Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

Aerobic Exercise And Scaffolds With Hierarchical Porosity Synergistically Promote Functional Recovery Post Volumetric Muscle Loss, Christina Zhu, Karina Skylar, Yori Endo, Mohamadmahdi Samandari,, Mehran Karvar, Azadeh Mostafavi, Jacob Quint, Chiara Rioldi, Wojciech Swieszkowski, Joshua Mauney, Shailesh Agarwal, Ali Tamayol, Indranil Sinha

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) is a composite loss of skeletal muscle tissue (greater than 20%) that heals with minimal muscle regeneration, substantial fibrosis, and subsequent functional deficits. Standard treatment, involving free functional muscle transfer and physical therapy, cannot restore full muscle function following VML. Tissue engineered scaffolds, 3D structural templates that mimic native extracellular matrix, are promising to enhance functional muscle formation and recovery. Bioprinted 3D scaffolds are engineered using bioinks, created from scaffolding material, cells, and growth factors, to replicate skeletal muscle architecture with precise control over their spatial deposition. METHODS: The present study evaluates a 3D-printed foam-like scaffold …

Infection Of Feral Phenotype Swine With Japanese Encephalitis Virus, So Lee Park, Yan-Jang S. Huang, Amy C. Lyons, Victoria B. Ayers, Susan M. Hettenbach, D. Scott Mcvey, Leela E. Noronha, Kenneth R. Burton, Stephen Higgs, Dana L. Vanlandingham

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic flavivirus and the leading cause of pediatric encephalitis in the Asian Pacific region. The transmission cycle primarily involves Culex spp. mosquitoes and Ardeid birds, with domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) being the source of infectious viruses for the spillover of JEV from the natural endemic transmission cycle into the human population. Although many studies have concluded that domestic pigs play an important role in the transmission cycle of JEV, and infection of humans, the role of feral pigs in the transmission of JEV remains unclear. Since domestic and …

Detection Of Sars-Cov-2 Neutralizing Antibodies In Retropharyngeal Lymph Node Exudates Of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) From Nebraska, Usa, Korakrit Poonsuk, Duan S. Loy, Rachael Birn, Bryan Buss, Matthew Donahue, Todd Nordeen, Kylie Sinclair, Luke Meduna, Bruce Brodersen, John Dustin Loy

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Disease surveillance testing for emerging zoonotic pathogens in wildlife is a key component in understanding the epidemiology of these agents and potential risk to human populations. Recent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in humans, and subsequent detection of this virus in wildlife, highlights the need for developing new One Health surveillance strategies. We used lymph node exudate, a sample type that is routinely collected in hunter-harvested white-tailed deer (WTD, Odocoileus virginianus) for surveillance of chronic wasting disease, to assess anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. A total of 132 pairs of retropharyngeal lymph nodes collected from Nebraska WTD harvested in Nebraska, US, in 2019 …

Early-Phase Drive To The Precursor Pool: Chloroviruses Dive Into The Deep End Of Nucleotide Metabolism, David Dunigan, Irina Agarkova, Ahmed Esmael, Sophie Alvarez, James L. Van Etten

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Viruses face many challenges on their road to successful replication, and they meet those challenges by reprogramming the intracellular environment. Two major issues challenging Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus 1 (PBCV-1, genus Chlorovirus, family Phycodnaviridae) at the level of DNA replication are (i) the host cell has a DNA G+C content of 66%, while the virus is 40%; and (ii) the initial quantity of DNA in the haploid host cell is approximately 50 fg, yet the virus will make approximately 350 fg of DNA within hours of infection to produce approximately 1000 virions per cell. Thus, the quality and quantity of …

The Persistence And Stabilization Of Auxiliary Genes In The Human Skin Virome, Ema H. Graham, Wesley A. Tom, Alison C. Neujahr, Michael Adamowicz, Jennifer Clarke, Joshua R. Herr, Samodha C. Fernando

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Background The human skin contains a diverse microbiome that provides protective functions against environmental pathogens. Studies have demonstrated that bacteriophages modulate bacterial community composition and facilitate the transfer of host-specific genes, potentially influencing host cellular functions. However, little is known about the human skin virome and its role in human health. Especially, how viral-host relationships influence skin microbiome structure and function is poorly understood.

