Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons^™

Investigating The Interactions Between Individual Calmodulin And Hiv-1 Protein Domains, Riley K. Kendall, Jerry Larue

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The World Health Organization found that 37.9 million people were living with HIV by the end of 2018. HIV is a virus that weakens the immune system through viral replication and the destruction of CD4⁺ T-cells, which are white blood cells that detect infection and make antibodies. A cure for HIV has not yet been discovered. HIV-1 contains a Gag polyprotein which regulates the stages of viral replication. Previous studies suggest that the myristoyl group of a matrix protein peptide found on the Gag polyprotein, MA, forms a complex with a calcium-binding, multifunctional regulatory protein called Calmodulin (CaM). CaM …

Generating Zika Vaccine Candidates Using Nhumirim Virus As A Backbone, Mariam A. Atobiloye

Honors Theses

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that is causing significant world-wide health concern. There are currently no treatments or vaccines available for this virus, thus, there is an urgent need to develop a safe and effective vaccine to combat ZIKV infection. Nhumirim virus (NHUV) is also a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus, but it is unable to infect humans and other vertebrate animals, making it an ideal candidate to develop chimeric viral vaccines against other disease-causing flaviviruses, such as ZIKV. In this study, we generated chimeric viruses by replacing envelope (E) gene in the genome of NHUV with ZIKV E gene, which …

Grain Marketing 2020: Survival And Covid-19, Robert Tigner, Jessica J. Groskopf

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

Let’s state the obvious: this isn’t a typical year and we all know it. For farmers, it is a survival year. Why? And what might be done to make it through to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic? This article will discuss how to build a marketing strategy to assure that the farm continues to the next crop year.

Conclusion

This year is shaping up to be a survival year for crop producers. Crop producers need to know at what crop price they will recapture all of the cash they will spend this year. Implementing a marketing …

Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Signaling May Contribute To Chronic West Nile Virus Post-Infectious Proinflammatory State, A. Arturo Leis, Marie F. Grill, Brent P. Goodman, Syed B. Sadiq, David J. Sinclair, Parminder J.S. Vig, Fengwei Bai

Faculty Publications

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) causes a spectrum of human disease ranging from a febrile illness (WNV fever) to severe neuroinvasive disease (meningitis, encephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis). Since WNV gained entry into North America in 1999, clinicians caring for WNV survivors have observed persistent neurological symptoms occurring long-after the production of neutralizing antibodies and clearance of the virus. Accordingly, alternative pathogeneses other than direct viral invasion have been hypothesized to explain these post-infectious symptoms. The dominant hypothesis is that antiviral inflammatory responses triggered initially to clear WNV may persist to promote a post-infectious proinflammatory state.

Methods: In 4 serologically-confirmed …

Has Covid-19 Impacted Price-Weight Relationships And Value Of Gain?, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

In the beginning of COVID-19, much of the attention was focused on managing the redirection of meat product from food service to retail stores. This past month has keenly focused on packing plant closures due to COVID-19 cases among workers and how to manage the supply of fat cattle already ready for slaughter. Fat cattle available for slaughter either cannot get bids or bids are significantly below breakeven prices leaving feedlots with decisions to be made about marketing and placements. The April 2020 Cattle on Feed report (https://usda.library.cornell.edu/concern/publications/m326m174z) revealed March placement decisions. Placements were down about …

Effects Of Individual Orsay Virus Proteins On The Intracellular Pathogen Response Of C. Elegans, Barbara Chen, Jessica N. Sowa

Biology Student Work

In order to cause infection, pathogens must avoid destruction by the host immune system. However, how pathogens evolved to evade host immunity is not fully understood. Mammals have two systems of immunity, innate and adaptive, which are regulated by complex interactions between the two systems. In order to study innate immunity exclusively, the roundworm C. elegans is a useful invertebrate model because it lacks adaptive immunity and the complexities that arise from interactions between the two types of immunity. The goal of this project is to investigate whether the individual expression of the Orsay virus capsid and delta-fusion proteins can …

Identifying Novel Triggers Of The Intracellular Pathogen Response (Ipr) In C. Elegans, Catherine T. Byrnes, Jessica N. Sowa

