elicit a drug seeking response) and do not rely upon psychosocial stress per se. Importantly, social stressors are well known to activate distinct neural circuits within the brain as compared to other stressors. It is therefore possible that currently available animal models …

Novel Technology Enables Diagnostic Ultrasound Machine To Treat Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Mice, Ryan Morrison, Mrigendra B. Karmacharya, Chandra M. Sehgal

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

An off-the-shelf diagnostic transducer (ULTRASONIX C5-2) was modified with custom-built circuitry to enable the transducer to produce therapeutic ultrasound in order to ablate hepatocellular carcinomas grown in immunodeficient athymic nude mice (25-35 g; Charles River Laboratories, Wilmington, MA, USA). The therapeutic antivascular ultrasound (AVUS) produced by the off-the-shelf abdominal transducer was unfocused, continuous 2.8MHz ultrasound targeting contrast-enhancing perflutren lipid microbubbles within tumor vasculature. Previous research with a dedicated physiotherapy ultrasound machine (D150 Plus, Dynatronics Corp., Salt Lake City, UT, USA) targeting similar hepatocellular carcinomas showed disrupted tumor neovasculature and irreparable dilation of tumor capillaries with subsequent intercellular edema and hemorrhage.1-3 …

Substrate-Dependent Modulation Of Sirt2 By A Fluorescent Probe, 1-Aminoanthracene, David Bi, Prashit Parikh, Jie Yang, Brian P Weiser

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Sirtuin isoform 2 (SIRT2) is an enzyme that catalyzes the removal of acyl groups from lysine residues. SIRT2’s catalytic domain has a hydrophobic tunnel where its substrate acyl groups bind. Here, we report that the fluorescent probe 1-aminoanthracene (AMA) binds within SIRT2’s hydrophobic tunnel in a substrate-dependent manner. AMA’s interaction with SIRT2 was characterized by its enhanced fluorescence upon protein binding (>10-fold). AMA interacted weakly with SIRT2 alone in solution (Kd = 37 μM). However, when SIRT2 was equilibrated with a decanoylated peptide substrate, AMA’s affinity for SIRT2 was enhanced ∼10-fold (Kd = 4μM). The peptide’s decanoyl chain and …

Investigations Involving Mononuclear And Dinuclear Transition Metal Catalysts For Photochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction, Ansu Edwards

Honors Theses

There is currently a global energy crisis, which is in desperate need of solutions. New energy sources are required that will not pollute as much as our longstanding reliance on nonrenewable fossil fuels as an energy source. This pollution involves large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, predominantly carbon dioxide (CO₂), that contribute to environmental problems such as climate change. In this context, a fairly recent research direction to address this problem is the development of transition metal catalysts that can convert CO₂ into reduced carbon products that can serve as chemical fuels. This work focuses on the …

Cyclin C Determines Cell Fate In Response To Oxidative Stress And Proteasome Inhibition, David C. Stieg

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

In response to various sources of cellular stress, the coordination of intracellular events is necessary to elicit the appropriate molecular response. In particular, the reprogramming of gene expression by stress-specific transcription factors drives the activation of signaling pathways, triggering either cell survival or regulated cell death pathways. The Cdk8 kinase module (CKM) is a highly conserved transcriptional regulatory complex with a role in this decision. The CKM is composed of Cdk8, its activating partner cyclin C, and two scaffold proteins, Med12 and Med13. The CKM is a detachable subunit of the Mediator complex, which interacts with RNA polymerase II to …

Assessing The Outcomes Of Blocking Ccl2-Ccr2 Signaling Axis On Breast Cancer Brain Metastasis, Yutao Qi

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Breast cancer brain metastases have remained one of the most intense challenges for precision cancer therapeutics, but current treatment options are limited and not curative. Recently, our lab reported that adoptive PTEN downregulation in metastatic breast tumor cells activates PI3K/NF-ƙB signaling and increases the secretion of the chemokine CCL2, which enhances the chemotaxis of CCR2⁺ myeloid cells, a major subpopulation of bone marrow-derived myeloid cells (BMDMs), from peripheral blood into the brain tumor microenvironment (TME), eventually promoting brain metastasis outgrowth by driving immune suppression. Here, in this project we have been aiming to develop effective therapies by immune-modulating the …

