2015 Summer Undergraduate Research Participants

Amanda Hafner

Student at Bellarmine University
KBRIN Mentor: Rifaat El-Mallakh, PhD, Psychiatry, UofL

Research Topic: Preliminary data have found that people with bipolar illness are unable to produce adequate levels of endogenous cardenolides in situations in which normal controls increase cardenolides levels. This has led to the hypothesis that abnormal moods in bipolar patients may be related to abnormal cardenolides production. Preliminary literature review has revealed that atrial naturetic peptide (ANP) and endogenous cardenolides are co-regulated. This research will study the role of atrial naturetic peptide in the regulation of production of endogenous cardenolides

Taylor Johnson

Student at Eastern Kentucky University
KBRIN Mentor: Sham Kakar, PhD, Physiology, UofL

Research Topic: Molecular mechanism of combination therapy (Withafern A and Cisplatin) in ovarian cancer through EMT pathway. Withaferin A (WFA) is a drug with anti-cancer effects reported in lung, breast and ovarian cancer. In these studies, we are determining the effects of different concentrations of WFA for commonly used tumorigenic pathways as well as on EMT especially expression of number of genes involved in EMT process such as E-cadherin, Vimentin, snail, slug, Zeb1 using various methods such as PCR and Q-PCR. We emphasize each portion of the EMT pathway and test the effects of these drugs on tumor suppression in vivo and ovarian tumor cell line (A2780) in vitro. From our results we conclude that WFA alone inhibits EMT process leading to suppression of recurrence of ovarian cancer.

Jessica Jones

Student at Whittenburg University
KBRIN Mentor: Doug Borchman, PhD, Ophthalmology/Visual Sciences, UofL

Research Topic:Virreal binding patterns were analyzed to gain a better understanding of the mechanism causing syneresis in the vitreous of the eye, and to determine if vitreal detachment is a result of lipids binding to hyaluronan.  The binding of lipids inhibits hyaluronan-collagen interactions which causes collagen to collapse and water to be released from the vitreous gel. Vitreous liquefaction increases with age and in severe cases can cause retinal detachment and blindness. A NMR spectrometer was used to study a model system with mixtures of purified hyaluronan and lipids. Spectra were compared using Grams AI software. Broadening and a decrease in the intensity of resonances associated with hyaluranan when lipids bound were quantified to measure hyaluranan-lipid binding constants. Spectra of porcine vitreous were also analyzed.

David Malicote

Student at Centre College
KBRIN Mentor: Michael Hetman, PhD, Ky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, UofL

Research Topic: The Effect of Ribosomal Depletion on Protein Translation in Rat Hippocampal Neurons. Ribosomes, protein structures found in the cytosol of cells, are responsible for protein translation. It has been determined that increasing ribosome content in developing neurons is essential for neurite maintenance. Depletion of ribosome content in developing rat hippocampal neurons leads to a decrease in dendrite branching and length, which is characteristic of various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Huntington’s disease.

David McElroy

Student at Morehead State University
KBRIN Mentor: Michael Merchant, PhD, Medicine/Nephrology, UofL

Research Topic: Structural modification of albumin associated with erythropoiesis stimulating agent utilization. Serum and plasma are highly complex solutions with great variation of protein composition, post-translation modifications of individual proteins, and concentration ranges. Using effective analysis of serum or plasma using proteomic methods requires methods that address the dynamic range of protein concentration. In the study, samples were prepared using a method to enhance detection of low abundant proteins and analyzed using a bottom-up/peptide-centric proteomics approach. The current hypothesis is that the differential enrichment of high abundant proteins by the aptamer-based approach is the result of differential protein post-translational modification to albumin. Ultimately, this research will help improve treatment in with cardiovascular impairment.

Darian Wallace

Student at Eastern Kentucky University
KBRIN Mentor: Martha Bickford, PhD, Anatomical Science/Neurobiolgy, UofL

Research Topic: Visual pathways and Tracing Neurons. Tracing neurons and their structures are then analyzed as a way to understand how neurons work.

