Summer 2010: Oral Health in Honduras: Comparing the Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMF) Score to the Age, BMI, and Gender of the Honduran People
by Patrick Cooper and Merrill Singer, PhD
I used my Rowe Research Award to conduct research in Honduras while on a medical missionary trip. I interviewed 600 participants to collect data comparing their oral health to their diet as well as to their geographic region, age, and gender.
Summer 2010: Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 Regulations of Microvascular Pericytes Differentiation into Osteoblast and Adipocyte
by John Zyzo and Ruth Washington, PhD, in collaboration with Marja Hurley, M.D.
Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 has been known to play a role in osteogenesis and adipogenesis of pericyte cells. Although vascular pericytes can differentiate into osteoblast and adipocyte, the involvement of signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms were the main focus of our experiments.
Pericytes are of particular interest because they are located on the abluminal side of endothelial cells near endothelial junctions along capillaries, which allows them to be involved in many pathophysiological events. The recent development of techniques for isolating and characterizing pericytes have given us the opportunity to further understand the proliferation potential of these very intricate cells.
Furthermore, the production of FgF2 by pericytes provided us with the specific area we needed to focus our studies in order to expand our knowledge of the osteogenic and adipogenic properties of pericytes. The targeted promotion of FgF2 as a major factor in osteogenesis and adipogenesis can lead to improved therapeutics for treatment of disorders associated with low bone mass. Not to mention increasing our basic knowledge of vascular formation and bone formation while also exploring pericytes as a promising source of stem cells.
Summer 2010: Determining the Effect of Spacing in Protection of Staphylococcus aureus by Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
by Leonela Villegas and Leslie Shor, PhD
The research that I have been conducting since the summer of 2010 includes the observation of two different types of biofilm-forming bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using a quad microfluidic device that simulates a controlled environment, I observed the interactions between these two bacterias at various distances from one another when being in contact with Tobramycin to ultimately compare these results to other types of antibiotics. The reason for selecting these two types of bacteria is due to how Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been shown to produce an exoproduct named HQNO, which inhibits the growth of S.aureus yet causes resistant small variant colonies to appear. The bacteria are grown on a thin layer of oxygen sensing film, which uses the reporter molecule Pt(II) Porphyrin to measure bacterial activity based on fluorescence.
US Army Research Institute for Environmental Medicine
Summer 2009: Biological Science Aid, Military Performance Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick Soldier Systems Center
by James Alvarez, POC: Edward J. Zambraski, Ph.D, Jeffery S. Staab, M.S.
My summer was spent as an Intern with the United States Army in Natick, Massachusetts at the Soldier Systems Center. My division’s mission is stated as “conducting biomedical research to improve and sustain Warfighter health and performance under all conditions”. My role in this mission was acting as a general lab technician, processing human blood and tissue samples collected from numerous ongoing studies. I also had the opportunity to observe, and in some cases implement, a number of experimental protocols. Some noteworthy experiences include working in the high-altitude chambers, climate chambers, conducting exercise trials in a supplement study, and aiding in a demonstration of new techniques involved in microdialysis and the collection of transdermal body fluid.
Other experiences include participating in a cognitive science study, and working with an exercise physiology team analyzing experimental results and discussing their significance along with future avenues of research.
•Summer 2009: The Evaluation of an On-line Certified Professional Food Manager Course to Reduce/Eliminate Food Born Illnesses in the Food Service Industry
by Wenhui Sun, Ellen Shanley MBA, RD and Colleen Thompson MS, RD The University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 76 million people suffer from foodborne illnesses each year in the United States. Food service is the second largest employer in the United States with a large number of immigrants and individuals having limited skills. The food service industry has an extremely high turnover. Many people working in food service are not well educated and many speak Spanish as their primary language. Ms. Shanley and Ms. Thompson created an online tutorial site through HuskyCT that teaches the information tested in the national certificate examination. We have conducted trainings in Simsbury, Oakdale, Storrs, and Wallingford to recruit subjects and teach them how to use the online programs. After all data compilation, we will analyze it with SPSS and determine the validity of the online modules.
Summer 2008: Autoimmunity to Interphotoreceptor Retinoid Binding Protein
by Philip J. Gorecki, Robert E. Cone, Ph.D., and Rajwardhan Yadav, M.D./Ph.D. Dept. of Immunology & Connecticut Lions’ Vascular Vision Center University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT
Autoimmune uveitis is a condition in which the immune response is directed against retinal antigens. Interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP) is an immunodominant antigen that stimulates T and B lymphocytes. Our aim was to characterize IRBP specific immune responses using a mouse model. IRBP and Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA) were injected and a delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction was measured. We observed a dose dependent response to IRBP either 24 or 48 hours post challenge (depending on the strain of mouse). Thus immunization with IRBP and adjuvant in the periphery results in generation of IRBP specific immune responses.
