The 8th Annual

NC State University

Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium

 

 

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program abstracts


Abstracts are listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the corresponding author.

 

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Cruz, Phoebe M.

Home Institution:

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

CALS

Department(s):

Molecular and Structural Biochemistry

Research Mentor(s): 

Carla Mattos/Molecular and Structural Biochemistry

Genevieve Holzapfel/Molecular and Structural Biochemistry

Title of Presentation:

Multiple Solvent Crystal Structures of Rap1a

 

 

Rap1a is a small monomeric GTPase in the Ras family. This protein shares approximately 50% amino acid identity with the Ras protein and is also structurally similar. The similarities are important because Ras is mutated in 30% of human cancers, making Rap1a an increasingly important protein to research. GTPases function as molecular switches that cycle between the active GTP bound and the inactive GDP bound form. The overall goal of this study is to perform the Multiple Solvent Crystal Structure (MSCS) method on Rap1a cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. MSCS uses organic solvents as probes to protein binding sites. It has already been applied to Ras and the ultimate goal of this project is to compare sites of protein-protein interactions in the two homologues. After cloning Rap1a in E. coli cells, the protein was purified by ion exchange and size exclusion chromatography to extract purified Rap1a. Crystals of this protein were grown using the hanging drop method with varying conditions to create an environment for optimal growth. Then, various organic solvent soaks were used to find the binding sites, plasticity, and hydration of the structure of the protein. These results can then be compared with Ras to understand the specificity of these two proteins. The resulting Rap1a structures show alteration in α-helix 4, α-helix-3, loop 7 and 9. In order to better understand these alterations, changes in the cross-linking condition are being investigated. Data were then collected in Argonne, Illinois using the South Eastern Regional Collaborative Access Team (SER-CAT) beam line at the Advanced Photon Source in the Argonne National Laboratory. 

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Dereje, Simona

Home Institution:

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

Engineering and Technology

Department(s):

CALS

Research Mentor(s): 

Mary Beth Hawkins/Zoology

Title of Presentation:

PFK Gene Expression in the Brains of Thalassoma bifasciatum

 

 

The purpose of this study is to characterize distribution of Phosphofructokinase (PFK) gene expression in the brains of the, Thalassoma bifasciatum (Bluehead Wrasse), a model species for studying neuro endocrine control of sexual and aggressive behavior. PFK is a key enzyme in glycolysis and it is proposed that its gene expression will be a good indicator of brain activity and will differ between sexes and behavior. Among the Blueheads there are three behavior phenotypes, Terminal Phase (TP) which are aggressive, Initial Phase (IP) males which are non aggressive, and Females which are non aggressive and spawn. Thus, the major differences in behavior within the species are their aggressive and reproductive behavior. To see if PFK is a good indicator, the first step is to characterize distribution of PFK in the brains of TPs, IPs, and Females caught off the coast of Belize and the Florida Keys. To do this, a cDNA template was designed via Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using the Bluehead PFK mRNA sequence and PCR. Than an in-situ was performed using a riboprobe generated from our template.  Using the riboprobe, a portion of the a PFK cDNA was subcloned and was used as a template for the creation of a radio labeled RNA probe via reverse translation. The results of the in-situ on the riboprobe are still pending.  

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Hardin, Joseph W.

Home Institution:

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

Engineering and Technology

Department(s):

Molecular Biomedical Sciences

Research Mentor(s): 

Kenneth B. Adler/Molecular Biomedical Sciences

Title of Presentation:

MANS Peptide Decreases the Rate of Proliferation in a Lung Cancer Cell Line

 

 

A peptide developed in this laboratory (MANS peptide) has been shown to inhibit the function of Myristoylated, alanine-rich C-kinase substrate (MARCKS protein) in several different biological systems. It has shown many promising effects, including dramatically limiting mucus production in the lung epithelial cells and attenuating migration of neutrophils.  However, the full breadth of blocking the MARCKS protein is not fully understood. The immortalized human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 is one of several types of non-small cell lung cancers.  NCI:H292s are immortalized human lung mucoepidermoid carcinoma cells. The effect of the MANS peptide on proliferation on A549s and NCI:H292s was studied. The peptide significantly attenuated proliferation of A549 cells compared to the control (RNS) peptide, which has the same amino acid composition as MANS but arranged in random order. Both peptides also affected proliferation of NCI:H292 cells, although to a lesser degree. The results suggest that MARCKS protein may be involved in proliferation of some lung non small cell cancer lines and that blocking its function in these cells may limit cell growth.

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Herrera, Helen R.

