Animal Structures Commons^™

Effects Of Nicotine On Dopamine Signaling In Sprague Dawley Rats, Dominik Sretenovic, Kyle A. Marsh, Sabin Mulch, Gahnan Schaff, Anthony Jones, Sukhman Bains, David Daberkow

2025 Symposium

Nicotine influences dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens, a brain region associated with reward processing and addiction. This study examined nicotine’s effects on DA signaling using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) in anesthetized rats. Electrodes were implanted to stimulate DA release in the medial forebrain bundle and record signals in the ventral striatum. After administering saline or nicotine, DA levels were monitored in real-time, and electrode placement was later verified through histological analysis. Saline-treated rats showed minor DA fluctuations, with a peak signal detected at 50 minutes, while technical difficulties prevented complete nicotine data collection. However, previous experiments indicated significantly …

Modulation Of Opioid Receptor Expression In The Ventral Tegmental Area Following Stress Exposure In Rats, Maya Patel, John Tkaczynski, Jordan Riser, Nicole Shellenbarger, Jin Park, Daniel Manvich, Daniel J. Chandler

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background: The ventral tegmental area (VTA) contains dopamine-producing neurons projecting to various brain regions. VTA dysfunction is linked to addiction and depression. Delta opioid receptor upregulation relates to chronic pain, inflammation, cancer, and early adversity. Kappa receptors in the VTA influence stress, drug-seeking, mood, and reward. Notably, chronic substance abuse upregulates the κ-receptor/dynorphin system, and the opioid system regulates social interaction needs.

Hypothesis: Stress will upregulate opioid receptors.

Methods: We compared group-housed and individually-housed rats using stress tests, analyzing behavior and quantifying VTA opioid receptor expression.

Results: Social isolation upregulated delta and kappa opioid receptors in …

Medial Edge Chondrification Of The Vocal Folds Of E. Pustulosus And Its Function In Sexual Selection, Helena Soon Czochanski

Pacific Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference (PURCC)

No abstract provided.

Variations In Antibody Response To Aspergillus Fumigatus Inhalation In Mice, Andrea Wells

Student Academic Conference

Studies have configured immunological responses to Aspergillus fumigatus in mice, leading to advanced understandings. However, the comparisons of the immune responses between juvenile (younger than 6 weeks) male and female C57BL/6J mice after A. fumigatus exposure, remains uninvestigated. In this study, we intranasally inoculated 3 week old male and female mice with Aspergillus fumigatus spores dilution of 2 106spores per 40 l. They were exposed to the allergen once a week for 8 consecutive weeks and euthanized on day 28 post the last inoculation. As compared to our last report, we increased the sample size for each group in this …

Emergence, Mechanics, And Development: How Behavior And Geometry Underlie Cowrie Seashell Form, Michael G. Levy, Michael R. Deweese

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Oral Contraceptives As Possible Acl Injury Prevention Method, Haley Schweizer

Capstone Showcase

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are an upsetting setback for many athletes that require a long and costly recovery process. The injury rates are four times greater in women than men. Preventative measures that help to prevent ACL injuries are limited to stretching and strengthening. Therefore, this review aims to investigate if oral contraceptive [I] usage provides a possible new avenue for prevention of ACL injury [O] in young female athletes (ages 18-30) [P] compared to those that do not take oral contraceptives [C].

Methods: A literature review was performed though PubMed, Google Scholar, SCOPUS Database, and ClinicalKey …

Mobilization Of Calcium Across Mineralized Tissues In Yellow Perch, Perca Flavescens, Taylor Bopp

Student Scholar Showcase

Bones in many higher teleost fish, such as percids and centrarchids, lack osteocytes that function as both chemo- and mechano-sensors, and thus, are not actively involved in homeostasis of blood calcium level. Nonetheless, the vertebrae of yellow perch, Perca flavescens (P. flavescens), living in darker and low calcium (Ca) water, have demonstrated adaptive modeling and remodeling of vertebrae to be more mineralized and thus enhance transmission of the axial muscle torque into the thrust force for the C-start predator escape behavior. The prey-predator interaction is expected to occur at closer range between prey fish and predator fish in …

Arterial Distribution Of The Human Aorta: An Examination Of The Evolutionary, Developmental, And Physiological Bases Of Asymmetry., Brandon Oddo, Cooker Storm

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The study of anatomy contends that “form follows function”; a disciplinary theme purporting that anatomical structures (i.e., cells, tissues, and organs) have a shape that serves its proper function. With this in mind, it is unclear why human arterial distribution off the aortic arch is asymmetrical, while the corresponding venous anatomy is symmetrical. We investigated the evolutionary, developmental, and physiological bases for the asymmetry of aortic arch branches in humans. First, we investigated the cardiovascular anatomy of ancestral species to determine if, and at what level, anatomical divergence (from aortic symmetry to asymmetry) occurs. Second, we examined the formation of …

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 …