Results Population dynamics and genetic diversity of bacteriophage communities in viral metagenomic data collected from three anatomical skin locations from 60 subjects at five different time points revealed that cutaneous bacteriophage populations are mainly composed of …

Interactomics And Targeted Protein Degradation For Kinase Substrate Discovery, Juan C. Mercado Del Valle

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Reversible phosphorylation is one of the most important post translational modifications that has allowed us as a species to quickly adapt to changing molecular environments due to external stimulation. This process is only capable through the activity of kinases to carry out the targeting of specific substrates defined by their recognition motif allowing for selective phosphorylation and activation and inactivation of distinct pathways as well as other changes that permit cell survival. By being so important for the maintenance of the cells disruption often leads to worsening of the cells, leading to various diseases like cancer, immunological and neurodegenerative disorders. …

Modulatory Effects Of Deacetylated Sialic Acids On Breast Cancer Resistance Protein-Mediated Multidrug Resistance And Receptor Tyrosine Kinase-Targeted Therapy, Isaac Tuffour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multidrug resistance (MDR) remains a major challenge in cancer treatment, accounting for over 90% of chemotherapeutic failures. Cancers utilize sugar residues to engage in multidrug resistance. The underlying mechanism of action involving glycans, specifically the glycan sialic acid (Sia) and its various functional group alterations, has not been explored. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins, key proteins utilized by cancers to engage in MDR pathways, contain Sias in their extracellular domains. Modulating the expression of acetylated-Sias on Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP), a significant ABC transporter implicated in MDR, in lung and colon cancer cells directly impacted the ability of cancer …

Investigating Changes In Er-To-Golgi Protein Transport Following A Short Calcium Pulse: Roles Of Alg-2 And Peflin, Alaa Mohammed Yosri Shaheen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The ER-Golgi interface is a very dynamic environment that involves the movement of protein-loaded vesicles forward and backward. The movement of COPII-coated vesicles from the ER to the Golgi is the initial step in the movement of secreted, organellar, and cell surface proteins toward their final destinations. Many factors can regulate this step, including cytosolic calcium increases. In this study, we examined the effect of a transient calcium pulse on recruitment to ER exit sites of cargo proteins for ER export, the calcium-sensitive regulatory proteins apoptosis-linked gene 2 (ALG-2) and peflin, and the COPII outer coat subunits Sec31A and Sec13. …

Comparison Of Cell Cycle Gene Expression Between Ovarian Cancer Cell Line Skov3 And Non-Cancerous Cell Lines, Akayla Weatherby

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Roughly 1% of women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer during their lifetime. There are many different factors that impact how likely someone is to develop ovarian cancer including age, lifestyle, and family history. Ovarian cancer, like all cancers, occurs due to the accumulation of cancer cells that result from errors in the cell cycle or its regulation. Here, we studied how cell cycle gene expression was altered in the epithelial-like ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3, as compared to the pre-cancerous ovarian cell line FT282, and the non-cancerous foreskin fibroblast cell line BJ5Ta. The three cell lines were synchronized into …

Sex-Dependent Effects Of Induced Acute Inflammation On Glucose Homeostasis And Rna Editing Enzymes, Christian A. Rivas

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The first line of defense against bodily insults, like pathogen invasion, is the innate immune system. Innate immunity sets in motion countless cascades that result in inflammation. Inflammation simultaneously affects multiple biological processes like metabolism and gene expression. Males and females react differently to inflammation. To understand both molecular and physiological sex differences in inflammation, we examined how inflammation affects gene expression and glucose metabolism. Adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR1) is upregulated by inflammation and catalyzes RNA editing, a process where nucleotides encoded by the genome are modified. ADAR1 also controls the innate immune reaction by decreasing activity of …

Cul3 Negatively Regulates Nlrp12-Mediated Inhibition Of The Canonical Nf-Κb Signaling Pathway, Inyeong Lee

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Nod-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing protein 12 (NLRP12) is mainly known for its inhibitory function on NF-κB signaling in innate immune cells, and more recently, for its ability to regulate chemokine signaling and ubiquitination of the immune receptor RIG-I. Through a yeast 2-hybrid screen, the Lupfer lab previously discovered that NLRP12 interacts with other ubiquitin-associated proteins including Cullin 3 (CUL3) and RING finger protein 2 (RNF2). This research was conducted to mainly investigate the interaction between NLRP12 and CUL3 in human cells and examine the role in regulating NF-κB signaling. Previously, co-immunoprecipitation, followed by western blot analysis, and confocal microscopy …

Investigation Of Inflammation And Apoptosis Mediated Toxicity In Response To Metal Oxide Nanoparticles In Ml-1 And Ca77 Cancer Cell Lines, Alyse N. Peters

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Metal oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) are becoming more popular in today’s environment. They contribute significantly to the technologies in agriculture and food development but there is little understanding to how MONPs, including ZnO, CuO, TiO2, and SnO2, impact human health and the environment. Our growth assay revealed that none of these negatively affects viability in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In contrast, both human thyroid cancer cells (ML-1) and rat medullary thyroid cancer cells (CA77) displayed a significant reduction in viability with the treatment of CuO and ZnO. The production of ROS in these cell lines when treated with CuO and …

Gene Expression In Mice With Endothelium-Specific Telomerase Knockout, Zhanguo Gao, Yongmei Yu, Yulin Dai, Zhongming Zhao, Kristin Eckel-Mahan, Mikhail G Kolonin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Targeting Stat3 In Triple Negative Breast Cancer Using Gsk3Ꞵ And Integrin Inhibitors, Emily A. Pratt

