Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

The Role Of Integrins In Hiv-1 Infection Of Intestinal Endothelial Cell Stimulated Resting Cd4+ T Cells, Jessica Eddy, Fisher Pham, Nathan Dapprich, Anding Shen

Summer Research

A major barrier to eradicating HIV is latent reservoirs in resting CD4+ T cells. Antiretroviral therapy is effective in bringing the viral load down to undetectable levels but is unable to eradicate the latent reservoir. Previous data from our lab revealed that when stimulated by intestinal endothelial cells (IEC), resting CD4+ T cells can be directly infected while remaining in a resting state, allowing formation of latent reservoirs. An additional study found that integrins, which are cell surface molecules, play a role in the interactions between endothelial cells (EC) and T cells. Our research further examines the role of integrins …

A Tale Of Two Toxicants: How Trichloroethylene (Tce) And Perchloroethylene (Pce) Metabolites Affect Immune Cell Viability Upon Co-Exposure With Lipopolysaccharide (Lps), Eleanor Scheeres, Sean Harris, Erica Boldenow

Summer Research

• TCE and PCE are volatile organic solvents used in industrial processes, such as metal degreasing and dry cleaning, and known human carcinogens.
• GBS is a common bacteria in the vaginal flora but can lead to complications such as preterm birth during pregnancy.
• Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a gram-negative bacterial cell wall component that induces inflammatory immune responses and is used as an infection model.
• Co-treatment (GBS+DCVC) in placental membranes lead to inhibition of pathogen stimulated cytokine secretion (Fig. 1).
• We hypothesized that DCVC and TCVC (PCE’s metabolite) would produce decreased cell viability, and DCVC+LPS would produce further immune inhibitory effects, which …

Er-Golgi In Membrane Repair In Cardiomyocytes, Visakuo Tsurho, Hsin-Yu Chen, Daniel Michele

Summer Research

Impaired membrane repair leads to muscular dystrophies like Miyoshi Myopathy and LGMD2B1. The mechanism behind membrane repair is not well understood, and there are few studies on membrane repair in cardiomyocytes. Research in nonmuscle cells suggest that lysosomes are a source of membranes for repairing injuries2. Few lysosomes were found in cardiomyocytes compared to non cardiomyocytes. Therefore, we investigated the ER and Golgi as potential organelles involved in membrane repair in cardiomyocytes. We used Sec22b to investigate ER to Golgi in membrane repair in cardiomyocytes because it is an ER-Golgi protein involved in membrane fusion and Golgi vesicle trafficking in …

Intestinal Endothelial Cells Promote Hiv Latent Infection In Resting And Activated Cd4+ T-Cells, Nathan Dapprich, Jessica Eddy, Fisher Pham, Anding Shen

Summer Research

No abstract provided.

Phosphatidylserine Externalization On Non-Apoptotic Cells And Lipid Scramblases In C. Elegans, Julia Frondoni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cell corpse clearance is key for animals to avoid inflammation and autoimmune disease. To better understand the “eat me” signal of phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure for non-apoptotic corpse clearance, we attempted to disrupt the externalization of PS on C. elegans polar bodies. The second polar body undergoes a non-apoptotic form of cell death, loses membrane integrity, externalizes PS and is cleared by embryonic cells during early development. During apoptotic and necrotic cell death, PS asymmetry is disrupted by lipid scramblases, which translocate phospholipids between the leaflets of the lipid bilayer. We found neither apoptotic nor necrotic scramblases are required for PS …

Emerging Biomedical Applications Of The Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Glycoprotein, Sheeba Rehman, Suman Bishnoi, Rajarshi Roy, Anshu Kumari, Harikrishnan Jayakumar, Sharad Gupta, Parimal Kar, Asit K. Pattnaik, Bebasis Nayak

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Nanoparticles (NPs) made of metals, polymers, micelles, and liposomes are increasingly being used in various biomedical applications. However, most of these NPs are hazardous for long- and short-term use and hence have restricted biomedical applications. Therefore, naturally derived, biocompatible, and biodegradable nanoconstructs are being explored for such applications. Inspired by the biology of viruses, researchers are exploring the viral proteins that hold considerable promise in biomedical applications. The viral proteins are highly stable and further amenable to suit specific biological applications. Among various viral proteins, vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) has emerged as one of the most versatile platforms for …

