Undergraduate Research Symposium 2014

SPECIAL THANKS

…from so simple a beginning, Endless forms most beautiful…

Charles Darwin

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY

Mr. & Mrs. Christopher A. St. Onge Dr. Donald Mahoney, Jr. Dr. Herbert W. Marks, Jr. Katherine C. Faust Dr. Simone T. Pitre Dr. Patricia Dorn Dr. Frank Jordan Dr. Craig Hood David B. Reeves

Dr. Bertram W. Coltman Mr. Nicholas de la Rua Mr. Thomas Sevick

Friday, March 28, 2014 Roussell Hall 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT

We would like to offer our special thanks to the following for their continued support of this event and our wonderful students.

Without you it would not be possible.

th 24

Annual

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

SYMPOSIUM

WELCOME TO THE TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM!

Justine Sundrud

Advisor: Dr. Patricia Dorn Today we celebrate outstanding undergraduate research. The students who will present their projects have enhanced their undergraduate

4:30

The Ecohealth Approach to Controlling Chagas Disease and Improving Rural Health (Educational video).

experiences by taking on directed research and creative activity under the supervision and mentorship of some of Loyola University’s most are presenting current or recently completed academic projects showcasing the diversity of topics, approaches, and interests at Loyola University New Orleans. Open only to graduating seniors, students pursing honors in Biology, also serve as research assistants to a professor, Dr. Frank Jordan, Department Chair

and present their research projects at this symposium.

The Research Symposium also demonstrates to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the greater New Orleans community that student research builds upon and enriches the Loyola undergraduate experience.

If you’re attending this event as a student, we hope you’ll be inspired to develop your own research or creative projects. We invite you to visit our website at http://www.loyno.edu/biology to learn about the many ways

Dr. Patricia Dorn, Symposium Advisor

undergraduates can get involved with research here at Loyola. For more information about contributing to the undergraduate research experience through our Rev. John H. Mullahy Endowed Fund, please contact Karen E. Anklam, Major Gifts Officer, Development/Capital Campaigns Department at (504) 861-5423 or keaklam@loyno.edu.

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT

distinguished faculty. Undergraduates from the Natural Science disciplines

Kathleen Kramas

Advisor: Dr. Patricia Dorn

4:15

24th Annual Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Symposium Presentation Schedule

ABSTRACTS

Soil-Transmitted Helminths: The Case for Latrines in Kato, Guyana.

1:30 2:00

Coffee & Refreshments Dr. Frank Jordan, Chair

Over 1.5 billion people suffer from soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) globally. Poor people are most at risk and STH infection deepens existing poverty. Five percent of people in Guyana are infected with hookworms. In the short term they suffer from abdominal pain and blood in their stool. Longer term infection results in malnutrition, stunting and mental retardation. Although treatment is cheap and effective, it is largely unavailable, as is the basic health care to even diagnose STH infection. Risk factors include: poverty, including lack of shoes, a lack of basic health education and a lack of latrines. Simply using latrines would halt transmission of soil-transmitted helminths.

Barriers hinder the availability and use of latrines. These barriers include a lack of resources to purchase supplies, logistics, including lack of roads and transportation to acquire materials, and a lack of understanding of why latrines are important. Effective intervention requires building trust in the community, respect for cultural practices, and resources. I will discuss my sister’s experience in Kato, Guyana as a Peace Corps volunteer and her efforts to combat STHs by encouraging and facilitating latrine use.

2:15

Madison Stark

Rapidly Colonizing Cattails in the Mississippi River Delta.

ADVISOR: Dr. Donald Hauber

2:30

Jennifer K. Austiff

The Expression of Early Embryonic Genes in the Regenerating Joint: Evidence for a Blastema?

ADVISOR: Dr. Rosalie Anderson

2:45

Tiffany Holden

Evidence for the Regeneration of a Functional Joint.

ADVISOR: Dr. Rosalie Anderson

3:00

Justine Sundrud

Additivity and Synergy Between an Antimicrobial Peptide and Inhibitory Ions.

ADVISOR: Dr. William Walkenhorst SPONSOR: Dr. Kimberlee Mix

3:15

Break

3:45

Anne Barkley

The Role of Solar Ultraviolet Light in Okra Leaf Chemistry.

MENTOR: Dr. Paul W. Barnes

4:00

Jordan Everett

NR4A2 expression patterns in mouse models of rheumatoid arthritis.