Home Institution:

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

CHASS

Department(s):

Psychology

Research Mentor(s): 

John C. Begeny/Psychology

Title of Presentation:

Preliminary Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the HELPS Program When Implemented with the Newly Created HELPS Curriculum Reading Passages

 

 

The main purpose of the study is to present a preliminary evaluation of the effectiveness of the Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) program when implemented with the newly developed HELPS Curriculum of reading passages. Because this is a preliminary investigation and a larger part of an on-going investigation, it is only possible to measure the effects of the program by looking at students' Winter benchmark scores on the AIMSweb passages and then their Spring benchmark scores after receiving approximately 15-18 HELPS sessions. Ultimately the HELPS program is evidence based, time efficient, and a procedurally standardized instructional strategy program and its purpose is to help kids develop reading skills specifically targeting fluency. Reading fluency is of extreme importance because it helps children comprehend what they are reading while still reading quickly, accurately, and with appropriate expression. Fluency is a skill that must be mastered early in a child’s education because it is critical that a child learns to read in elementary school so that he/she reads to learn in high school. 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Igboko, Chima U.

Home Institution:

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

Engineering and Technology

Department(s):

Biomedical Engineering

Research Mentor(s): 

Peter L. Mente/Biomedical Engineering

Richard O. Shoge/Biomedical Engineering

Title of Presentation:

Gait Analysis of Turkey Spiral Femurs

 

 

Turkey farmers are losing 1% of their toms (male turkeys) because of spontaneous spiral femur fractures that causes the birds to bleed out and die. What is worse is the toms that are fracturing their femurs are their largest birds. This is very detrimental to turkey farmers economically. There are several factors that could be attributing to the fracture of the turkeys femurs. One possibility is that the spiral fractures are a result of excessive forces applied across the femur to compensate for biomechanical imbalances caused by the selection for large breast mass and fast-growth. This study will examine bilateral bone development through kinetic and video gait analyses. The study started with four different strains of turkeys: two commercial strains and two developmental strains. 2D videos were taken of the turkeys walking across a pressure sensitive walkway. These videos were taken every two weeks from 2 weeks to 20 weeks of age. Lighted markers were attached to the turkeys’ knees, ankles, and toes, to allow easy identification of the joint positions on the video. The x-y position of each marker was tracked using the computer software Metamorph. We are currently in the process of using a Matlab program that will calculate the stride lengths and height movement of each turkey’s joints from the x-y position data. The height will correlate with the efficiency of the birds’ movements. The higher the vertical movement, the more energy is being expended by the turkey while a larger stride tends to result in a more efficient gait.  We expect to observe a correlation between bad bipedal symmetry in the fast-growing turkeys and in inadequate bilateral bone development leading to spiral femoral fractures.

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Mannan, Mikail A.

Home Institution:

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

Engineering and Technology

Department(s):

Biomedical Engineering

Research Mentor(s): 

Peter L. Mente/Biomedical Engineering

Richard O. Shoge/Biomedical Engineering

Title of Presentation:

Strain Measurement Study

 

 

 

The purpose of this project is to study the deformations in the various layers of articular cartilage during an impact injury. An MTS mini bionix load frame was used to apply a controlled impact injury to the articular cartilage. Pig patellae were dissected from the knee joint and split perpendicular to the facets to expose the cartilage cross section. The split patella was held sturdy during the impaction by making a mold from orthodontic resin. Black specks were spray painted onto the patella to create visual features that allowed the tissue displacement to be followed. A steel cylindrical impactor was used with the load frame and the effect of varying load rates examined. A high speed video system was used to capture the strains in the various cartilage layers. The goal of this study is to show how the tissue varies with depth and how this might influence the cartilage cells behavior in the different areas. We are continuing to collect video of the cartilage deformation process for the cartilage strain analysis. The results will also be used to validate the contact area predicted by a finite element analysis model of the cartilage impaction injury.   

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Kornahrens, William J.