Biology Student Work

The intracellular pathogen response (IPR) is a cell signaling pathway found in C. elegans that is triggered when pathogenic microorganisms invade, and immune responses attempt to eliminate the threat. Due to the relative simplicity of C. elegans, they are an excellent model organism to analyze the cell signaling pathways triggered by various pathogens. They lack the complex immune systems of larger organisms, making it easier to study the involved cell signaling pathways. Past studies have shown that the IPR can also be triggered via intestinal wounding. Heat stress, viral infection, and proteasome stress are all known triggers of the IPR. …

Fact Or Myth: The Flu Can Be Caused By The Flu Vaccine, Arleigh Wood

Virtual 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

To many, the flu vaccine seems like a threat to an otherwise healthy individual. People often get the flu after receiving the flu shot, which does not promote confidence in the general public. These and other reasonings have created a myth that the flu vaccine can cause the flu. Understanding how the vaccination is created and how it interacts with the immune system helps to realize why the flu vaccine cannot cause the virus. For the vaccine to work, adaptive immunity must be activated by the introduction of the viral particles in a safe manner. An effective immune response from …

Live Cattle Basis Due To Covid-19: Deviations And Convergence, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

A Fundamental Review on Basis

Basis is defined as the cash minus futures. Cash market reflects today's supply conditions and price. Futures market reflects upcoming supply and demand conditions. If it is anticipated that there will be a period of increasing supplies, futures prices will decline to reflect that information. Likewise, periods of time with expected decreasing supplies, future prices are expected to increase.

Since cash and futures prices can move simultaneously, basis will fluctuate through time. In periods where basis becomes more positive (i.e. basis is said to be strengthening/narrowing) it implies that cash prices are increasing more relative …

Pre Covid-19 Market Conditions Persist & The Stocker Industry Can Dampen The Damage, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

The effects of COVID-19 on the livestock market are well known and felt. Some effects include depressed futures and cash prices, unusual basis patterns, decreased packer bids and sale barn volume, packing plant closures, consumer hording of meat products, and shifting food service products for retail consumption. All these effects occurred as market participants grappled with everchanging government and industry policy which reduced consumer demand and resulted in bottlenecks and increasing supply gluts upstream. Simultaneously reducing demand and increasing supply always cause prices to plummet, and in the case of COVID-19 very rapidly. Some segments of the market …

147— The Effect Of A Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor On Pd-L1, Hla-Abc, Hla-E, And Hla-G On Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines, Nikhil Reddy, Alec Toufexis

GREAT Day Posters

Increased expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allows tumor cells to be more easily detected by the immune system. In previous research, epigenetic modifiers including the histone deacetylase inhibitor 3 (HDAC3), RGFP966, has been shown to decrease PD-L1 expression. PD-L1 expression inhibits T cell cytotoxicity, and decreasing it can enhance the immune response. We hope to elucidate whether or not HLA-ABC expression similarly decreases upon exposure to the HDAC3 inhibitor which would be detrimental to immune detection. Two breast cancer cell lines that express HLA-ABC are MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. Our initial results show that HLA-ABC is expressed on the MDA-MB-231 …

465— Modeling Vaccine Efficacy For Tuberculosis In A Prison Population, Kaitlyn Mundackal

GREAT Day Posters

Tuberculosis is a highly contagious disease and is particularly problematic in confined communities such as prisons. I simulated how Tuberculosis moves through a prison population and tested how much vaccination effort is needed to control its spread. To explore this, I tested adding ever increasing numbers of randomly placed edges in a network and determined the size of the largest component. Afterwards, I removed edges in the model using two different methods, one illustrating if the edges were removed randomly and the other starting with prisoners that had the most connections, to simulate the effect of vaccination. My results show …

April 20, 2020: Covid-19 Update, Kettering University

Communication Updates

Consistent with our commitment to do so by April 20, we now are able to make a number of decisions concerning the operation of the University through the remainder of the spring term as well as into the start of our new academic year. These, along with updated information on our plans for 2020 Commencement, are summarized below and detailed in the text of this letter.

