Medical Biotechnology Commons^™

Antioxidative And Lipid-Reducing Activities Of Ficus Deltoidea In Palmitic Acid-Induced Wrl68 Cells, Noor Nazirahanie Abrahim

Student Works (2020-2029)

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a series of liver disorder caused by deposition of fat without involving alcohol. This chronic liver disease has become a major concern globally due to its high mortality and morbidity rate. This situation leads to the quest of finding natural remedy to overcome this condition. Ficus deltoidea or commonly known as mistletoe fig or Mas Cotek, is a plant that is very well known especially in Malaysia for its blood glucose lowering effect. However, the potential value of F. deltoidea has not been fully evaluated, and no studies have been published on the effects …

A Conformation Variant Of P53 Combined With Machine Learning Identifies Alzheimer Disease In Preclinical And Prodromal Stages, Giulia Abate, Marika Vezzoli, Letizia Polito, Antonio Guaita, Diego Albani, Moira Marizzoni, Emirena Garrafa, Alessandra Marengoni, Gianluigi Forloni, Giovanni B. Frisoni, Jeffrey L. Cummings, Maurizio Memo, Daniela Uberti

School of Medicine Faculty Research

© 2020 by the authors. Li-censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a crucial starting point in disease man-agement. Blood-based biomarkers could represent a considerable advantage in providing AD-risk information in primary care settings. Here, we report new data for a relatively unknown blood-based biomarker that holds promise for AD diagnosis. We evaluate a p53-misfolding conformation rec-ognized by the antibody 2D3A8, also named Unfolded p53 (U-p532D3A8+), in 375 plasma samples derived from InveCe.Ab and PharmaCog/E-ADNI longitudinal studies. A machine learning approach is used to combine U-p532D3A8+ plasma levels with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and apolipoprotein E …

Hyperpolarized Carbon-13 Magnetic Resonance Measurements Of Tissue Perfusion And Metabolism, Keith Michel

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Imaging (HP MRI) is an emerging modality that enables non-invasive interrogation of cells and tissues with unprecedented biochemical detail. This technology provides rapid imaging measurements of the activity of a small quantity of molecules with a strongly polarized nuclear magnetic moment. This polarization is created in a polarizer separate from the imaging magnet, and decays continuously towards a non-detectable thermal equilibrium once the imaging agent is removed from the polarizer and administered by intravenous injection. Specialized imaging strategies are therefore needed to extract as much information as possible from the HP signal during its limited lifetime.

In …

Modulation Of Ros In Nanosecond-Pulsed Plasma-Activated Media For Dosage-Dependent Cancer Cell Inactivation In Vitro, Chunqi Jiang, Esin Bengisu Sozer, Shutong Song, Nicola Lai, P. Thomas Vernier, Sigi Guo

Bioelectrics Publications

Dosage control of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) is critical to low-temperature plasma applications in cancer therapy. Production of RONS by atmospheric pressure, nonequilibrium plasmas in contact with liquid may be modulated via plasma conditions including plasma treatment time and pulse voltage and repetition frequency. In this study, a terephthalic acid-based probe was used to measure hydroxyl radicals [OH_aq] in water exposed to plasma and to demonstrate that the OH_ag concentration increases linearly with treatment time. Fluorometric measurements of hydrogen peroxide concentration in plasma-activated water show a linear relationship between the H₂O₂ production …

Can Viruses Cause Lupus?, Stephen I. Reeder

Selected Honors Theses

Like so many autoimmune diseases, the exact cause of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains unknown. Evidence points to both genetics and environment playing roles in the onset of the disease, but neither acts independent of the other. Genetics are the easier of the two to study with recent advances in the field making it easier to isolate genes shared by individuals with the disease. However, genetic studies reveal that there is almost certainly an environmental component to the development of SLE. The underlying pathology and existing research on environmental contributors to the development of SLE suggest that viruses could potentially …

Surface Modification Of Biomaterials To Reduce Polyethylene Wear In Metal-Polymer Contact / Tan Mean Yee, Tan Mean Yee

Student Works (2020-2029)

This research focus on studying different surface modification (Texturing and DLC coating) on the metal part of TKR (Total knee replacement) in improving UHMWPE (Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene) wear. TKR was widely being used to relieve knee pain due to osteoarthritis and further restore knee function of patients. Generally, TKR consists of metal femoral component, metal tibial component, and UHMWPE tibial insert. TKR will fail due to various factors over time, however, this study will be focusing on failure cause by loosening. Loosening failure of TKR was mainly caused by wear debris generated during articulation motion, where UHMWPE wear was …