ADVISOR: Dr. Kimberlee Mix

4:15

Kathleen Kramas

Soil-Transmitted Helminths: The Case for Latrines in Kato, Guyana.

ADVISOR: Dr. Patricia Dorn

4:30

Justine Sundrud

The Ecohealth Approach to Controlling Chagas Disease and Improving Rural Health (Educational video).

ADVISOR: Dr. Patricia Dorn

5:15

Social – Monroe Hall, Fifth Floor

Introductory Remarks

Madison Stark

Advisor: Dr. Donald Hauber

2:15 pm

Jordan Everett

Advisor: Dr. Kimberlee Mix

4:00 pm

NR4A2 expression patterns in mouse models of rheumatoid arthritis.

New colonization of Cattails in the Mississippi River Delta has been observed spreading aggressively and displacing other wetland species.

Cattails are rapidly becoming one of the dominant emergent plant species in the otherwise diverse, interior marshes. It is important to classify the species of Cattail currently living in the delta; they are a significant wetland species. An invasion of non-native Cattail species could prove devastating to the delta ecosystem by displacing other beneficial wetland plant species. We are interested in determining what is causing the unusual pattern of colonization in the delta by genetically surveying the populations of Cattail that are present to determine what taxon, or hybrid, they represent. The use of molecular microsatellite markers, or simple sequence repeats, to compare these unknown Cattail populations with previously identified species and hybrids has yielded that the delta type Cattail does not genetically correspond very well to any of the known taxon. The results have indicated that either the delta Cattail population is a cryptogenic species, with extensively complex intraspecies genetic variation, or is the result of isolated hybridization events. More extensive research needs to be conducted to conclude on what is explicitly occurring at a genetic level in regards to the Cattail population in the Mississippi River Delta.

Arthritis is a group of over 100 musculoskeletal disorders affecting approximately 50 million adults in the US. In an effort to develop new drugs to treat arthritis, we are exploring the function of the orphan nuclear receptor 4A2 (NR4A2), a transcription factor over-expressed in inflamed joints. The transcriptional targets of NR4A2 include angiogenesis factors and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs).

NR4A2 appears to have a deleterious effect in synoviocytes by promoting tissue degradation, while in chondrocytes it seems to have a protective function. Previous work on human synoviocytes has shown NR4A2 to rise early in response to inflammation, leading us to hypothesize that NR4A2 may be a preliminary mediator of arthritis. To test this hypothesis in vivo, we studied NR4A2 expression patterns in two mouse models of RA: Antigen Induced Arthritis (AIA) and Serum Transfer Arthritis (STA). Tissue sections were obtained from healthy and arthritic mice at early, mid, and late time-points following induction. Joint cross-sections were examined via immunohistochemical staining, and NR4A2 positive cells were quantified in synovial and cartilage tissues. In the AIA model, NR4A2 protein levels peaked in synovium at day 10 of disease (mid stage, 50% positive) and declined later in disease. In cartilage, protein levels reached a maximum at day 8 (early stage, 75%) and subsequently declined to. In contrast, NR4A2 was not expressed in the STA model, despite apparent joint degradation. Taken together, the differential expression pattern of NR4A2 observed suggests two distinct pathological mechanisms at work in these mouse models of rheumatoid arthritis.

ABSTRACTS

ABSTRACTS

Rapidly Colonizing Cattails in the Mississippi River Delta.

Anne E. Barkly

Mentor: Dr. Paul Barnes

3:45 pm

Jennifer Kay Austiff

Advisor: Dr. Rosalie Anderson

2:30 pm

The Expression of Early Embryonic Genes in the Regenerating Joint: Evidence for a Blastema?

It is now well authenticated that plants employ strategies of photoprotection to counter the detrimental effects of excessive visible and UV radiation absorption; however, the physiological significance and underlying factors that drive these changes are little understood. A plant’s production of phenolic compounds act as sunscreen and have been shown to greatly affect how much light the plant absorbs. One of the most commonly reported acclimation responses of plants to UV-B is the induction of flavonoids and related phenolic compounds. These compounds appear to have multiple functions in photoprotection in plants. Some phenolics accumulate in the mesophyll and other tissues and are thought to function as antioxidants, thereby reducing oxidative damage that can be induced

by UV-B and high PAR. Other compounds, including certain flavonoids and hydroxycinnamic acids, are known to function as UV “sunscreens” and accumulate in epidermal tissue where they effectively reduce the penetration of UV to the underlying mesophyll. Exposure to UV activates genes and induces key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of flavonoids and other phenylpropanoid derivatives and action spectra for the induction of flavonoids show a peak quantum efficiency within the UV-B (near 300nm). However, other environmental factors, including PAR and UV-A have also been shown to stimulate favonoid production. While the importance of background levels of PAR (and UV-A) in influencing plant responses to UV-B has been well documented, less is known on how UV and PAR interact to influence the UV-shielding properties leaves in different light environments.

