Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

Sustainable Mitigation Of Microplastic Pollutants Using Native Plant Species, Antonio De Jesus Martinez De La Rosa, Emily Lancaster

Research Papers

Microplastics (MPs) are defined as small plastic particles that come from the degradation of plastics [Ziani et al. 2023], that hold a regular or irregular shape, ranging from 1μm to 5 mm [Campanale et al. 2025]. This diminutive size makes them virtually impossible to remove once released into the environment[Lee et al. 2023]. Furthermore, biological, chemical, and physical processes break MP's further down in the environment, causing them to exist in nano-level sizes (1nm-1μm) [Lee et al. 2023], further exacerbating their threat to critical habitats. However, recent studies have shown MP contamination expands beyond the natural environment as recent studies …

Sustainable Mitigation Of Microplastic Pollutants Using Native Plant Species, Antonio Martinez

Posters - 2026

Microplastics (MPs) are defined as small plastic particles that come from the degradation of plastics [Ziani et al. 2023], that hold a regular or irregular shape, ranging from 1μm to 5 mm [Campanale et al. 2025]. This diminutive size makes them virtually impossible to remove once released into the environment[Lee et al. 2023]. Furthermore, biological, chemical, and physical processes break MP's further down in the environment, causing them to exist in nano-level sizes (1nm-1μm) [Lee et al. 2023], further exacerbating their threat to critical habitats. However, recent studies have shown MP contamination expands beyond the natural environment as recent studies …

Effects Of Kiwifruit Extract On Apoptosis And Cytokine Production In Inflamed Thp-1-Derived Macrophages, Adrian Cruz, Isbella Brigman

Posters - 2026

White blood cells are essential components of the immune system involved in helping defend the body against infections. Macrophages are a type of white blood cell that play a major role in stimulating and regulating the inflammatory response. Inflammation is a natural response of the immune system to infection, injury, or harmful stimuli. Scientific research commonly studies inflammation by exposing immune cells to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Macrophages stimulated with LPS undergo changes in cell processes such as apoptosis which is programmed cell death. Apoptosis is crucial for the immune system that helps eliminate infected or damaged cells to prevent the spread …

The Effects Of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Cards Toxin On M2 Macrophage Polarization And Formation, Ria Modi

Posters - 2026

Macrophages are key cells of the innate immune system, playing essential roles in host defense, tissue homeostasis, and inflammation. Depending on stimuli, macrophages can polarize into distinct functional phenotypes, characterized as classically activated (M1) or alternatively activated (M2) macrophages. M2 macrophages are associated specifically with anti-inflammatory responses, tissue repair, and immune regulation. They contribute to wound healing and can regulate host responses during infection. Community-acquired respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS) toxin, a key virulence factor of Mycoplasma pneumoniae, plays a role in altering host immune responses, but its impact on M2 macrophage function and polarization remains unclear.

Impact Of Liver-Secreted Small Extracellular Vesicles On Myotube Funcation, Tatiana Barrantes, Ioannis Tsialtas, Qing Zhang, Kevin Koronowski

Posters - 2026

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) mediate intercellular communication by transferring molecular signals between tissues. Liver-derived EVs contribute to metabolic regulation and have been implicated in tissue cross-talk during health and disease. Skeletal muscle is a highly metabolic tissue that depends on mitochondrial respiration for energy production. However, whether liver-secreted EVs influence myotube mitochondrial function remains unclear. Here, we investigate the impact of liver-derived EVs on myotube mitochondrial respiration.

