APEX Presentations
November 7, 2007
A Metabolomics study of Avian Tuberculosis in Cairina scutulata (White Winged Wood Ducks)
Name: Divya Balasubramanian
Major: Biology
Academic Advisors: Dr. Sandra Madar/ Dr. Matthew Hils
APEX Advisor: Dr. Jody Modarelli
Location: Hiram College
Jody Modarelli
P.O.Box 67, Hiram, Ohio 44234
330.569.5987
Metabolites (lipids and proteins) in the blood plasma of captive White Winged Wood ducks (WWWD) were analyzed to identify genetic biomarkers that increase their susceptibility to avian tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium avium ssp. avium. Samples from 8 control ducks and from 50 ducks raised in a non-disease free environment were used in this metabolomics study. Lipids and proteins were extracted using modified Bligh Dyer’s method. The lipids were filtered by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and were then subject to LC/MS. From the 2,000 spectra that were analyzed, a significantly consistent peak around 716 m/z in the disease samples was found to be lower in abundance or absent in the controls. Proteins subject to SDS-PAGE and 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed bands of proteins in the controls samples that were absent in the diseased, but due to the presence of excessive proteins as indicated by the smear of bands, the gels need to be repeated using diluted protein samples. The lipid fragmentation pattern indicates that the lipid is most probably a species of arachidonic acid that has been hypothesized to be involved in immunity, inflammation and drug resistance. Future experiments need to be conducted to further validate the lipid at peak m/z =716, and hence identify the possible genetic marker leading to the birds’ susceptibility.
Detection of Circumsporozoid in Mosquitoes Using the ELISA Technique
Name: Elias Khalil
Major: Biology
Academic & APEX Advisor: Sandra Madar
Location: Accra and Tema- Ghana
Dr. Ohene Bosompem
Address: P.O. Box LG581, Legon, Ghana
Phone: 01123321500374
Funding: NMIMR funded by Government of Ghana, NIH, and private donations.
This summer was spent in the capital city of Ghana, and its largest port city in an attempt to better understand the activity of mosquitoes- the vector for transmittance of the deadly disease malaria. The summer was more involved in the learning of different techniques, and working in a variety of labs was abundant- however work on the field was just as prevalent a part of the internship. For the presentation, only work on the detection of the circumsporozoid form of Plasmodium falciparum (the protozoa that transmits malignant tertian malaria) will be discussed. The protozoa develops into a sporozoid in the salivary gland of Anopheles gambiae (the mosquito sibling specie under study); and only when in that stage of its life cycle is the mosquito infective. ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay) was the technique used to detect the presence of sporozoid after the salivary gland was isolated through dissection. This showed an extremely low amount of mosquitoes actually were infective at any point in time- which lead to the definitive conclusion of the study: that the actual problem of malaria transmittance in developing tropical areas appears not to be the disease itself (as malaria is treatable), but rather the control of the vector it is spread by.
Polo Horse Leg Wrap Study 2007
Name: Taren Manley
Major: Biology
Academic & APEX Advisor: Denny Taylor
Location: Southern Impact Research Center
Dr. Tim Nice
6770 Mayfield Road Suite 426 Mayfield, OH 44124
440.585.258
Recent research on the improvement of safety for polo riders and their horses has included work on polo balls themselves. The most recent tests on the velocity of the polo ball and the ballistics of the horse’s cannon bone lead to the question of the impact a polo ball would have on the surrounding tendons and tissues of the cannon bone. Unused outdoor polo balls were dropped in an impactor or jig that had a uni-axial accelerometer at its center of gravity to measure the energy, ball deformation, and acceleration that the ball had on impact with a steel radiused anvil. The impact energy, peak acceleration, and ball deformation upon impact were averaged, and compared to the controls. The average peak accelerations were compared to the control by being plotted against the average peak times based on the height in which the jig and ball were dropped. Results indicate that the ball itself protects the horses’ legs by its deformation. Protective wraps appear to give little to no protection to the horse.