Phip-Seq Reveals Autoantibodies For Ubiquitously Expressed Antigens In Viral Myocarditis, Mahima T. Rasquinha, Ninaad Lasrado, Erika M. Petro-Turnquist, Eric A. Weaver, Thiagarajan Venkataraman, Daniel R. Anderson, H. Benjamin Larman, Jay Reddy

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Simple Summary: Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscle, and viral infections are a common cause of this disease. Myocarditis in some patients can progress to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). The mouse model of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) is commonly used to understand this disease progression in DCM patients. In this paper, we have attempted to analyze antibodies for heart antigens that could be produced as a result of heart damage in animals infected with CVB3 using a technique called Phage ImmunoPrecipitation Sequencing (PhIP-Seq). The analyses led us to identify antibodies for several proteins that were not previously reported that may …

The Electronic Structure Of Atoms: A New Approach, Jackson Ross, Krista Zogg, Katherine Selvaggio, Roger Dekock

Summer Research

No abstract provided.

One Cell’S Trash Is Another Cell’S Treasure: The Role Of Exosomes In Stress Physiology Of The Brown Anole (Anolis Sagrei), Anna Kaza

Honors Program Theses

Exosomes are a type of extracellular vesicle that is produced by cells through an endosomal pathway and secreted into bodily fluids. Exosomes deliver bioactive cargo from their parent cells to target cells as a form of intercellular communication. While most research has studied exosomes in the context of disease, less is known about their role in normal physiology when disease is absent. Using the brown anole (Anolis sagrei) as a model organism, we investigated how stress exposure affects exosome concentrations in the plasma of anoles, and whether exosome release is necessary for the response to stress. We hypothesized that stress …

Investigation Of Nuclear Envelope-Associated Progeria Proteins During Nuclear Envelope Rupture, Rhiannon Marie Sears

Dissertations and Theses

The nuclear envelope (NE) is a specialized extension of the endoplasmic reticulum critical for the proper protection and organization of the genome. This interphase-only structure is host to several proteins and their interacting constituents that have various and diverse cellular roles. Mutations in NE constituents are associated with several human diseases. A subset of these diseases, known as progeria syndromes, are characterized by the premature presentation of physiological aging in a variety of tissues. Mutations in the genes LMNA and BANF1, which encode the A-type lamins and barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF), can lead to these multisystem progeroid diseases. Though the underlying …

Serotonin's Proliferative Effects On Lung Cancer Cell Lines, Jessy K. Ntabo

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Serotonin has been widely explored in the brain. Recently, there have been new findings on how serotonin works in the periphery. Serotonin is introduced to the periphery by the enterochromaffin cells and metabolized by the liver and lung. Studies have shown that serotonin plays a role in controlling lung cancer. However, the mechanism by which it initiates tumor formation has not been fully explored. Cell viability was measured in several lung adenocarcinoma cell lines treated with serotonin to study this effect. In GFP-labelled cells, fluorescence intensity was measured for quantification of cell viability. Our data showed an overall increase in …

Cellular Activation Following Acute And Chronic Ethanol In Glutamatergic Projection Neurons, Annalise Hassan, Sam Gottlieb, Michael F. Miles Md, Phd

IRBEH/Spit for Science Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Deoxyribose Phosphate Aldolase Is Required For Development Of Hematopoietic Stem Cells In The Zebrafish Embryo, Anubhav Thapaliya, Sanyam Patel, Teerth Y. Patel, Sivam J. Bhatt, Erich W. Damm

UROP Posters

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are an integral part of modern biomedical research because they are precursors to all blood cell lineages in vertebrates. Further understanding of hematopoietic development will allow for improvements in the success of therapeutic bone marrow transplantation; which is a crucial treatment in management of both malignant and non-malignant blood disorders. Although HSC transplantation is curative for many blood disorders, finding compatible donors is difficult due to a need for immunologic compatibility. Consequently, recent research efforts have been directed towards generating HSCs for the patient, from the patient themselves through the directed differentiation of induced pluripotent stem …

Review Of The Effects Of Asphalt Fume Emission (Vocs And Pahs) In Vitro, In Vivo And Human Studies, Omran Taqi, Nastassja Lewinski, Elham Fini, Eran Rozewski, Judith Klein-Seetharaman

UROP Posters

Review of the effects of Asphalt fume emission (VOCs and PAHs) in vitro, in vivo and human studies

Omran Taqi, Nastassja Lewinski¹

1) Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Background

Asphalt is abundantly available around human operations including road paving and roofing sites. However, their emissions and fumes (specifically volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)) have been found to have adverse effects on health. Asphalt fumes are a class 2A carcinogen and exposure can increase the risk of lung cancer, asthma, headache, fatigue, and other cardiovascular diseases.

