Abstracts Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare genetic disease that impairs the process of bone mineralization due to low activity of tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP). Severe hypophosphatasia also manifests with complications including hypercalcemia, vitamin B6-dependent seizures, and craniosynostosis. Many patients suffering from these symptoms die from respiratory failure. Other forms of HPP include perinatal, childhood, adult, and odonto-HPP with symptoms ranging from stillbirth to loss of teeth. Current treatment for HPP, enzyme replacement therapy, hinders the livelihood of HPP patients, as it requires daily intravenous treatment, and does not impact craniofacial or tooth defects. Mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone tissue have shown promise to treat HPP with a low allogenic transplantation rejection rate, and yield increased bone mineralization and muscle mass in patients. To enhance mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy as a treatment for HPP, I studied the application of mRNA transfection in MSCs using the CRE lox system. The transfection of mRNA may be used to alter protein expression in therapeutic MSCs to increase cell production of alkaline phosphatase or enhance transplanted cell engraftment. Here, mRNA transfection was used to express fluorescent proteins. Three experiments analyzed the transfection optimization and indicated that 1:3 and 1:5 mRNA to transfection reagent ratios produced the greatest overall cell fluorescence. Our results indicate the power of mRNA transfection to alter MSC behavior, which will be useful for in vitro and in vivo studies.
investigation arose through a multi-institutional project known as Automated Analysis of Constructed Response (AACR). AACR provides data to faculty about their students’ thinking. AACR FLCs support faculty in understanding the data-heavy AACR reports and how to modify teaching accordingly. Transcripts of FLC meetings from multiple institutions are analyzed by qualitative content analysis, which involves exploring the transcripts for thematic patterns. These data reveal the interests and perceptions of AACR FLC participants. This knowledge will lead to improved professional support for faculty groups and should and may improve the implementation of active learning strategies in the undergraduate classroom. The Persistence of Small Pollen Grains in Populations of Ipomoea purpurea Darien Power, CURO Research Assistant Dr. Shu-Mei Chang, Plant Biology, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences This research project uses the common morning glory flower, Ipomoea purpurea, to examine how different pollen grain sizes contribute to male reproductive success. This is important since most studies examine female fitness only. The Chang laboratory found previously that when large and small pollen grains are in direct competition in greenhouse experiments, large pollen grains fertilize more ovules than small ones. The current project investigates whether or not this remains true when the flowers are exposed to natural pollinators. The plants used in this study were from artificially selected lines that diverge in pollen size and were naturally pollinated by bees. These samples were allowed to flower naturally so that the flower number represented the normal display size. The seeds produced from this pollination array study were collected and planted in the greenhouse. Once these seeds grew, I collected leaf tissue samples from 84 individuals and extracted their DNA using a modified CTAB protocol. Polymerase Chain Reactions for seven different microsatellite loci were run on each individual. I conducted paternity analyses on the computer to determine whether the paternal parent was a large- or small-pollen parent. Contrary to the greenhouse results, I found that small pollen grains were more reproductively successful than large ones. This result points to
An Investigation into the Dynamics of Faculty Learning Communities Briel Power, CURO Research Assistant Dr. Paula Lemons, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences A growing emphasis on reform in US higher education has led many college faculty members to consider changing their teaching strategies. In particular, many are now implementing active learning, which consists of teaching methods that encourage students to cognitively engage with the material during class. Research focuses on the dynamics of Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) and their use as professional support for the implementation of active learning strategies in undergraduate science courses. The FLCs under 190