Unraveling Host-Gut Microbiota Dialogue And Its Impact On Response To Immune Checkpoint Blockade, Alexandria Cogdill

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Cancer is a disease with only one degree of separation, affecting one in two men and one in three women in their lifetimes; accounting for 1 of every 6 deaths. While cancer mortality rates continue to improve, incidence rates are expected to rise and shift through 2050 due to epidemiological and demographic transitions worldwide. As such, it is imperative to continue to investigate and improve our understanding of both disease etiology and hallmarks of response to treatment. Currently, conventional therapies include, but are not limited to, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. However, within the past decade, major advances have been made …

Perivascular Adipose Tissue In Relation To Diet, Thermogenesis And Cardiovascular Health, Ginger Paquette, Caitlin Stieber, Ashely Soucy, Benjamin Tero, Lucy Liaw

Thinking Matters Symposium

Adipose tissue is a diverse and crucial component to vascular health due to its role in energy storage and heat production. The primary function of white adipose tissue (WAT) is energy storage while the function of mitochondria-rich brown adipose tissue (BAT) is heat production. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), which surrounds blood vessels, contains both WAT and BAT adipocytes. Dietary calorie restriction is associated with increased lifespan with decreased adiposity. Increased prevalence of WAT-like PVAT, due to high-fat diets and obesity, leads to increased metabolic disfunction and cardiovascular-disease. We used a calorie-restriction model in C57BL6/J mice to test the hypothesis that …

Importance Of Understanding Genetic Predisposition, Andrew Carter

Thinking Matters Symposium

Hypersensitivity reactions can be sudden and are often fatal. Many of these reactions occur as a result of allergies to prescribed medication. Adverse drug reactions or (ADR’s) were show in a recent study to affect over 6% of hospitalized patients and resulted in over 100,000 deaths a year in the US alone. This poster will review the importance of understanding genetic predisposition, through articles about possible genetic causes of allergies to penicillin and other beta-lactams. Changes in a specific HLA gene located on chromosome 6 showed a correlation to penicillin reactions in over 600,000 participants. Another study found a conclusive …

S.O.S. For Covid-19 (Subjective And Objective Screening): Are Asymptomatic Cases Truly Without Warning Signs?, Nathan Hughes

Honors College Theses

This study investigates the usefulness of five objective signs, evaluates relationships between objective signs with symptoms of COVID-19, and assesses the accuracy of ambient forehead temperature with tympanic temperature. Data were collected at Wayne State University. Blood oxygen levels and blood pressure were measured via pulse oximeters and blood pressure cuff. Body temperature was measured with a thermometer via the temple and the forehead. Smell was tested with two scented markers. None of the 29 participants confirmed a positive COVID-19 test. Therefore, only relationships between vital sign measurements were reported. No significant correlations were revealed upon analysis. Infrared and temporal …

Toxic Effect Of Crotalus Adamanteus Acidic Phospholipase A2 On Mcf-7 Cell Line, Daniel J. Petra

Honors Thesis

We are investigating the effect of Crotalus adamanteus acidic phospholipase A₂ on MCF-7 cells using the MTS assay. Understanding these interactions and isolated effects is critical to developing new ways to treat envenomation. By understanding the effects of individual toxins within a whole venom, we are set to better understand the effects of the whole venom and investigate synergistic actions between venom toxins. In this paper, we are quantifying the amount of MCF-7 cell death caused by Crotalus adamanteus phospholipase A₂ on MCF-7 using the MTS assay. Analysis of the amount of cells death caused by the phospholipase …

Long-Term Impacts Of Acute Stressor Exposure On Locus Coeruleus Function And Anxiety-Like Behavior In Rats, Olga Borodovitsyna