Comparing Gngt1 Expression In Eye Tissue Of Polymorphic Salamander Species Through Development, Fiona Coulbourne, Camila Cardozo, Macarena Machado, Ruben Tovar

Posters - 2026

The effect of the environment on organisms and their adaptations is widely studied. When exposed to different environmental niches, phenotypic adaptation is observed even within species. Animals that live in dark cave environments show a loss of their eyesight, since this sense is no longer useful to keep. Previous research has studied salamanders of the clade Eurycea and compared gene expression to subterranean and surface phenotypes1. E.pterophila is observed to express these two phenotypes depending on its environment, either Preserve Cave (subterranean) or Comal Springs (surface). Subterranean variant shows reduced eye volume and assumes to have decreased eyesight. Utilizing RNASeq …

Assessing Differential Expression In Skin Of Surface Versus Subterranean Salamanders (Eurycea) Through Development, Chiara Angelyn Maldonado, Van Nguyen, Amy Torres

Posters - 2026

In salamanders, previous findings have shown that subterranean environments impose different selection pressures on sensory systems than surface environments do (1). Differences in ocular development between phenotypes is part of ongoing research to better understand the evolutionary and molecular underpinnings. Studies have shown that parallel ocular development occurred in subterranean and surface phenotypes, while pax6 expression decreased in latter stages of development of subterranean species (2). These insights of gene labeling and expression as well as reduction of ocular structures in latter stages of development provide a stage for understanding evolutionary processes and genetic mechanisms as well as having potential …

Nucleotide Excision Repair In Yeast, Kinleigh Mines, Larry Ramirez, Jacob Rodriguez, Delynda Gonzalez

Posters - 2026

DNA damage occurs constantly in cells due to environmental factors and normal cellular processes, making DNA repair pathways essential for maintaining genomic stability (Hindi et al., 2021). One major repair mechanism is Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER), which is responsible for recognizing and removing bulky DNA lesions that distort the double helix structure (Scharer, 2013). In Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast), the RAD14 gene plays a critical role in this pathway by helping identify and initiate repair of damaged DNA (Scharer, 2013). Another source of instability comes from the formation of G-quadruplex (G4) structures, which are secondary DNA configurations that can interfere with …

Mitochondria Dynamics In Microglia During Health, Inflammation, And Aging, Alicia Nicole Pietramale

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Microglia continually surveil the brain, allowing for rapid detection of tissue damage or infection. Microglial metabolism is linked to tissue homeostasis, yet how mitochondria are subcellularly partitioned in microglia and dynamically reorganize during surveillance, injury responses, and phagocytic engulfment in the intact brain has remained unclear. In this dissertation, I combine intravital imaging, ultrastructural analyses, and metabolic and cytoskeletal markers to investigate how mitochondrial organization relates to microglial function across health, inflammation, and aging.

I first show that microglial processes diverge in their mitochondrial content, with some containing multiple mitochondria while others are completely void. This heterogeneous partitioning is conserved …

Morphological Characteristics Of The Mediophyceae Diatom Lampriscus Cf. Shadboltianus Var. Crenulatus Collected From Gili Meno, Indonesia, Arief Rachman, Riani Widiarti, Setiarti Sukotjo, Mark Wells

Makara Journal of Science

Diatoms are the most common and abundant microalgae group in seawater, with an estimated 200 genera and 200,000 species categorized into three distinct taxonomic classes: Mediophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, and Coscinodiscophyceae. This study describes the morphological characteristics of Lampriscus GM052022, a diatom belonging to the Mediophyceae family, which was collected from Gili Matra, Lombok, Indonesia. Analysis using light microscopy (LM) and electron microscopy (EM) showed that the morphological characteristics of the Lampriscus GM052022 specimen are similar to those of Lampriscus shadboltianus var. crenulatus due to the distinct crenulation lines on the frustule, which differentiate this variation from Lampriscus shadboltianus. However, the …

Inside 'N Out: Etv2 Specification Of Hemangiogenic Lineages From Flk1+ Mesoderm, Dereck Antonio Shakeel Alleyne

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The cardiovascular system is generated by mesodermal progenitors that give rise to endothelial, hematopoietic and muscle (smooth muscle and cardiomyocyte) lineages. Although vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), its receptor, FLK1/KDR and the transcription factor ETV2 are critically required for hemangiogenic specification, Flk1 and Etv2 expression has been observed in other mesodermal derivatives. During gastrulation, mesodermal progenitors are specified to contribute to the cardiovascular system; however, the early divergence of hemangiogenic and muscle progenitors, and their shared marker expression, complicates identification of common mesoderm progenitor populations contributing to both lineages. In this dissertation, I demonstrate how Flk1+ and Etv2+ lineage relationships …