Home Institution:

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

Engineering and Technology

Department(s):

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Research Mentor(s): 

Robert M. Kelly/Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Jaspreet S. Notey/Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Andrew D. Frock/Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Title of Presentation:

The Effects of Different Substrates on Growth of Anaerobic Fermentative Hyperthermophiles

 

 

Pyrococcus furiosus (Pfu), Thermotoga maritima (Tma), and Thermotoga sp. RQ2 (RQ2) are fermentatively heterotrophic microorganisms that grow anaerobically at extremely high temperatures (optimally between 80° C and 100° C) by metabolizing certain sugars to produce molecular hydrogen. These interesting characteristics motivate efforts to understand how their growth media composition impacts their physiology. As such, Pfu cultures were grown on a medium based on yeast extract (YE) from two different vendors (Fisher and Difco), with or without amino acid supplements, to determine whether cell growth was impacted; epiflourescence microscopy (acridine orange stain) was used to enumerate cell density and to observe cellular behavior. The cultures grown on Difco yeast extract had a faster growth rate (0.41 h-1) compared to the Fisher YE (0.38 h-1), although both YEs yielded final cell densities of approximately 2 x 109 cells/mL. Cultures supplemented with amino acids (L-tryptophan, L-glutamine, L-asparagine, and thiamine HCl) grew faster on either YE, but grew to the same final cell densities as without additional amino acids. Finally, the optimal pH level for Pfu is approximately 6.5, although cultures typically fall to pH less than 6 with the production of acetic acid as a fermentation byproduct. Therefore, buffered media experiments are planned to determine if optimal pH levels impact growth of this archaeon. Efforts are also underway to determine if Tma and RQ2 have a preference for certain sugars and if these sugars will lead to increased hydrogen production.  In order to study the sugar utilization patterns of Tma and RQ2, one culture of each species was grown on a medium with a six-sugar solution containing glucose, xylose, galactose, arabinose, mannose, and fructose. The results indicate that Tma and RQ2 are using glucose, xylose, and fructose; but the data are inconclusive at this point with respect to the other sugars.

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Lowe, Ashley N.

Home Institution:

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

CHASS

Department(s):

Psychology

Research Mentor(s): 

Amy Halberstadt/Psychology

Fantasy T. Lozada/Psychology

Title of Presentation:

Parent-Child Attachment Styles in Emotion Conversation

 

 


The purpose of this study is to examine whether parents and children who are securely attached will have more interactive conversations when discussing emotion-related topics, and whether secure attachments or type of conversational style predict parents’ and children’s socialization of emotion. We hypothesize that secure parent-child attachments will lead to both longer, more in-depth conversations and more recognizing and responding to emotions by parents and children. In a larger study of parent-child interactions, parents and their 9- to 10-year old children played a game that invited emotion-related conversation, engaged in a discussion about conflicts that they have not yet resolved, and remembered happy topics about each other. These activities were videotaped and transcribed. Children also filled out a questionnaire assessing their feelings of security with that parent. Conversations were coded for the number of conversational turns in order to assess how in depth the conversations were, and also for number of times that children and parents acknowledged, failed to acknowledge, reinforced, or punished emotion-related statements made by the other person.  We predict that when parents and children feel secure in their relationships they will have longer, more in-depth conversations about emotion and will acknowledge, reinforce, and punish emotions more often, than when parents and children do not feel secure in the parent-child relationship. 

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Oxendine, James C.

Home Institution:

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

CALS

Department(s):

Genetics

Research Mentor(s): 

Mary Anna Carbone/Genetics

Akihiko Yamamoto/Biology

Robert R. H. Anholt/Biology

Trudy F. Mackay/Genetics

Title of Presentation:

Drosophila Melanogaster as a Model System for Human Glaucoma

 


Glaucoma, a cause of blindness with continuous vision loss and retinal cell damage, affects about three million Americans.  Mutations in the protein Myocilin (MYOC) have been associated with congenital glaucoma and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG).   One hypothesis for the role of Myocilin in the development of glaucoma is that it is over expressed under stress and causes the unfolded protein response (UPR), leading to interior protein buildup and ultimately cell death.  In this project, Drosophila melanogaster is used as a model for the development of glaucoma, by over-expressing human wild-type or mutant MYOC in the Drosophila eye.  We are testing the hypothesis that MYOC over-expression induces the UPR by growing the flies in media supplemented with four compounds that inhibit the UPR: sodium 4-phenylbutyrate,  myo-inositol, glycerol, and dimethyl sulfoxide, and heat shock treatment at 37 oC. If the hypothesis is true, animals treated with the drugs or heat shock should show a correction in the misfolded protein to stop the aggregation.  A phototaxis assay was used to test functional vision of young and aged flies, with and without the treatments.  The behavioral assay was conducted in a dark room which contained a small halogen lamp for attraction.  The phototaxis response was scored for each MYOC genotype and  treatment using a device in which the number of flies moving toward the dark end of a tube to the lighted end in fifteen seconds was scored seven times.  Any improvement in the Drosophila vision following treatment will lay the basis for further experiments and possibly treatment of glaucoma in humans.  

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Paige, Melanie A.