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Stress is a physiological state characterized by behavioral arousal that occurs during exposure to harmful or threatening stimuli, and usually facilitates an adaptive behavioral response. The persistence of stress sometimes causes it to become maladaptive, potentially contributing to disease development, including physiological complications with altered neuroendocrine signaling and impaired function of organ systems, and psychological conditions including depression and anxiety. Anxiety disorders in particular are associated with a history of stress and are the most common class of mental disorders, with a lifetime prevalence of 33.7% in the general population. The locus coeruleus (LC) is a major node in the …

A High-Throughput Approach To Characterizing Arv1 On The Regulation Of Lipid Homeostasis Uncovers A Novel Interaction With Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor, Nicholas Anthony Wachowski

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Acyl-CoA cholesterol acyl transferase related enzyme-2 required for viability 1 (ARV1) was first recognized in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a study done in 2000 by Tinkelenberg et al. In yeast, the deletion of ARV1 results in numerous defects including abnormal sterol trafficking [1], the reduction of sphingolipid metabolism [2], synthesis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor [3], ER stress [4], and hypersensitivity of fatty acids leading to lipoapoptosis [5]. Arv1 germline deletion in mice displayed a lean phenotype with increased energy [6]. In humans, ARV1 mutations lead to epileptic encephalopathy [7].

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) consists of simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis …

Laboratory Techniques In Public Health: Bi-520 Introduction To Public Health Lab Manual, Anuradha Srivastava

Open Educational Resources

This laboratory manual for a foundations course Public Health is unique in the sense that very rarely, a foundations course in the field has a lab component offered with the lecture. This lab manual provides basic laboratory exercises that could be useful to introduce undergraduate students to the basics of public health laboratory practices.

Purification And Functional Characterization Of The Iron-Responsive Transcription Factor Aft1 From C. Glabrata, Jade Ikahihifo-Bender

Senior Theses

Due to its unique ability to serve as both an electron donor and acceptor, iron is utilized as a co-factor for many biological processes, including electron transfer, oxygen binding, and vitamin synthesis. Iron is also a key factor during fungal infections as the human host and invading pathogens battle over limited iron pools. The primary iron-responsive transcription factor Aft1 in the opportunistic pathogenic yeast Candida glabrata responds to iron deficiency by activating expression of iron acquisition genes. However, the mechanisms for sensing intracellular iron levels and regulating Aft1 activity in response to iron are unknown. The C. glabrata iron regulation …

Novel Uplc-Ms/Ms Method For Standardization Of Niazimicin Content In Edible Seeds And Leaves Of Moringa Oleifera Lam., Eman M. Abdelsayed, Amira Abdel Motaal, Rasha S. Hanafi

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

Moringa oleifera (MO) is a highly nutritious plant, whose leaves and seed pods are consumed in Africa, Asia, sub-Himalayan regions and South America. A novel ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the standardization of the bioactive thiocarbamate compound from MO, niazimicin (NZ) in seeds and leaves, is developed, optimized and validated according to the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines, using desipramine as the internal standard. Multiple reaction monitoring detection of transitions 358.05>106.86 and 266.38 > 193.04 with collision energy of 25V and 40V, respectively were used. A gradient was optimized at 35-55%B …

Functional Influence Of 14-3-3 (Ywha) Proteins In Mammals, Elizabeth Barley, Santanu De

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

The 14-3-3 (YWHA) proteins are homologous, ubiquitous, and conserved in most organisms ranging from plants to animals and play important roles in regulating key cellular events such as cell signaling, development, apoptosis, etc. These proteins consist of seven isoforms in mammals, termed under Greek alphabetization: beta (β), gamma (γ), epsilon (ε), eta (η), tau/theta (τ), sigma (σ), and zeta (ζ). Each of these isoforms can interact with a plethora of binding partners and has been shown to serve a distinct role in molecular crosstalk, biological processes, and disease susceptibility. Protein 14-3-3 isoforms are scaffolding proteins capable of forming homodimers and …

