Laboratory and Basic Science Research Commons^™

Evaluating The Impact Of Post-Translational Modifications By The Secreted Zinc Metalloprotease, Gele, On The Major Autolysin Of E. Faecalis, Atla, And A Stress-Induced Protein, Salb, Emily K. Stinemetz

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

AtlA is the major peptidoglycan hydrolase of E. faecalis involved in cell separation of dividing cells. SalB is a secreted stress-induced protein regulated by the CroRS system. In addition, these two proteins also appear to be affected by the virulence factor, gelatinase (GelE). GelE is a secreted zinc metalloprotease known to impact various cellular functions by post- translational modification of protein substrates. The overall objective of this work was to understand how GelE cleavage of secreted proteins, specifically AtlA and SalB, changes their function. Herein, I discovered that GelE modifies both AtlA and SalB. As visualized by Western blot analysis …

Investigation Of The Roles Of Asf1 And Caf-1-Mediated Chromatin Assembly In The Human Dna Damage Response, Ting-Hsiang Huang

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The access-repair-restore model for the role of chromatin in DNA repair infers that chromatin is a mere obstacle to DNA repair. However, here we show that blocking chromatin assembly of newly-synthesized histones, via knockdown of the histone chaperones ASF1A, CAF-1 or a mutation that specifically prevents ASF1 binding to histones, hinders loading of Rad51 onto ssDNA during homologous recombination, as a consequence of reduced recruitment of the Rad51 loader MMS22L/TONSL to ssDNA, resulting in persistent RPA foci, extensive DNA end-resection, and persistent activation of the ATR-Chk1 pathway. By contrast, ASF1 and CAF-1 render the rapid inactivation of ATM Chk2 pathway …

Assessing The Rate And Extent Of Transgenerational Acclimation And Adaptation To Ocean Warming, Abby C. Nease

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

A primary goal of climate change research is to determine if species will be able to persist in a warmer environment. Most studies predict climate change will cause many species to become extinct. However, these predictions are based on experiments where only a single life stage or generation of a species was exposed to predicted future conditions (i.e. shock treatments), and thus overlook the possibility of species adapting or acclimatizing to new environmental conditions over multiple generations. As a result, current projections of species persistence through climate change are likely to overestimate species extinction. In this study, the rate and …

Oxidation Of Substituted Catechols At The Air-Water Interface: Production Of Carboxylic Acids, Quinones, And Polyphenols, Elizabeth A. Pillar, Marcelo I. Guzman

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Anthropogenic activities contribute benzene, toluene, and anisole to the environment, which in the atmosphere are converted into the respective phenols, cresols, and methoxyphenols by fast gas-phase reaction with hydroxyl radicals (HO(•)). Further processing of the latter species by HO(•) decreases their vapor pressure as a second hydroxyl group is incorporated to accelerate their oxidative aging at interfaces and in aqueous particles. This work shows how catechol, pyrogallol, 3-methylcatechol, 4-methylcatechol, and 3-methoxycatechol (all proxies for oxygenated aromatics derived from benzene, toluene, and anisole) react at the air-water interface with increasing O3(g) during τc ≈ 1 μs contact time and contrasts their …

Quantitative Evaluation Of Clinostomum Marginatum Distribution In The Fish Host (Perca Flavescens): Investigation Of The Impact On Functional Performance, Doiba Ki Eshofonie, Precious Freeman

Student Scholar Showcase

Doiba Eshofonie & Precious Freeman

Mentor: Takashi Maie

2017 Student Scholar Showcase

Quantitative evaluation of Clinostomum marginatum distribution in the fish host (Perca flavescens): Investigation of the impact on functional performance

Clinostomum marginatum is a trematode commonly found in freshwater fish. The adult C. marginatum stays in its definitive avian host’s mouth and throat. It releases eggs upon contact in water and the eggs hatch into a free-swimming miracidia, which infects an aquatic snail as the first intermediate host. The miracidia, then, develops into a cercaria and leaves the snail to find a fish as its second intermediate …

Inquiry Into Perilipin-5a Expression In Triacylglycerol Rich Vs Normal Fed Mouse Tissue, Kobi Agyepong

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

The steep rise in both childhood and adult obesity over the past three decades has moved to the forefront of public consciousness in recent years. This development has generated a marked increase in general health awareness and lifestyle changes for a vast number of individuals, most notably in the form of increased physical activity and diet alterations. The latter point is especially salient in a biochemical context, because of the myriad factors that can result in “fat accumulation”. Chief among these factors is the Perilipin 5A gene, (known as PLIN5A) which encodes the protein Perilipin 5A of the Perilipin family …

