UBR Current Student Researchers

Virginia Commonwealth University Academics

EXAMPLES OF VCU UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS - PAST AND PRESENT
Students are Listed with their Advisor and a description of their research.

Melinda Christie Slattum "Age- and Gender-Related Differences in the Sensitivity to Ethanol" The elderly appear to be more sensitive to the effects of alcohol and other drugs. Two processes may contribute to this apparent increased sensitivity: altered pharmacokinetics (PK) or altered pharmacodynamics (PD) It is hypothesized that the increased sensitivity is due primarily to the CNS pharmacodynamics (PD) rather than the pharmacokinetics (PK) of ethanol. This study will characterize the PK and PD of intravenous ethanol in elderly males and females, determine whether the elderly are more sensitive to ethanol intoxication than young subjects, and assess the effect of gender on age-related differences in sensitivity to ethanol effects.
Elizabeth Darrenkamp Garrett "Isolation of cDNA fragments of HCV" The most common form of chronic viral hepatitis in the U.S. is called the Hepatitis C Virus and is transmitted via body secretions. Unfortunately, there are no chemotherapeutic treatments for the disease presently. My research project objective is to isolate cDNA fragments of the Hepatitis C Viral Genome and obtain a single band of appropriate molecular weight. The fragments of HCV will be confirmed and used to construct ribozymes as potential therapeutic agents which will target the HCV genome.
Imran Jafri Ramoa "Studies of Developmental Vision in Ferrets" Ferrets, like primates, possess binocular vision, however, they are born with relatively underdeveloped vision. Visual development can be studied after birth. This project will evaluate the connections between the retina and the lateral geniculate nucleus in newborn ferrets between 14 and 28 days of age. Critical proteins, including the NMDA receptor, will also be evaluated during this process.
Jeffrey Kirk Wu-Pong "Role of Sequence on Oligonucleotide Structure, Transport and Activity" Oligonucleotides (ODN) are used therapeutically to bind to complementary mRNA, thus inhibiting expression of certain genes. This research project is intended to study the role of sequence on the stabilization of secondary structure, transport and activity of ODNs. Specifically, the stability and transport of G-rich sequences which contain various flanking sequences will be evaluated during this project.
Jay Khosla Tombes "Role of delta CaMK-II Isozyme Expression in Human Leukemic Cell Differentiation" The differentiation of malignant hematopoietic cells into monocytes, granulocytes or neutrophils can be induced. CaMK-II, the multifunctional calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, is down-regulated in human leukemic cells and CaMK-II overexpression causes decreased cell growth in embryonic fibroblasts. This project will evaluate whether specific isozymes of CaMK-II can induce the differentiation of leukemic cells in vitro and thus serve as a possible model for differentiation-based therapies.
Susan Milhausen Kauma "Role of Cytokines during Implantation and Pregnancy" LIF and IL-11 are cytokines necessary for implantation to occur, as they influence trophoblast and placental growth. IL-11 can induce growth of some trophoblast cell lines in vitro, but not others. This project will evaluate whether variant cell growth responses are due to a difference in IL-11 receptors.
Lanre Omojokun Shapiro "A Study of Brain Damage and Auditory Dysfunction in Bilirubin Toxicity Using Animal and Cell Culture Models" Bilirubin, a yellow inexcretable pigment, is a breakdown product of hemoglobin in the blood. Most newborns experience a high concentration of bilirubin, due to the liver's inability to produce sufficient amounts of glucuronyl transferase, the enzyme that converts bilirubin into an excretable water-soluble form. After few days, however, the liver matures and is capable of converting bilirubin, and bilirubin decreases to a normal level. Some newborns, particularly premature newborns, never produce enough glucuronyl transferase to convert bilirubin, thus resulting in hyperbilirubinemia. Such neonatal bilirubin toxicity damages areas of the brainstem, thereby causing hearing loss and other complications of brain damage. My research will focus on the susceptibility of rat pups to bilirubin-induced damage of the neonatal auditory system of the rat, with applications to human newborns.
David Paik Tombes "Characterization of CaMK-II Targeting Domains" Domains necessary for intracellular CaMK-II targeting to the cytoskeleton are being characterized by deletion mutagenesis and transfection back into a variety of cells. Live-cell fluorescent digital imaging will be used to evaluate dynamic targeting.
Shannon Pratt Christie "Mutagenesis of the DNA binding site of the P2 Phage Ogr Protein" The P2 Pgr protein is a transcription factor essential for late gene expression by the P2 bacteriophage. This project will use mutant promoters to select for mutant transcription factors which have alterations in their DNA binding. These transcription factors will then be characterized to help define important amino acid determinants in DNA binding.
Roanna Trisdorfer Barbour "Studies on Phospholipid Dynamics in Mammalian Cells" In mammalian cells, the two major choline-containing phospholipids are phosphatidylcholine (PC) and sphingomyelin (SM). The ratio of these two lipids is strictly maintained in most mammalian cells. When Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells (CHO cells) are transfected with the gene encoding the enzyme CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CT) they have been shown to contain about 20% more PC than untransfected cells. Hence, we predict that the transfected cells will exhibit increased SM mass to balance the already observed increased PC mass. I will perform experiments comparing the amount of SM mass in the transfected and untransfected CHO cells. If SM mass is increased in the transfected cells, I will do further experiments to determine whether this increase in mass is the result of (1) an increase in the amount of SM synthesized, (2) a decrease in the amount of SM catabolized, or (3) the transfer of the choline head group from PC to SM.