Igniting Streams of Learning (ISLS)
Name: Seth Ostheimer
Major: Biochemistry Major
Academic Advisor: Jody Modarelli
APEX Advisor: Dennis Taylor
Location: Hiram College.
Dennis Taylor
Hiram College
Hiram, OH 44234
330.569.5267
Funding: Ohio Board of Reagents
The purpose of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) internship is to provide high school students with the opportunity to work alongside their peers, teachers, professors, graduate students, and near-peer undergraduates doing real science and immersing themselves in scientific research and collaboration. This internship consists of two components first is preparation and working in a two week institute with high school students and the second is developing an independent project which will continue through the full internship. The institute primarily focuses on stream ecology/hydrology and its effects on different communities and ecosystems. My individual project is focused around water conservation and quality and how it affects global conditions and even our local communities.
Pack-Mule’s and Genomic Evolution
Name: Christopher Penton
Major: Biochemistry
Academic & APEX Advisor: Jody Modarelli
Location: Michigan State University – Department of Horticulture
Dr. Ning Jiang
A330 Plant and Soil Sciences
517.355.5191 ext 381
Funding : National Science Foundation
Genomic evolution represents a vast and diverse field encompassing the task of elucidating the mechanisms in which genomes may rearrange, change their composition, and even more interestingly, add new genes to the genome. Since their discovery, transposons have been identified as a major agent of genomic evolution and change, excising and pasting their sequences into new regions on varying chromosomes. Pack-MULE’s are mutator-like transposable elements characterized by their insertions into coding genes in the maize genome. In theory, new genes may be formed from the mobilization of functioning gene sequence by the transposon and subsequent insertion into a new locus on the genome. In this study, DNA extractions were performed on maize tissue known to contain pack-MULE insertions in the gl-8 gene. Digestion was performed using restriction enzymes known to excise inside the transposon sequence followed by. PCR to determine if the transposon had excised from the sequence and inserted part of the gene into a new location. Three such samples were identified via PCR and cloned into E. coli, but following sequencing failed. Further investigation using more tissue samples and additional cloning could generate positive identification of pack-MULE mobilization of the gl-8 gene and offer a verified example of genomic change.
Type VI Secretion System of Agrobacterium tumefaciens
Name: Jennifer Strater
Majors: Biology and Biomedical Humanities
Academic Advisor: Matthew Hils
APEX Advisor: Brad Goodner
Location: Hiram College
Brad Goodner
Hiram College
P.O. Box 67
Hiram, OH 44234
330.569.5260
Funding: Hiram HHMI Grant (summer stipends & research supplies)
Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 is a plant pathogen that causes crown gall disease. C58 does this by invading a plant wound and then incorporating some of its DNA into the plants DNA. The pH of the plant wound that Agrobacterium enters is pH 5.5 which is considerably lower than the pH 7 of the soil that Agrobacterium tumefaciens naturally resides. There are certain clusters of genes that are thought to allow Agrobacterium to be virulent at pH 5.5. Some of these genes are part of the Type VI secretion system found only in pathogenic bacteria. This gene cluster includes Atu4348 or VrgG, which is the gene that my research focused on. The VrgG gene was mutated using site specific genetics making the VgrG gene nonfunctional. We then tested through growth curves what effect pH had on wild type, C58, and the mutated strain of C58. It was found that the VrgG mutant was not as virulent as the wild type strain at pH 5.5. It was also found that this mutant produced greater amounts of biofilm than the wild type strain. This coincides with other research currently being done with the VrgG mutant.