Methods

We used …

An Investigation Into The Mechanism Of Proteasome Dysfunction In Neurodegenerative Disease And The Biological Impact Of Proteasome Hyperactivation In C. Elegans, Raymond T. Anderson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Aging is an inevitable process that occurs as humans grow older. It is characterized by the chronological accumulation of cellular damage over time leading to functional decline as an organism grows older. Several processes are thought to contribute to the aging phenomenon, but one of the most prolific of these is the disruption of protein homeostasis (proteostasis). The collapse of proteostasis can lead to accelerated aging and the development of age-related diseases including devastating neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) like Alzheimer and Parkinson disease. Virtually all NDs are characterized by the buildup of proteins in and around neurons resulting in neuronal death …

Elucidating The Role Of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 In Lung Stem Cell Fate And Lung Disease, Aria Byrd

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

The average human lungs take ~22,000 breaths and inhale ~2,000 gallons of air each day. This organ is the primary conduit for the transfer of oxygen to the internal organs, making it crucial for the sustainment of life. Consequently, mechanical malfunction of the lungs and/or pollution of inhaled air negatively impact internal organ function and ultimately put survival in jeopardy. Epigenetics, by nature, is a plastic phenomenon in which environmental stimuli influence short term, long term, and generational gene expression patterns. Chronic exposure of harmful stimuli to the lung epithelium has also been shown to alter epigenetic pathways, engender aberrant …

Extracellular Vesicles And Cancer Therapy: An Insight Into The Role Of Oxidative Stress, Jenni Ho

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

As a result of improvements in cancer detection and treatment methods, a growing population of cancer survivors are living with side effects associated with their cancer therapy. Oxidative stress plays a significant role in the development of cancer and as a mechanism for cancer therapy to exert its therapeutic effects, resulting in off-target tissue damage. Radiation has been long established as a means to utilize the generation of reactive oxygen species to kill cancer cells, and 50% of chemotherapy agents currently used are associated with inducing oxidative stress. One major side effect observed in cancer survivors is a decline in …

Overcoming Resistance To Sg-Aris In Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer, Chaohao Li

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Prostate cancer (PCa) ranks as the most diagnosed type of cancer and the second leading cause of death in men. Androgen receptor (AR) signaling plays a pivotal function in promoting the survival and progression of PCa. Therefore, medication for PCa mainly focuses on the inhibition of AR pathway, which is termed androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). However, the disease eventually progresses and develops to a lethal stage called castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) that is characterized by resistance to canonical ADT. To deal with this situation, several second-generation AR inhibitors (SG-ARIs) have been created that have better efficacy against AR, including Enzalutamide …

Tissue And Sex-Specific Rna Editing During Induced Acute Inflammation, Claire E. Nichols

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

A-to-I RNA editing is a process where select adenosine (A) nucleotides are deaminated by an editing enzyme, ADAR, to become inosines (I) in RNA transcripts. RNA editing can affect the sequence of the encoded protein and the regulation of the RNA. ADAR1 also plays a role in regulating innate immunity and its expression is upregulated during inflammation. Current data on the effects of increasing ADAR1 on RNA editing is limited, and most studies are completed only in male animals. We are interested in expanding RNA editing data to include female animals. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to induce acute inflammation and …

Phip Variants Associated With Chung–Jansen Syndrome Disrupt Replication Fork Stability And Genome Integrity, Neysha Tirado-Class, Caitlin Hathaway, Wendy K. Chung, Huzefa Dungrawala

Molecular Biosciences Faculty Publications

Chung–Jansen syndrome (CJS) is a rare, autosomal dominant disorder characterized by developmental delay, intellectual disability/cognitive impairment, behavioral challenges, obesity, and dysmorphic features. CJS is associated with heterozygous variants in PHIP (Pleckstrin-Homology Interacting Protein), a gene that encodes one of several substrate receptors for Cullin4-RING (CRL4) E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. Full-length PHIP, also called DCAF14, was recently identified to function as a replication stress response protein. Herein, we report the identification of two PHIP missense variants identified by exome sequencing in unrelated individuals with CJS. The variants p.D488V and p.E963G occur in different functional elements of DCAF14-WD40 repeat domain and pleckstrin …