Effects Of A Dual-Task Paradigm On Tandem Gait Performance, Courtney Angela Perry

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In concussion management, a variety of cognitive and motor control tests, like the tandem gait, have been used for assessing the presence of a concussion injury at the sideline and through recovery. More recently, research suggests that introducing a secondary cognitive retention task during tandem gait (i.e., dual task) may provide a better assessment of concussion. The purpose of this study was to determine if a tandem gait test paired with a 6-digit retention is a valid and reliable tool. Participants completed three trials of both the single-task (ST) and dual-task (DT) tandem gait tests, and their average (MEAN) and …

Predicting Total Length Of Fish In Minnesota Lakes Using Bony Structure Dimensions, Jay Holland

Journal of Earth and Life Science

This study seeks to establish a relationship between a fish’s total length to the size of various bony structures of prey fishes. Three important prey fish species in Minnesota were selected for examination in this study, including Black Crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus, Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, and Yellow Perch Perca flavescens. Length and weight dimensions of each fish’s otoliths, cleithra, and vertebrae were associated to total lengths of the fish they came from. In many dietary studies, the need for these relationships is strongly related to the disfigurement or degradation of prey fish in stomach samples. With accurate enough regression equations, researchers …

Manipulating The Perineuronal Net In The Deep Cerebellar Nucleus, Deidre E. O'Dell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Perineuronal nets (PNN) are a type of specialized extracellular matrix in the central nervous system. The PNN forms during postnatal development but the ontogeny of the PNN has yet to be elucidated. Studying the PNN in the rat brain may allow us to further understand the PNN’s role in development, learning, and memory. The PNN is fully developed in the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) of rats by post-natal day 18. By using enzymatic digestion of the PNN with chondroitinase ABC (ChABC), we studied how digestion of the PNN affects cerebellar-dependent eyeblink conditioning (EBC) and performed electrophysiological recordings from DCN neurons. …

Effects Of Acute And Chronic Nicotine Administration On Choice Of Probabilistic Outcomes, Katya A. Nolder

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Risky choice can be operationally defined as the choice for a larger, uncertain reinforcer over a smaller, certain reinforcer. Research suggests smokers engage in more risky or maladaptive decisions when compared to nonsmokers. The relation between nicotine and risky choice could benefit from further investigation, since nicotine is the active substance of tobacco products that maintains tobacco addiction. Acute nicotine administration has shown to alter risky choice; however, since the everyday smoker uses nicotine repeatedly, more research on chronic administration is warranted and would allow for assessment of tolerance or sensitization of these effects. The present study investigated effects of …

Mitochondrial Aspects Of Neuronal Pathology In Triple-Transgenic Alzheimer’S Disease Mice, John Zachary Cavendish

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a fatal, progressive neurodegenerative disease afflicting millions of people in the United States alone and is the only one of the top leading causes of morbidity and mortality with no effective disease-modifying therapies. It is the most common form of dementia, affecting one in three people over the age of 85. While the hallmarks of the disease include accumulation of beta-amyloid-based extracellular plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau-based intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, treatment strategies centered on removing or mitigating these components of AD have all failed in humans. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been increasingly recognized as an early and consistent …

A Context-Forward In Vivo Functional Genomics Platform For Target Discovery And Establishing Vulnerability Context In Pancreatic Cancer, Johnathon Rose, Johnathon Lynn Rose

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive malignancy with a very poor patient prognosis (5-year survival of ≤ 7%). While transcriptional profiling has aided in the classification of this disease into at least two broader subtypes, this alone has so far been insufficient to inform on more nuanced patterns of oncogenic dependency. We hypothesized that a more comprehensive and granular characterization of PDAC disease diversity is required to establish relevant context for targeted therapy. To this end, we sought to establish an integrated platform to: i) more comprehensively characterize differential oncogenic signaling across our tumor models, and ii) establish …