Surgical Gps Proof Of Concept For Scoliosis Surgery, Austin Tapp, Michel Audette

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Scoliotic deformities may be addressed with either anterior or posterior approaches for scoliosis correction procedures. While typically quite invasive, the impact of these operations may be reduced through the use of computer-assisted surgery. A combination of physician-designated anatomical landmarks and surgical ontologies allows for real-time intraoperative guidance during computer-assisted surgical interventions. Predetermined landmarks are labeled on an identical patient model, which seeks to encompass vertebrae, intervertebral disks, ligaments, and other soft tissues. The inclusion of this anatomy permits the consideration of hypothetical forces that are previously not well characterized in a patient-specific manner. Updated ontologies then suggest procedural directions throughout …

Gelsolin-Mediated Actin Filament Severing In Crowded Environments, James Heidings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Actin is an essential cytoskeletal protein that plays key roles in several cellular functions such as phagocytosis and cell motility with the help of actin binding proteins (ABPs). Gelsolin is a calcium regulated ABP that severs and caps actin filaments. Gelsolin helps control actin filament assembly dynamics that are required for cell survival. Cleavage products of gelsolin lead to Familial Amyloidosis, Finnish type, and conformational changes to gelsolin are implicated in disease progression. The majority of in vitro studies of gelsolin and actin have been performed in dilute buffer conditions which do not simulate the molecular interactions occurring in the …

Single Cell Forensic Genomics - Dna Profiling Of Micromanipulated Single Spermatozoa, Haley Hardin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Current U.S. National guidelines allow for the collection of sexual assault evidence up to 5 days after the incidence occurs. In these cases, the ability to obtain an autosomal STR (aSTR) profile of the male donor in these cases diminishes as the time interval increases. This inability to recover an aSTR profile from the semen donor is not due to a complete lack of sperm cells, as studies have frequently shown that sperm persists in the vaginal canal or cervix up to 10 days post coitus. Thus, the inability to recover an aSTR profile of the sperm donor is likely …

Combination Of Investigational Cell-Based Therapy And Deep Brain Stimulation To Alter The Progression Of Parkinson’S Disease, Nader El Seblani

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and the motor symptoms are caused by progressive loss of midbrain dopamine neurons. There is no current treatment that can slow or reverse PD. Our current “DBS-Plus” clinical trial (NCT02369003) features the implantation in vivo of autologous Schwann cells (SCs) derived from a patient’s sural nerve into the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) in combination with Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) therapy for treating patients with advanced PD.

The central hypothesis of our research is that transdifferentiated SCs within conditioned nerve tissue will deliver pro-regenerative factors to enhance the survival of …

Copper/N-Acetylcysteine Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesis, Characterization, And Antimicrobial Activities, Danya Belnour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In recent years, there is a growing interest in developing metal based antimicrobial nanomaterials suitable for agricultural and biomedical applications. For centuries, Copper (Cu) biocide has been used for protecting a wide variety of crops from devastating bacterial and fungal diseases. However, prolonged and aggressive use of Cu led to the development of resistance and accumulation in soil. The latter has been linked to aquatic toxicity due to soil Cu leaching. Furthermore, copper build up in soil causes phytotoxicity and reduces uptake of micronutrient Zn through the root system. In biomedical field, Cu has been historically used as an antimicrobial …

The Quantified Elf, Umico Niwa

Theses and Dissertations

The Quantified Elf is an ongoing collection of scientific, medical, archaeological articles and excerpts from my personal journal. It is a way by which I explore the various ways Western notions of personhood subsume human life into constructs of sexuality and gender, overlooking the various other modes of unbridled existence: plant, microbial. fungal, animal, celestial bodies. The speculative medical papers propose novel forms of body modification to combat gender dysphoria.

A Framework For Heterologous Biosynthesis Of Natural Products In Mammalian Cells Via Polymer-Mediated Transfections, Logan Warriner

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

With the promise to treat a multi-faceted list of serious inherited and acquired diseases, such as cancer, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases, and inherited genetic indications, gene therapy has continued to push the boundaries of traditional medicine since its earliest implementation. While much progress has been made, clinical success has largely remained elusive. Immunogenicity, difficulty producing commercially relevant quantities, and having a limited genetic payload still limits the ability of viruses to act as directed delivery agents for genetic material. As such, researchers have turned to cationic synthetic materials as a means of delivering nucleic acids, which can circumvent the immune …

Evaluation Of The Diagnostic Accuracy And Utility Of A New Dengue Rapid Diagnostic Test In Malaysia, Zhuo Lin Chong

Student Works (2020-2029)

Dengue is an emerging arboviral disease endemic to many tropical countries including Malaysia. Due to its unspecific symptoms, dengue diagnosis can only be confirmed through diagnostic tests. Existing laboratory-based dengue diagnostics like enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is accurate in detecting dengue non-structural protein-1 (NS1), and anti-dengue immunoglobulin M (IgM) and G (IgG); but is also more complicated and time-consuming. Commercially available dengue rapid immunochromatographic test (RIT) is efficient but less sensitive. A new dengue rapid diagnostic rest (RDT) using biosensors may be both efficient and accurate in diagnosing acute dengue. This study evaluated this new dengue NS1-based RDT and …