Investigating The Effects Of Pre-Laboratory Videos With Associated Questions On The Performance And Overall Laboratory Experience Of Organic Chemistry Students, Shareef Gamal Mohamed Kotb

Health Sciences Student Work

Background: Teachers struggle communicating ideas to students (Moreno et al, 2001). One of the aspects of teaching that’s most concerning is when students experience cognitive overload: the total effort exerted by working memory to grasp new information (Mayer, et al, 2002). The educational community found that introducing multimedia in learning minimizes cognitive overload (Mayer, et al, 2002). Little research has related to undergraduate chemistry classes, specifically the relationship between organic chemistry pre-laboratory multimedia and student learning. Purpose: The purpose of this capstone is to investigate the subjective efficacy of integrating pre-laboratory videos for lab preparation in an undergraduate organic chemistry …

Reactivity Of Ketyl And Acetyl Radicals From Direct Solar Actinic Photolysis Of Aqueous Pyruvic Acid, Alexis J. Eugene, Marcelo I. Guzman

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The variable composition of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) contributes to the large uncertainty for predicting radiative forcing. A better understanding of the reaction mechanisms leading to aerosol formation such as for the photochemical reaction of aqueous pyruvic acid (PA) at λ ≥ 305 nm can contribute to constrain these uncertainties. Herein, the photochemistry of aqueous PA (5-300 mM) continuously sparged with air is re-examined in the laboratory under comparable irradiance at 38° N at noon on a summer day. Several analytical methods are employed to monitor the time series of the reaction, including (1) the derivatization of carbonyl (C═O) functional …

Pulmonary Surfactant Fortified With Cath-2 As A Novel Therapy For Bacterial Pneumonia, Brandon J. Baer

Western Research Forum

Background: Bacterial pneumonia is a leading cause of death worldwide, with high mortality rates persisting even after antibiotic treatment. Current treatments for pneumonia involve administration of antibiotics, however after the bacteria are killed they release toxic substances that induce inflammation and lung dysfunction. Host defense peptides represent a potential solution to this problem through their ability to down regulate inflammation. However, effective delivery to the lung is difficult because of the complex branching structure of the airways. My study addresses this delivery problem by using exogenous surfactant, a pulmonary delivery vehicle capable of improving spreading of these peptides throughout the …

Assessment Of Olfactory-Based Social Recognition: Designing A Paradigm For Marmosets, Stephanie Womack

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Navigation of the social world depends largely on one’s responsiveness to social stimuli and information from a wide range of senses can be used to discriminate between individuals. Mammals use several sensory modes to communicate and respond to their surroundings, but olfaction is the dominant sense across most species. Chemosignals provide a wealth of information including sex, age, reproductive status, and individual identity. Currently, assessment of olfaction is largely limited to the habituation-dishabituation paradigm or the two-choice discrimination task used primarily in rodents. These paradigms are limited by their reliance on inherent reward of interaction with stimuli without providing additional …

Gait Biomechanics In Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease After Revascularization, Sarah Baker

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a cardiovascular disease manifesting blockages to arteries while limiting blood flow to the legs. Patients with PAD have pain/tingling in calves, thighs, and/or buttocks emanating by physical activity called intermittent claudication. PAD causes physical function limitations and increases cardiovascular morbidity by 3-6 times. PAD becomes particularly more prevalent with age. Patients with PAD walk differently than their healthy counterparts. Surgical revascularization to restore blood flow is the typical intervention, but whether walking patterns are restored following surgery has not been studied. This study compared walking patterns of patients with PAD at baseline and six-months post-revascularization. …

Estimating Seasonal Variation In Condition Of Yellow Perch, Emily Anne Powers

Biology Graduate Theses

Research has shown that Yellow Perch Perca flavescens, found throughout lakes and streams of North America, are good indicators of environmental health. Due to the correlation between fish condition and ecosystem health it is essential to reliably estimate condition to better manage our fisheries. Therefore, the study objectives were to measure the seasonal changes in adult Yellow Perch percent dry weight (PDW), and compare the reliability of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and morphometric-based estimates of condition. The seasonal fluctuations in average monthly PDW were measured over a two- year period and were sinusoidal in shape with peaks in August 2015 …

Environmental Changes Turn On The Sinorhizobium Melitloti Exor-Exos/Chvi (Rsi) Host Invasion Switch, Shari N. Walcott

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The free-living Gram-negative soil bacterium, Sinorhizobium meliloti, must switch into its host-invading form in order to infect the root hairs of the host plant, alfalfa (Medicago sativa), and establish a nitrogen-fixing symbiosis. The activation of the switch is believed to occur inside the infection chamber that is formed by curling of the root hairs. It is not fully understood what signals in the environment of the root hairs trigger and infection chamber S. meliloti to switch into a host-invading form since these signals were not extensively examined until now. This switch can be observed directly, due to …

Survival Model Of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma; Sex As A Biological Variable, Mary A. Phillippi, Justin L. Mott, Cody J. Wehrkamp, Ying Xie, David Oupicky, Ashley M. Mohr, Bailey A. Stringham

Hepatobiliary Cancers: Pathobiology and Translational Advances

No abstract provided.