Honors Theses and Capstones

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer and is known for its chemoresistance and high rate of recurrence. TNBC lacks the hormone receptors that are found in other types of breast cancer, and therefore cannot be treated with hormonal therapies. Although the initial response to chemotherapy is favorable, many TNBC patients experience a recurrence of this cancer at a secondary location and this recurrence is often more lethal than the original tumor. The Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (STAT) pathway is a major contributor to cancer growth and metastasis, and STAT3 is constitutively …

The Effects Of Sex On Zebrafish Bone Metabolism, Simon Bagatto

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

I investigated the effects of diet and sex on zebrafish bone metabolism. Zebrafish were subjected to either a high-calorie or low-calorie diet over a five-week period. After this diet, zebrafish scales were used to measure alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) enzyme activity with a fluorescent substrate. The enzyme activities were markers of the osteoblasts (ALP) and the osteoclasts (TRAP). These data were compared among sex and diet of the zebrafish using a repeated measures ANOVA statistical test. I also measured the number of resorption lacunae per scale (another indicator of osteoclast activity). The results showed higher TRAP …

Neural Crest Cell Migration And Developmental Origin Of Bony Scutes In White Sturgeon (Acipenser Transmontanus), Melody Tew

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Neural crest cells (NCCs) and mesodermal somites independently produce embryonic mesenchyme as a precursor to the chondrocytes and osteocytes of the vertebrate skeleton. In mammals and teleosts, NCCs only contribute to the dermal cranial skeleton, while the mesodermal somites and lateral plate mesoderm form the entire dermal and endochondral postcranial skeleton. In sharks, NCCs contribute to both the cranial and trunk integumentary skeleton. This suggests that contribution of the trunk neural crest mesenchyme to the integumentary skeleton was an ancestral condition for all vertebrates that was lost over evolutionary time in the osteichthyan lineage, but the evolutionary timing of this …

Genetic Evaluation Of The Current Distribution And Possible Diffrentations Between Lasiurus Borealis And Lasiurus Frantzii In Southwestern North America, Zeinab M. Haidar

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Several recent accounts of overlap and historic misidentifications regarding two species of the genus Lasiurus, Western red bat (Lasiurus frantzii) and Eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis), have cast doubt on our understanding of their distribution, assumed spatial allopatry, and interactions in the United States Southwest. With the use of morphometrics and genetic sequencing, utilizing tissue collected from specimens throughout California and adjoining states, we have reassessed the current distribution, best practices for field identification, and genetic differentiation between both species. Appropriate species classification by region was achieved utilizing mitochondrial DNA, targeting the cytochrome c oxidase …

Naturally Derived Fibrous Scaffolds Containing Metabolic Factors For Bone Tissue Engineering, Apurva Limaye

Dissertations

More than 500,000 bone grafting procedures are performed each year to treat bone defects, trauma, and non-unions. Current strategies, including autografts and allografts, face limitations that include donor site morbidity and poor integration, respectively. Treatments using the delivery of the growth factor, bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2), result in ectopic bone formation and adverse effects at high doses. Tissue engineering strategies are utilized to combat these challenges. Natural biomaterials are commonly used as tissue engineering scaffolds due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and they can promote cellular function. However, animal-derived materials can have limitations in availability, lot to lot variability and potential …

Isolation And Characterization Of Cellulose Degrading Microorganisms Generating Electricity Using Microbial Fuel Cell, Lama Fayad, Rania Amer, Ahmad Abd El Nabi, Ali Hammoud, Hoda Yusef

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Global warming and the accumulation of organic waste constitute a serious environmental problem. Therefore, microbial fuel cells (MFC) are an eco-friendly device that have significant capability for the production of electricity using biodegradable waste as fuel. Microorganisms used as catalysts in the anode compartment, execute a principal function in operating MFCs. The present study was conducted to isolate and to screen potential bioelectricity generating microorganisms from dumpsite soil samples and also to construct a domestic dual-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC). Streptomyces fimicarius was found to be the best isolate for the degradation of cellulose and the production of bioelectricity. The …

A Monovalent Mt10-Cvb3 Vaccine Prevents Cvb4-Accelerated Type 1 Diabetes In Nod Mice, Mahima T. Rasquinha, Ninaad Lasrado, Meghna Sur, Kiruthiga Mone, Haowen Qiu, Jean-Jack Riethoven, Raymond A. Sobel, Jay Reddy

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Enteroviruses, which include Coxsackieviruses, are a common cause of virus infections in humans, and multiple serotypes of the group B Coxsackievirus (CVB) can induce similar diseases. No vaccines are currently available to prevent CVB infections because developing serotype-specific vaccines is not practical. Thus, developing a vaccine that induces protective immune responses for multiple serotypes is desired. In that direction, we created a live-attenuated CVB3 vaccine virus, designated mutant (Mt)10, that offers protection against myocarditis and pancreatitis induced by CVB3 and CVB4 in disease-susceptible A/J mice. Here, we report that the Mt10 vaccine protected against CVB4-triggered type 1 diabetes (T1D) in …