Lowe, Ashley

Home Institution:

NCSU

NCSU

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

CHASS

Department(s):

Psychology

Research Mentor(s): 

Amy Halberstadt/Psychology

Fantasy Lozada/Psychology

Dominique Miller/Counseling

Title of Presentation:

Emotion Discussion: An Investigation of the Relationship between Parenting Beliefs and Children's Social Competence

 

 

The objective of this study is to examine the relationships between parental beliefs about emotion, parent-child emotion discussion, and children’s social competence. Parents are thought to influence how their children deal with, understand, and experience emotions through four general pathways:  emotion discussions about emotion with their children, responses to children’s emotions, modeling their own emotions in front of children, and niche selection (Eisenberg, Sprinrad, & Cumberland, 1998; Fredrickson, 1998).  Children’s ability to understand, experience, send, and receive emotions effectively is an important aspect of social competence as it relates to peer-relationships (Halberstadt, Denham, & Dunsmore, 2001). To assess these relationships, parent and child dyads from African-American, Lumbee Native American, European American backgrounds participated.  Children were 9- to 10 years old. Parents filled out the Parental Beliefs about Children’s Emotions Questionnaire (PBACE) with 11 subscales assessing parenting beliefs about emotion.  Of particular interest is the belief that parents have about the importance of guiding children’s emotions. Their children filled out a “what I am like” survey which measures children’s self-reported social competence with peers.  Parents and children also played a game in which they shared emotion-related events in their lives; these were videotaped, transcribed, and then coded for how in depth parents talked about emotions with their children.  Analyses will test whether parents’ beliefs about children’s emotions and/or talking more in depth about emotions with their children will predict children’s reports of greater social competence with peers.  

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Rahhal, Tojan B.

Home Institution:

NCSU

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

Engineering and Technology

Department(s):

Molecular Biomedical Sciences

Research Mentor(s): 

Jonathan M. Horowitz/Molecular Biomedical Sciences

Shannon Chiera/Molecular Biomedical Sciences

Title of Presentation:

Sp2 is a Required Gene for Mammalian Development

 

 

The Sp family of mammalian transcription factors is comprised by nine genes. It has been established that Sp proteins are responsible for the regulation of a wide variety of genes and play important roles in animal development.  We created a conditional “knock-out” mouse strain in which Sp2 function can be eliminated via matings with transgenic mice carrying the Cre recombinase.  The focus of my work has been to answer the following question: is Sp2 required for mouse development? To answer this question I crossed Sp2 conditional “knock-out” mice with strains carrying the Cre recombinase such that mice that do not carry wild-type Sp2 alleles would be produced.  Two matings were performed. In cross 1, mice that carried one deleted Sp2 gene (-) and another that is sensitive (flox) to Cre-mediated recombination (Sp2 flox/-) were inter-crossed. One-quarter of resulting animals were expected to be Sp2-/-, yet none were identified amongst 48 progeny. In cross 2, females that carry wild-type and null Sp2 alleles as well as a Cre recombinase (CMV-Cre) that is active in oocytes (Sp2+/-, CMV-Cre/+) were crossed with Sp2flox/flox males.  Once again, we expected 25% of resulting progeny to be nullizygotes yet none were obtained amongst 68 progeny analyzed. Results from each cross are statistically significant (p<0.001), confirming that Sp2 is required for mammalian development. Since partially developed abortuses were not noted it is likely that Sp2 is required at an early developmental stage.  Interestingly, we noted a distortion of the sex ratio in animals derived from cross 2: twice as many males as females were recovered (46 males, 22 females) and these results are statistically significant (p<0.005). Furthermore, the males were not distributed evenly amongst the four expected genotypes from this cross (p<0.001). The cause for this distortion of the sex ratio is not as yet understood.  

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Robinson, Detric E.

Home Institution:

NCSU

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

CALS

Department(s):

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Research Mentor(s): 

Orlin D. Velev/Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Stoyan Smoukov/Chemical & Biolecular Engineering

Title of Presentation:

Behavior and Encapsulation of Porcine Trypsin

 

 

 

Trypsin, an enzyme secreted by the pancreas, is vital to a healthy digestive system. Cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder in which the delivery of digestive enzymes, such as trypsin, is compromised, often leads to malabsorbtion. Our primary goal is to develop a nutraceutical composite which can help with the treatment or management of patients with cystic fibrosis. Our composite will protect the enzyme from denaturization by encasing the protein in a cellulose shell. We must show that the encapsulation of trypsin does not denature the enzyme. Our encapsulation method took advantage of the low solubility of HP55 cellulose in acidic solutions.  We measured trypsin in terms of enzymatic activity (the rate at which an enzyme can break specific bonds) using Na-Benzoyl-Arginine-Ethyl-Ester as a substrate. Trypsin is added to solutions of various pHs ranging from pH1 to pH11. We compared the activity of encapsulated trypsin to that of trypsin dissolved in an aqueous solution. We did not observe a significant change in enzymatic activity of trypsin over the range of pH values. We show that the encapsulated enzyme regains full activity upon dissolution of the composite in media with pH5.7. Further research should focus on how well the encapsulation method inhibits the autolysis of trypsin in denaturing environments.   