Effects of diabetes on the presence of α –SMA (smooth muscle actin) and collagen VI in the myocardium
Name: Megan Taylor
Major: Biology
Academic & APEX Advisor: Matthew Hils
Location: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM)
Dr. Gary Meszaros
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
4209 St. Rt. 44, P.O. Box 95, Rootstown, OH 44272-0095
330.325.6432
Diabetes, affecting 20.8 million Americans, is a disease in which the body does not produce or recognize the hormone insulin. Without insulin, cells cannot uptake glucose necessary for cell growth and cellular processes. In addition to several malodies, people suffering from diabetes are 2-4 times more at risk for having a heart attack. Due to the increased amount of extra cellular matrix proteins made by the cardiac fibroblast cells of the myocardium, cardiac fibrosis, or hardening of the heart muscle, can occur. This study compares the amount of collagen VI and α-smooth muscle actin produced in non-diabetic rats with diabetic rats using methods of cell culture, immunohistochemistry, and western blot analysis. Levels of collagen VI and α-SMA were predicted to be higher in the myocardium of the diabetic animals than in the non diabetics’, contributing to the greater existence of fibrosis. Proliferation rates of the cardiac fibroblast cells were found to be higher in the diabetic animals than in the non-diabetic animals. However, no increases in collagen VI or α-SMA production were found in the diabetic samples using immunohistochemistry or western blotting.
Conserving Wildlife through Education and Rehabilitation
Name: Krista Tomasello
Major: Biology
Academic & APEX Advisor: Sandy Madar
Location: Penitentiary Glen Wildlife Center
Tammy O’Neil
8668 Kirtland-Chardon Road, Kirtland, Ohio 44094
440.256.2135
It has been estimated that during the next four generations of human life we will lose between half and two-thirds of all species on our planet. This is why wildlife conservation and education is crucial for protecting the future of animals. Wildlife conservation programs have been around since 1895 and are still important today. However, because today urban life is so disconnected from nature institutions such as zoos, aquariums and natural history museums play a significant role to stimulate curiosity about wildlife. This study will focus on a wildlife rehabilitation center, Penitentiary Glen, which has decided to take on this role. Through use of live animals in its programs, the wildlife center has successfully won the support of the public that is needed for preserving wildlife. A specific case will be looked at of how they achieved their goal using a rehabilitated groundhog. The specific training and enrichment the groundhog was given in order to work with the public and the specific educational programs the groundhog is trained for will be presented. Using programming centered on the groundhog the wildlife center was able to obtain the attention of the public and educate them about the fundamental community service of wildlife conservation. The impact that this specific groundhog has made on the public is very much needed in order to preserve what is left of our native wildlife.
Natalizumab alters cellular composition in cerebral perivascular spaces
Name: Ryan Winger
Major: Biology
Academic & APEX Advisor: Denny Taylor
Location: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Dr. Olaf Stuve MD, PhD and Dr. Elliot Frohman MD, PhD
5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX
214.648.8816
Funding: O.S. was supported by a Start-up grant from the Dallas VA Research Corporation, a New Investigator Award grant from VISN 17, Veterans Administration, Research Grants from National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS; RG3427A8/T and RG2969B7/T), and a grant from the Viragh Foundation
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system (CNS). Natalizumab, an effective MS prescription drug, was designed to prevent leukocyte trafficking into the CNS. Natalizumab, despite its robust efficacy was withdrawn after two patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). PML is a demyelinating disorder of the CNS caused by infection with the human polyomavirus JC, almost exclusively in patients with severe immunodeficiency. Although natalizumab has since been reapproved for RRMS, we at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center hypothesized that treatment with natalizumab interferes with CNS immune surveillance, leading to reduced numbers of antigen presenting cells (APC) in cerebral perivascular spaces (CPVS).To test this hypothesis, inflammatory cell numbers in the CPVS of cerebral tissue were assessed by immunohistochemical staining from one of the reported patients who succumbed to PML during therapy. Controls included location-matched cerebral autopsy material of patients without CNS disease, MS patients not treated with natalizumab and patients with PML not associated with natalizumab therapy. We found the numbers of all leukocytes were significantly decreased in CPVS in the natalizumab treated MS patient. Our observations suggest long term uninterrupted therapy eventually leads to significant depletion of APCs in CPVS, impairing cellular immune responses within the CNS, thus increasing the potential risks of infections.