Austin Zachary

Student at Bellarmine University
KBRIN Mentor:Robin Krimm, PhD, Anatomical Science/Neurobiolgy, UofL

Research Topic: Individual Taste Neurons Vary in Branching Characteristics

Short Description: In this study, we examined the morphology of single taste neurons in the peripheral taste system using genetic taste labeling. Using the Neuoluceda program, we are able to analyze our samples to identify where taste neurons are going through the tongue, showing varying widths of the neurons and label any branching that occurs. 3D imaging of the drawn neuron path is also available

Heather Feese

Student at Wittenberg University
KBRIN Mentor: Brian Rymond, PhD, Biology, UK

Research Interests: The role of SERF gene in Spinal Muscular Atrophy phenotype

Short Description: Spinal muscular atrophy is a genetic disorder caused by homozygous loss of function mutations in the SMN1 gene which results in decreased levels of SMN protein. The SERF gene has been suggested as a candidate modifier of SMN protein and if this is true SERF could potentially alleviate phenotypic severity and increase the abundance of SMN protein. Our research uses a Drosophila model to investigate the role of SERF on the abundance of SMN protein and the phenotype of SMN missense mutants.

Tori Gray

Student at Eastern Kentucky University
KBRIN Mentor: Douglas Harrison, PhD, UK

Research Topic: Our research is using preliminary data from a GWAS study and DGRP lines of drosophila melanogaster in order to better understand the Jak/Stak pathway and the genetics involved with the aging of the reproductive system of male flies.

Hannah Welch

Student at Centre College
KBRIN Mentor: David Westneat, PhD, Biology, UK

Research Topics: Studying of potentially harmful bacteria in sparrows and livestock to discover whether sparrows may be part of system whereby bacteria are transferred between birds and livestock and eventually agricultural workers. Evidence of antibiotic resistance has been found in some of the bacteria carried by sparrows, and we are expanding the array of bacteria being testing and refine our sampling to get better resolution on the links between livestock and sparrows using a mix of fieldwork and labwork using PCR.

Emily Yokom

Student at Kentucky Wesleyan University
KBRIN Mentor: Robin Cooper, PhD, Biology, UK

Research Topics: The long-term objective of this project is to understand not only the detailed mechanisms of synaptic differentiation among neurons but also those mechanisms employed between neurons and muscle cells. This study will determine the role of cholinergic neuronal activity during embryonic development in regulation of dendritic and axon branching in class IV Drosophila dendritic arborization neurons at the larval stages.

Felicia Farmer

Student at Morehead University
KBRIN Mentor: Vincent Cassone, PhD, UK

Research Topic: This project is focused on circadian rhythms, studying if the hormone melatonin has an impact on the rhythms of MntH and CoaE. Our hypothesis is that the bacteria in the gut are capable of co-opting some of these signals - namely melatonin - and may have evolved circadian rhythms of their own, after living symbiotically within hominins for millennia.  We are currently using clinical isolates of some of these bacteria to investigate possible genes that may contribute to circadian patterns of motility and swarming responses to melatonin.

Kayla Swiatek

Student at Washington University St. Louis
KBRIN Mentor: Ann Morris, PhD, UK

Research Topic: This project involves characterizing multiple transgenic lines of zebrafish that constitutively express Human Rhodopsin containing the P23H and K296E mutations. In addition, the transgenic zebrafish were compared to their non-transgenic siblings in order to analyze the time of onset and extent of photoreceptor degeneration in the retina of the fish, ultimately modeling the human eye disease Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Jacob Sifers

Student at Alice Lloyd College
KBRIN Mentor: Robin Cooper, PhD, Biology, UK

Research Topic: The long-term objective of this project is to understand not only the detailed mechanisms of synaptic differentiation among neurons but also those mechanisms employed between neurons and muscle cells. The dendritic arborization of sensory neurons in Drosophila provide a suitable system in which morphogenesis can be followed.  These neurons can be used as markers for examination of morphological change at various larval stages.  This aim of this study was to determine the role of cholinergic neuronal activity during embryonic development in regulation of dendritic and axon branching in class IV Drosophila dendritic arborization neurons at the larval stages.

Atici Enes

Student at Western Kentucky University
KBRIN Mentors:Grace Jones, PhD Dept. of Biology and Davy Jones, PhD Graduate Center for Toxicology, UK

Title: Effect of USP receptor on Drosophila metamorphosis.

Short description: We obtained transgenic Drosophila with a null USP receptor and compared our results with Drosophila that have wild type USP present. Next, we changed the serine to an alanine at the 35th position on the USP receptor (phosphorylation mutant). Lastly, we challenged the HA tag to rescue the null USP receptor line and we challenged the phosphorylation mutant to rescue the null USP receptor by crossing the phosphorylation line with FM7GFP/USP2. (USP2 is the null receptor).