Sean Ghassem-Zadeh presenting his research.
Summer 2008: Optimizing Osteoblast Cell Culture for the Study of Dlx Gene Function
by Sean Ghassem-Zadeh
With the high volume of research involving in vitro studies and the need to optimize specific types of cell cultures, multiple companies have produced various Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) products that can aid cell culture processes. With numerous companies producing multiple lots of FBS, which are obtained from an isolated population of fetal calves, a further investigation is needed to determine the best product for a desired cell culture (in this case calvaria and bone marrow cultures). By screening these different serums along with different lots of the same serum on both types of cell cultures, one can determine the most effective product. It is therefore proposed that a specific product list be determined and each serum be tested simultaneously with the same population of cells. In doing so, one can determine the best FBS for the two desired methods of cell culture.
Download Sean’s presentation.
•Summer 2008: Identification of Candidate Acoustic Cues for Sound Localization
by Rishi Kothari
Sound localization is an important ability for all animals for a variety of reasons, including avoiding predation and finding food. The localization of sound in animals, as well as humans, has been investigated extensively with respect to varying azimuth, but substantially less study has been done on the effects of changing the distance or elevation of the sound source. Here, we investigate candidate acoustic cues for the determination of distance and elevation using head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) from the dutch-belted rabbit due to the wealth of information available about its auditory system.
Download Rishi’s presentation.
•Summer 2008: Studying the Effects of a Potential New Chemotherapeutic Agent, SAM, on a Breast Cancer Cell Line and on a Yeast Model for Cancer
by Luke Monteagudo
During my summer fellowship, I worked four days a week doing basic science research on the effect of a potential new chemotherapeutic drug, SAM, on a breast cancer cell line and on a yeast model for cancer.
On the fifth day, I had the privilege of shadowing Dr. Peter J. Deckers in the clinic and in the operating room. With Dr. Deckers, I learned much about the disease. But I also met Dr. Deckers’ patients and saw first hand the devastation of a breast cancer diagnosis and how important it is to find new chemotherapeutic options for these patients.
Dr. Deckers, Dr. Caron, and I have formed a collaboration to translate the data generated from several years of basic science research on this new chemotherapeutic drug into clinical research, a perfect example of translational research.
•Spring 2008: Characterization of Mesenchymal Progenitors from Bone Marrow and Adipose Tissue
by Shawnet K. Jones, Katie Lamothe, Ivo Kalajzic and H.Leonardo Aguila
In the lab of Dr. H. Leonardo Aguila we aimed to find markers that would allow for the characterization and isolation of mesenchymal progenitors from different sources. This project focused mostly on progenitors isolated from bone marrow and adipose tissue, two sites containing cells with recognized ability to form bone. In addition this project aimed to determine if there was a differential distribution of progenitor cells amongst males and females.
The distribution of cell surface markers, evaluated by flow cytometry, made us appreciate the cellular heterogeneity between different organs. Our an-alysis of hematopoietic elements showed that adipose tissue contains an elevated number of T cells. The comparison of bone marrow and adipose tissue showed distinct distribution of markers in their non-hematopoietic compartment, indicating that cells with osteogenic potential may have different phenotypes in each organ.
Differences between genders were observed in the distribution of cell surface markers in non-hematopoietic compartments. This could represent differences induced by hormonal regulation that could translate in differential regenerative potentials.
The dissection of populations by cell surface markers is an important tool to define cell populations with progenitor activity. We found that a combination of two cell surface markers, known to be expressed in hematopoietic progenitors (Sca-1 and CD90), can also be used to define heterogeneity of non-hematopoietic progenitors.
Summer 2007: A cause of Angelmans syndrome, a form of mental retardation, in terms of Ubiquitin Protein Ligase 3A (UBE3A) expression’s impact on resistance to genotoxic stressors
by Devorah Donnell
Through the UConn Medical School’s Summer Research Fellowship Program, I conducted stem cell research in the summer of 2007 in Dr. Lalande’s laboratory in the department of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the UConn Health Center. I studied a cause of Angelmans syndrome, a form of mental retardation, in terms of Ubiquitin Protein Ligase 3A (UBE3A) expression’s impact on resistance to genotoxic stressors.
With my own research project, I independently cultured stem cell lines. Some lines were altered to reflect cells found in Angelmans syndrome patients, while others served as control lines. Once the cells were at the necessary degree of maturation, I exposed them to chemicals serving as genotoxic stressors. I then used flow cytometry and other techniques to assess the survival rates of each stem cell line. My research examined whether resistance to chemical stressors allowed the altered cells to remain and be expressed in the developing fetus as Angelmans syndrome.
Through this exciting opportunity I learned a lot about Angelmans syndrome, stem cells, cell culture, and other laboratory techniques.