Methods Of Inducing Cellular Senescence In Lung Fibroblasts, Sara Palega, Jennifer Q. Zhou, Shan Zhu, Yan Y. Sanders

Knowledge and Creativity Expo

Methods of Inducing Cellular Senescence in Lung Fibroblasts

Sara Palega¹, Jennifer Q Zhou², Shan Zhu², Yan Y Sanders²

¹VHS Biomedical Sciences PhD program, ²Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University (ODU)

Introduction: Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is the most prevalent and severe of interstitial lung diseases. This chronic and progressive condition lacks treatment options and is ultimately fatal without a lung transplant. IPF arises from aberrant wound healing that leads to excessive collagen deposition, inflammation, and cystic alveolar growths which makes …

Mitochondrial Transfer And Induced Ros As A Therapeutic Strategy In Idh2-Mutant Chondrosarcoma, Vegas R. Bedder, Caleb Wyckoff, Chris Osgood, Gavin A. Vasquez, Michael Stacey

Knowledge and Creativity Expo

Chondrosarcoma (CS) are common bone cancers that produce cartilaginous tumors and are extremely refractive to chemo-and-radiation therapies, leaving very limited treatment options. They contain mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase genes, IDH1 or IDH2. Either IDH1 or IDH2 mutations are present in individual tumors, but not both. They both convert alphaketoglutarate (αKG) into the potent oncometabolite D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D2HG). D2HG can be transported from the tumors to cells of the tumor microenvironment (TME) where it can alter metabolic and epigenetic profiles in recipient cells. The process of α-KG to D2HG conversion occurs in the cytoplasm of IDH1 mutant cells, and in the …

Bacillus Subtilis Parb C-Terminal Lysine Residues Are Essential For Dimerization And In Vivo Function, Indicating Their Roles In Dna Sliding, Aleksey Aleshintsev, Lindsey E. Way, Ngoc Khanh Lai, Bianca Guerra, Paloma Dorantes, Lois Akosua Serwaa, Sealtiel Anulao, Miranda Molina, Xindan Wang, Hyeongjun Kim

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The broadly conserved ParB protein performs crucial functions in bacterial chromosome segregation and replication regulation. The cellular function of ParB requires it to dimerize, recognize parS DNA sequences, clamp on DNA, then slide to adjacent sequences through nonspecific DNA binding. How ParB coordinates nonspecific DNA binding and sliding remains elusive. Here, we combine multiple in vitro biophysical and computational tools and in vivo approaches to address this question. We found that five conserved lysine residues in the C-terminal domain (CTD) of ParB play distinct roles. While the two central rigid lysine residues provide the structural platform for the CTD, the …

Insights Into The Role Of Sox6 In The Developing Heart, Hannah Tarolli

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 40,000 babies born each year in the U.S. have a congenital heart defect (CHD). However, only a small percentage of CHDs has a known genetic cause, highlighting the need for research surrounding heart development and the pathogenesis of CHDs. Heart development research aims to elucidate the precise coordination of gene expression and cell signaling with the goal of advancing prevention and treatment methods. During heart development, cells from several origins play a crucial role. This includes cells derived from the endocardium, epicardium, cardiac neural crest, and second heart field. Previous studies have revealed that the transcription factor, SOX9, is …

Synthetic Lethality Between Rb-Loss And E2f3 Inhibition In Small Cell Cancers Targeted By Pyrimidine Synthesis Blockade, Evan R. Abt, Liang Wang, Grigor Varuzhanyan, Jack Freeland, Tian He, Guadalupe M. Peña-Garcia, Lauryn Ruegg, Jami Mclaughlin, Donghui Cheng, Nikolas G. Balanis, Chia-Chun Chen, Yang Xu, Yi Xing, Sanaz Memarzadeh, Caius G. Radu, Thomas G. Graeber, Owen N. Witte

Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Small cell carcinoma is a highly lethal cancer variant often found with neuroendocrine (NE) features, as exemplified by small cell lung cancer and small cell NE prostate cancer (SCPC). A genome-wide CRISPR dependency screen using SCPC models generated through human prostate cell transformation identifies a requirement for the transcription factor E2F3. E2F3 dependency is linked to RB inactivation, a near universal occurrence across small cell cancers. The requirement for E2F3 is shared by RB-deficient cells originating from the prostate, lung, and adnexa. In RB-deficient cancer cells, E2F3 inhibition restrains cell cycle progression, proliferation, and tumor growth in vivo. Inhibition of …

Role Of Na⁺/K⁺-Atpase And Sodium–Calcium Exchanger In Digitoxin-Induced Cytotoxicity In Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Alyson Sotomayor Quispe, Marilyn Odom Phd

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is characterized by the absence of estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors, limiting targeted treatment options. Digitoxin, a drug used to treat heart failure and atrial fibrillation through Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase inhibition, has demonstrated anticancer effects in TNBC cells, including apoptosis via the NF-κB pathway. This study investigates whether the Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and sodium–calcium exchanger contribute to the mechanism of action of digitoxin in TNBC cells. We hypothesize that these transporters mediate digitoxin-induced cytotoxic effects. To test this, MDA-MB-468 cells were treated with digitoxin, and protein localization and expression were analyzed using immunofluorescence and Western blot. Digitoxin treatment resulted …

Contribution Of G4 Structure To Alzheimer’S Disease And Tau Pathology, Lena Michaela Kallweit

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The occurrence of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is rapidly increasing as our global population ages. With the majority of therapeutic drugs in the last couple of decades failing clinical trials, new molecular targets are needed to combat the expected influx of new AD cases. AD pathogenesis is associated with abnormal protein aggregation, characterized in part by intracellular accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) in neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). RNA has been identified as a major non-proteinaceous component of NFTs and has been implicated as an active cofactor in tau aggregation and spread. Recent work has shown that aggregates from AD brains contain almost …

Egf Enhances Re-Epithelization In Our Ex-Vivo Pig Eye Model, Andrew D. Le, Lisandra Plana-Ramos, Kate Tarvestad, Brian Ceresa

The Cardinal Edge

The cornea, the foremost anterior portion of the eye, plays a critical role in vision by refracting light and serving as a protective barrier. Its three distinct layers—the outermost epithelial layer, the thick stromal layer, and the innermost endothelial layer work together to maintain corneal transparency and function. The epithelial layer is particularly susceptible to damage, which can compromise the eye’s defense against foreign particles such as bacteria and viruses, potentially leading to infection and blindness. In this study, we established an ex vivo porcine corneal model to quantitatively and qualitatively investigate corneal re-epithelialization. Using adult pig eyes sourced from …

The Effect Of Prenatal Cigarette Smoke Exposure And Adult High-Fat/High-Fructose Diet On Liver Triglyceride Levels, Toni A. Adedokun, Isaiah Burciaga, Megan Jacobs, Katelyn Chism, Anna-Lee Harris, Kristen Overton, Selma Podbicanin, Andrew Potts, Rachel Neal, Cynthia Corbitt

The Cardinal Edge

Prenatal cigarette smoke exposure (CSE) is associated with chronic metabolic disease in adulthood, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease. Maternal cigarette smoking reduces uterine and placental blood flow, limiting nutrients and oxygen supply to the fetus. According to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis, these conditions may cause developmental adaptations that are maladaptive in calorie-rich environments. We hypothesized that gestational CSE would sensitize affected offspring to the effects of an adulthood high-fat (40 kcal%), high fructose (20 kcal%) diet. C57BL/6J mice were exposed either to filtered room air (sham) or the smoke generated …