Using the chicken embryo as a model, this research examines the expression of early embryonic genes in the regenerating joint as evidence for blastema formation. Previous studies on urodele limb regeneration show that regeneration recapitulates development. Mature limb cells dedifferentiate into blastema cells, which then migrate to the wound site and redifferentiate to regenerate the tissue. Studies on chicken embryos suggest that regeneration of the embryonic chicken elbow joint also recapitulates development. Expanding on such information, this study aims to specify if particular genes involved in limb development are also implicated in joint regeneration, and if so determine where and when in the regenerating elbow joint such genes are expressed.

Specifically, this research examines the genes Sonic hedgehog, HoxD13, Msx1, and Msx2. These genes are actively expressed in normal limb development, thus the expression of such developmental genes at the site of regeneration would suggest the dedifferation of limb cells to form blastema cells. Presumptive elbow joint tissue is removed utilizing a window excision. Embryos are then allowed to regenerate until various time points, in order to determine temporal expression of genes. In-situ hybridization on sections as well as whole mount embryos is used to map the expression of the early embryonic genes.

ABSTRACTS

ABSTRACTS

The Role of Solar Ultraviolet Light in Okra Leaf Chemistry.

Tiffany Holden

Advisor: Dr. Rosalie Anderson

2:45 pm

Evidence for the Regeneration of a Functional Joint.

Justine Sundrud

Advisor: Dr. William F. Walkenhorst Sponsor: Dr. Kimberlee Mix

3:00 pm

Additivity and Synergy Between an Antimicrobial Peptide and Inhibitory Ions.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are biological molecules involved in host defense.

Our study of AMPs involves examining the effects of toxic cations (Cu2+, Zn2+) and anions (FÂŻ, EDTA) on the activity profiles of the cationic antimicrobial peptide (CAMP) *ARVA against a panel of microorganisms. All four ions exhibited either synergy or additivity with *ARVA for all organisms tested with the exception of *ARVA combined with NaF against Candida albicans, which exhibited indifference. CuCl2 and ZnCl2 exhibited synergy with *ARVA against both the Gram negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus as well as strong additivity against E. coli at submillimolar concentrations. The chelator EDTA was synergistic with *ARVA against the two Gram negative organisms, but showed only simple additivity with S. aureus and C. albicans despite their much lower MICs with EDTA. This effect may be related to the known differences in the divalent ion binding properties of the Gramnegative LPS layer as compared to the peptidoglycan layer of the Gram-positive organism. Unlike the other ions, NaF showed only additivity or indifference when combined with *ARVA and required much higher concentrations for activity. The yeast C. albicans did not show synergy or strong additivity with any of the inhibitory compounds tested. The effects of toxic ions and chelators observed here have important implications for applications using CAMPs and for the design of novel antimicrobial formulations.

ABSTRACTS

ABSTRACTS

Synovial joints are the most common and most adaptable joints found in mammals. They are also subject to constant wear and tear, trauma, and many degenerative diseases. This is why research regarding synovial joint regeneration is so crucial to the advancement of modern medicine. This research allows us to better understand developmental and regenerative mechanisms that take place over both short and long time frames. Experimentation and data analysis was collected using chick embryos that underwent window excision of the right elbow joint at developmental stage 26 (Hamburger & Hamilton, 1951). The left elbow joint was used as a control in order to compare normal development with post operative development. In ovo imaging found that the post operative right elbow began healing and regenerating at an extremely fast rate, observing three and six hour post operative time-points. Analysis of these regenerated joints was performed at stage 44 (Day 18) using X-ray, Alcian blue and Alizarin red staining (bone and cartilage), and X-ray microtomography (microCT) imaging. MicroCT uses X-rays in order to create a 3D image of the regenerated elbow; due to the chick's embryonic stage at harvesting, the wings must be stained in order to visualize the soft tissue elbow structure. Different techniques, fixatives, and stains were tested in order to determine a protocol that produced high contrast soft tissue images for late stage embryonic chick regenerated joints.