Connectivity Differences Between Gulf War Illness (Gwi) Phenotypes During A Test Of Attention, Tomas Clarke, Jessie Jamieson, Patrick Malone, Rakib U. Rayhan, Stuart Washington, John W. Vanmeter, James N. Baraniuk

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

One quarter of veterans returning from the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War have developed Gulf War Illness (GWI) with chronic pain, fatigue, cognitive and gastrointestinal dysfunction. Exertion leads to characteristic, delayed onset exacerbations that are not relieved by sleep. We have modeled exertional exhaustion by comparing magnetic resonance images from before and after submaximal exercise. One third of the 27 GWI participants had brain stem atrophy and developed postural tachycardia after exercise (START: Stress Test Activated Reversible Tachycardia). The remainder activated basal ganglia and anterior insulae during a cognitive task (STOPP: Stress Test Originated Phantom Perception). Here, the role of attention …

A Rewiring Model Of Intratumoral Interaction Networks., Mengmeng Sang, Shawn Rice, Libo Jiang, Xin Liu, Claudia Gragnoli, Chandra P. Belani, Rongling Wu

Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Faculty Papers

Intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) has been regarded as a key cause of the failure and resistance of cancer therapy, but how it behaves and functions remains unclear. Advances in single-cell analysis have facilitated the collection of a massive amount of data about genetic and molecular states of individual cancer cells, providing a fuel to dissect the mechanistic organization of ITH at the molecular, metabolic and positional level. Taking advantage of these data, we propose a computational model to rewire up a topological network of cell-cell interdependences and interactions that operate within a tumor mass. The model is grounded on the premise …

Medical Dental Device: Biogeneric Implant Prototype, Ibeth Erazo, Aneeza Hussain, Renata Budny, Gaffar Gailani

Publications and Research

Teeth are lost due to tooth decay, injury, disease, or other causes. Today, dental implants extend the range of care to a variety of patients undergoing necessary prosthodontic rehabilitation. If the benefits of such treatments are to be maximized, then implants must be selected on logical basis and placed within the context of the full range of treatment modalities. However, modern dental implant systems are based on multiple components often leading to micro-movements which cause stress on the bone or bacterial infections, both of which compromise the success of osseointegration and consequently jeopardize the whole implant adaptation. Thus, a new …

Eugenics In The 21st Century, Jessica Linn Chin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Eugenics is the science of enhancing the human population through the management of breeding and hereditary traits. This thesis explores the history of eugenics and shows how eugenic practices continue in the 21^st century with advancements in technology and positive eugenic goals that can result in adverse effects on the human body and society. When Sir Francis Galton coined the term eugenics in 1883, he intended to improve British society with the use of positive eugenics. Galton used positive eugenics to encourage people with good mental and physical qualities to produce more children. He avoided negative eugenics, which involved …

Development Of A Sonically Powered Biodegradable Nanogenerator For Bone Regeneration, Avi Patel

Honors Scholar Theses

Background: Reconstruction of bone fractures and defects remains a big challenge in orthopedic surgery. While regenerative engineering has advanced the field greatly using a combination of biomaterial scaffolds and stem cells, one matter of difficulty is inducing osteogenesis in these cells. Recent works have shown electricity’s ability to promote osteogenesis in stem cell lines when seeded in bone scaffolds; however, typical electrical stimulators are either (a) externally housed and require overcomplex percutaneous wires be connected to the implanted scaffold or (b) implanted non-degradable devices which contain toxic batteries and require invasive removal surgeries.

Objective: Here, we establish a biodegradable, piezoelectric …

Uptake And Persistence Of Bacterial Magnetite Magnetosomes In A Mammalian Cell Line: Implications For Medical And Biotechnological Applications., Jefferson Cypriano, Jacques Werckmann, Gabriele Vargas, Adrana Lopes Dos Santos, Karen T. Silva, Pedro Leao, Fernando P. Almeida, Dennis A. Bazylinski, Marcos Farina, Ulysses Lins, Fernanda Abreu

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Magnetotactic bacteria biomineralize intracellular magnetic nanocrystals surrounded by a lipid bilayer called magnetosomes. Due to their unique characteristics, magnetite magnetosomes are promising tools in Biomedicine. However, the uptake, persistence, and accumulation of magnetosomes within mammalian cells have not been well studied. Here, the endocytic pathway of magnetite magnetosomes and their effects on human cervix epithelial (HeLa) cells were studied by electron microscopy and high spatial resolution nano-analysis techniques. Transmission electron microscopy of HeLa cells after incubation with purified magnetosomes showed the presence of magnetic nanoparticles inside or outside endosomes within the cell, which suggests different modes of internalization, and that …