Biol 404- The Effects Of Dioxin-Like Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) On The Development Of Myeloid Suppressor Cells, Emma Rogers, Ryan Servis, Talbot Thames, Amorette Barber

Virtual 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a man-made organic compound consisting of two phenyl rings connected by a single bond, with any number of chlorine molecules occupying positions around the rings. They are most commonly used as a dielectric and coolant fluid in electrical generators and transformers. Manufacture has declined drastically since the 1970s in America due to their exertion of estrogen-mimicking effects in the body, although they continue to persist in harmful concentrations in the environment. PCBs are endocrine-disrupting, and through estrogenic or anti-estrogenic effects have been shown to increase breast cancer risk by changing gene expression in several genes common …

Biol 404- Effects Of Estrogen-Mimicking Compounds, Progesterone And Estriol, On Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell Development, Raquel Perez, Tatyana Green, Haley Bresnahan, Matthew Jones, Amorette Barber

Virtual 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Estrogen is primarily known for being a female sex hormone. It has three major subcategories estrone, estradiol, and estriol. They are known to have a role within regulation of the reproductive system and menopause. Progesterone is also a well-known steroid sex hormone that is usually associated with menstruation. These sex hormones are commonly used in oral contraceptive pills. The purpose of this study is to see if progesterone and estriol will have the same effects that estrogen has on MHC II and B7 expression. With the use of flow cytometry, T cell isolation, T cell proliferation, and ELISAs we are …

Biol 404- Effects Of Phytoestrogens - Lycopene And Trans-Resveratrol - On The Development Of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (Mdsc), Kayla Cooksey, Adrianna Doggett, Debbie Pitt, Maya Young, Amorette Barber

Virtual 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Trans-Resveratrol and Lycopene are chemical compounds found in the skin of red grapes and tomatoes respectively. This study investigates the effects of these two phytoestrogens on MDSCs.We hypothesized that these phytoestrogens will bind to estrogen receptors and block estrogenic activity, effectively decreasing the production of MDSCs in murine cells.

Biol 404- Dual Nature Of Phytoestrogens As Both Procancer And Anticancer Agents, Marcia Lanasa, Grace Freeman, Carrie Reaver, Natalie Wood, Amorette Barber

Virtual 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Phytoestrogens are plant-derived, xenoestrogenic dietary compounds found in various fruits, vegetables, soy products, teas, grains, beans, and more. There are different classes of phytoestrogens, including flavonoids, isoflavonoids, lignans, and coumestans, all of which can affect estrogen-mediated responses in different ways (Bilal et al, 2014). The aim of this project is to investigate the potential duality of phytoestrogens as both estrogen receptor antagonists in cancer cells, but also as potential activators of myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Understanding the complex role phytoestrogens play in cancer progression will prove valuable in the potential development of novel phytoestrogen-base cancer drug therapies.

Biol 404- Can A Soy Diet Mimic The Effects Of Estrogen?, Kelly Tarmon, Jonah Hottinger, Emily Humphries, Cody Gouyer, Amorette Barber

Virtual 2020 Spring Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Phytoestrogens are estrogen-mimicking substances that can be found in many of the vegetables, beans, and grains we consume. One of the main phytoestrogens consumed by millions of people can be found in soybeans and tofu and are called isoflavones. We will be examining the first category of isoflavones, the aglycones. The aglycones are made up of daidzein, genistein, and glycitein which are found in soy products. We will determine the function of aglycones using flow cytometry by comparing the effect of these three compounds, estradiol, and the media given. As aglycones are estrogen mimicking compounds, we believe these three phytoestrogens …

Comatose Within 6 Weeks, But Still Alive After 3 Years, Creutzfeldt‐Jakob Disease With Unusual Progression, Julia Kathleen Christopher, Brian Khong, Amin Abolfazli, Antonio Liu

School of Medicine Faculty Research

Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (CJD) should still be considered in a patient presenting with rapidly progressive dementia and negative CSF 14‐3‐3 protein and RT‐QulC. Treatable causes of encephalopathy must be ruled out. Neurodegenerative diseases must also be considered.

April 17, 2020: Covid-19 Update, Kettering University

Communication Updates

The Kettering University Student Emergency Fund has been established to provide financial assistance to current undergraduate and graduate students impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.