A New Hcc Model Induced By Co-Overexpression Fgf19 And Met In Mice, Junyan Tao 8598903, Morgan Preziosi, Sucha Singh, Xin Chen, Satdarshan (Paul) Singh Monga

Hepatobiliary Cancers: Pathobiology and Translational Advances

No abstract provided.

Annotation And Identification Of Several Glycerolipid Metabolic Related Ortholog Genes; Mrub_0437, Mrub_1813 And Mrub_2759 In The Organism Meithermus Ruber And Their Predicted Respective Orthologs B3926, B4042 And Bo514 Found In E.Coli., Abdul Rahman Abdul Kader, Dr. Lori R. Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

We predict Mrub_0437 encodes the enzyme glycerol kinase (DNA coordinates [417621..419183), which is an intermediary step of the glycerolipid metabolic pathway (KEGG map00561), It catalyzes the conversion of glycerol to sn-Glycerol-3-phosphate. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b3926.

We predict Mrub_1813 encodes the enzyme diacylglycerol kinase (DNA coordinates [1864659..1865063), which is an intermediary step of the glycerolipid metabolic pathway (KEGG map00561), It catalyzes the conversion of 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol to 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b4042.

We predict Mrub_2759 encodes the enzyme glycerol kinase (DNA coordinates [2799712..2800665), which is an intermediary …

The Hetz Gene Regulates Heterocyst Formation In Anabaena Sp. Strain Pcc 7120, Patrick Videau, Vaille Swenson, Michael Gaylor, S M. O'Hanlon, L M. Cozy

Research & Publications

To form a complex multicellular organism, stem cells must differentiate into each cell/tissue type along proper spatiotemporal scales. The study of differentiation and organismal development has historically been conducted in prokaryotes due to their genetic and morphological simplicity. Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 is a multicellular filamentous cyanobacterium that differentiates a morphologically distinct secondary cell type, the heterocyst, in response to a lack of combined environmental nitrogen. Heterocysts are regularly spaced along filaments and fix atmospheric dinitrogen to maintain organismal viability in its absence. Previous work suggested that the hetZ gene is involved in heterocyst differentiation, but the insertional mutants …

Development Of Cellular Assays To Monitor Enzymatic And Biological Activity Of Cd73: A Key Modulator Of Anti-Tumor Immune Response, Alexandra Fanuka

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Ecto-5’-nucleotidase, known as CD73, is an extracellular enzyme that converts adenosine monophosphate (AMP) to adenosine and has recently been identified as a potential drug target for cancer immunotherapy. Its immunosuppressive effects, mediated by the activity of adenosine, are associated with higher rates of tumor invasion and metastasis, as well as poorer prognoses overall in many cancer types. CD73 is often co-expressed with ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (CD39), which catalyzes the conversion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and ADP to AMP on the surface of tumor cells. Dual expression further propagates immunosuppressive effects of adenosine in the tumor microenvironment. …

Relationship Between Zooplankton And Walleye Rearing Pond Success, Danny Tuckett

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Walleye Sander vitreus are an important sport fish in Minnesota. This has led to the raising of Walleye in ponds to later be stocked into lakes. This study was done to determine the relationship between Walleye prey (zooplankton) and the success of Walleye in 11 stocked ponds in the Ortonville, MN area. There was no management of the ponds until harvest, which starts in late September and ends in November. There were significant positive relationships between rotifer density (P = 0.03) and nauplii density (P = 0.04) to kg of Walleye harvested. The setting where nauplii and rotifer density are …

Redd Habitat Selection For Brook Trout In The Necktie River Bemidji, Mn, William Varela, Zachary Buckley

Journal of Earth and Life Science

The presence of quality suitable habitat is important for the success of naturally reproducing Brook Trout populations. Therefore, measuring redd habitat Brook Trout select for was the focus of this study. Brook Trout redds were observed during the spawning season of 2016. We identified a total of 18 redds in the Necktie River in late October and early November. Specific environmental variables associated with redd selection were measured: velocity, in-stream cover, canopy cover, bank overhang, river width, substrate type and size, temperature, and max-depth. The same environmental variables were measured for 30 randomly selected sites. Redds were distributed in riffles …