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Shelton, Christian S.

Home Institution:

NCSU

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

CHASS

Department(s):

Psychology

Research Mentor(s): 

Mary Haskett/School Psychology

Andrea McPherson/Psychology

Title of Presentation:

Credit Card Debt among College Students: Relations with Student Age and Level of Distress

 

 

College counseling centers report that stress among students has increased substantially over the past 25 years. A common source of anxiety for college students is financial stress, including high debt. Many students are resorting to student loans and/or credit cards in order to pay for schooling. Understanding links between college students’ financial situation and their stress could provide important information for counselors who provide services to college students. The purpose of this study was to examine links between credit card debt, student age, and financial stress level. The author is in the process of surveying undergraduate students using an online survey created for a broader investigation. The survey questions measure credit card debt and stress related to that debt.  Data collection is in progress; to date, 16 students have participated. The poster presentation includes preliminary data based on those 16 individuals.

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Sough, Ashley M.

Patterson, Natalie G.

Home Institution:

NCSU

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

Engineering and Technology

Department(s):

Chemical Engineering

Research Mentor(s): 

Robert M. Kelly/Chemical Engineering

Charlotte R. Cooper/Chemical Engineering

Title of Presentation:

Carbohydrate Metabolism in Sulfolobus solfataricus

 

Sulfolobus solfataricus is an aerobic thermoacidophile, isolated from a hot spring in Naples, Italy. The purpose of this study is to determine what the preferred carbon sources for Sulfolobus solfataricus are and the significance of those carbon sources to the organism in its natural habitat. In previous experiments, Sulfolobus solfataricus was found to grow on a variety of carbon sources, including tryptone and maltose. However, it did not grow as well on Avicel, xylose, or starch from corn. In addition, previous cultures were passaged with cells in stationary phase, which resulted in a longer lag phase. Since the organisms were transferred to a new media from stationary phase, they needed time to adjust, i.e., turning on key metabolic pathways and other processes essential to the organism’s survival in the new media. Therefore, new culturing conditions were implemented to shorten the lag phase, including using inocula in exponential phase when passaging new cultures, and starting two of the same cultures at different times to identify transitions between the growth phases. With these changes, the growth curves that were obtained provided more information covering three different phases. Doubling times were determined and when compared to previous growth experiments, the results showed that growth rates obtained using inocula from exponential phase were about an hour and a half to two hours faster than using inocula in stationary phase.

 

 

 

 

Student Author(s): 

Young, Melissa L.

Home Institution:

NCSU 

Program:

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Program

College:

CALS

Department(s):

Molecular and Structural Biochemistry

Research Mentor(s): 

Carla Mattos/Molecular and Structural Biochemistry

Greg Buhrman/Molecular and Structural Biochemistry

Mychal D. Smith/Molecular and Structural Biochemistry

Title of Presentation:

Multiple Solvent Crystal Structures Method of Protein BAF

 

 

The Multiple Solvent Crystal Structure (MSCS) method is used to identify binding sites on the surfaces of proteins. It is important to understand how binding sites operate because they are critical for most cellular function. Organic solvents provide detailed information of known and unknown binding sites. Through exploration of the MSCS method we are able determine a protein&#8217;s plasticity and hydration characteristics. The MSCS method was applied to a host cell protein Barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF), which plays an important role in retroviral integration. To survive, a retrovirus must integrate the DNA of its viral genome into the genome of the host cell. BAF is known to prevent a retrovirus from injecting itself or autointegration. The BAF protein is shown to bind double stranded DNA and does not have an ordered base pattern. This enables BAF to bind many segments of DNA together. The BAF homodimer then forms a 12 protein subunit after binding DNA that causes the DNA to bind discrete sites onto a nucleoprotein complex. The goal of the current project is to understand the surface features of the BAF protein with particular focus on binding sites. The MSCS method will not only locate the binding sites on BAF, but also uncover its physics-chemical characteristics.

 

 

 

 

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