Alex Young Baumgarten "Effect of Integrins on Cardiac Cell Volume Regulation" Cell volume regulation is controlled by stretch-activated ion channels (SACs). There is a relationship between SAC activity and integrin receptors. Integrins bind to extracellular material and transmit mechanical force into the cell causing cytoskeletal rearrangements and kinase cascades. The hypothesis of this research is that one of the functions of the integrin induced-kinase cascades is to modulating SAC activity, affecting cell volume regulation. To explore this possibility, magnetic beads coated with integrin ligands are used to create a mechanical force that is transmitted into myocytes via integrin receptors.
Ben Harvey Bullock "Spinal cord Injury Studies"
Roxanne George Barbour "Phospholipid Metabolism in Tumor Cell Lines"
Jonathan Kurz Churn "Calcineurin Activity in Status Epillepticus"
Shakun Gupta Grant "Histone DeAcetylase and Combinatorial Leukemia Therapy" Dr. Grant's work is on combining conventional chemotherapies that alone may not have a very significant effect but when put in different combinations, have a great effect. I started on a project combining a conventional drug with a histone deacetylace in a particular cell line. This combination showed promise and I worked on a part of this ongoing project to find another drug with a different histone deacetylace in a different leukemia cell line to show the generalizability of such a treatment.
Debraj Mukherjee Churn "Pathological Caspase Activation In Status Epilepticus" Status epilepticus (SE) is a severe medical condition defined as continuous seizure activity lasting for thirty minutes or more (Bleck 1991). It is estimated that the condition affects over one hundred thousand people in the United States each year (DeLorenzo et al. 1995, 1996). While the development of SE may induce death rapidly, the physiological changes that accompany SE may also have lasting affects on the functioning of neurochemical pathways in the brain (Wasterlain et al. 1993; Rice et al. 1996; Fountain 2000). Research has implicated changes in calcium-regulated mechanisms as leading to pathological conditions like SE (Pal et al. 1999; Parsons et al. 2000). Research has further implied that calcium influx via the NMDA receptor is responsible for increased activity of calcineurin, a neuronally enriched, calcium-dependent phosphatase (Montoro et al. 1993; Pallen and Wang 1985). As a role player in the induction of apoptosis and the depression of GABA receptor activity, increased activity of calcineurin in neuronal cells following SE makes the study of this enzyme and of the mechanisms that activate it relevant to the study of the post SE neurochemical changes in the brain (Springer et al. 2000; Huang and Dillon 1998). One possible set of intermediates between the influx of calcium via the NMDA receptor and the increased activity of calcineurin following SE are the cysteine aspartic acid-specific proteases, collectively known as caspases. The central role that caspases play in apoptosis mechanisms have recently been understood, although the role that caspases may play in neuronal degeneration following SE, particularly as an intermediate in the mechanism involving NMDA receptors and calcineurin, has not been thoroughly explored (Nicholson and Thornberry 1997). Caspases promote apoptosis by disabling cellular mechanisms and by cleaving structural components (Nicholson and Thornberry 1997). Of the caspases involved in apoptosis, caspase-3, caspase-6, and caspase-7 have been identified as executioners (Slee et al. 2001). These executioners are the final caspases in a cascade of events within the cell that eventually cleave products within the cell leading to apoptosis. This project will attempt to determine the role that executioner caspases may play in cellular mechanisms leading to increased calcineurin activity following status epilepticus in the rat brain.
Mario Saavedra Fillmore "MT1-MMP Promoter in Gliomas" I am cloning the MT1-MMP promoter into a luciferase vector. The promoter region will be mutated and then transfected into cells for experimentation. The purpose is to study the different structural parts of the promoter and the effects of different signaling pathways on the promoter, by locating the regions in the promoter that cause high MT1-MMP expression in gliomas. We hope to mutate those regions to decrease or eliminate tumor cell invasiveness and proliferation.
Robin Bhavsar Churn "Calcineurin Activity in Status Epillepticus"
Patrick Sachs Holt "Human Telomerase Activity in Vitro"
Bina Patel Bear "Adoptive Immunotherapy Experiments" I am working with Dr. Holt and Dr. Bear. I am vaccinating mice against a tumor cell line called 4T1-hTERT. The vaccine should be able to protect against tumor cells because it is specially engineered to work against hTERT which is found in most cancers.Ý To do the experiment, I vaccinate one group of mice (6 mice) with the vaccine and another group of mice with alum and the vaccine once a week for three weeks.Ý I challenge the fourth week and then measure the tumors.Ý ÝI am confirming whether the 4T1-hTERT cell line makes hTERT as a contro experiment. There are many other projects that may be offshoots of this central experiment.

Bic Cung Lloyd "Cloning _-Globin Constructs to be Used in the Study of _-Globin Gene Regulation" In humans, the genes of the _-globin locus switch from expressing _-globin in the fetal stage to _-globin in the adult stage. The molecular mechanism of this gene-switch has been studied for past few decades; we hope that a better understanding of the underlying factors regulating the sequential expression of these genes will eventually lead to more effective treatments of hemoglobinopathies such as Sickle Cell Anemia.

Hitasha Singh Lloyd "Human Genetics"
Angie Duong Bear "Adoptive Immunotherapy Experiments"