13 Apr 2018 Abstracts

Project Healthy Schools: Reducing Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Middle School Aged Children

Morgan Bradford '18

Childhood obesity is common in the US, with nearly 20% of children considered obese. Childhood obesity leads to many negative health outcomes in adulthood including diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, fatty liver disease, and many others. Lifestyle and

environmental modifications are known to decrease obesity and improve health outcomes. School-based interventions have been shown as a promising method to reduce childhood obesity. Middle-schoolers from 7 schools in two cities in Michigan were recruited for this study. All students were involved in the program, Project Healthy Schools, which included 10 20 minute nutritional and exercise educational sessions in class as well as environmental modifications such as changes to the vending machines and cafeteria. Students whose parents provided consent completed a physiological screen (include lipid profile, heart rate, and BMI)

and a health behavior survey before and after the intervention, as well as every year for four years post intervention. Results of the intervention demonstrated significantly lower total cholesterol and LDL, sustainable over four years after the intervention. Significant improvements in health behaviors such as decreased video game screen time and increased physical activity were sustained over

four years as well. Project Healthy Schools can result in long-term improvements in middle-school aged children in cardiovascular risk factors and health behaviors.

Activating the Wnt/β- Catenin Pathway for the Treatment of Melanoma

Alexa Vorderbruggen '18

Melanoma is the cancer of the melanocytes and can be characterized by dark colored spots on the skin. While melanoma is one of the least common types of skin cancer it is responsible for the majority of skin cancer deaths due to its tendency to

metastasize. The activation of the Wnt/β- Catenin Pathway is controversial as it has oncogenic effects in some cancers but correlates to better prognosis for melanoma. The hypothesis proposed by Atkinson et al. (2015) was that the small molecule inhibitor, LY2090314 against GSK3, stabilizes β- Catenin independently of Vemurafenib leading to apoptosis and anti tumor activity. To test the hypothesis, melanoma cells were selected based on their resistance to Vemurafenib. They were then treated with either LY209031 or Vemurafenib and a western blot was preformed examining levels of β- Catenin, Axin2, and pMEK. For the second

experiment melanoma cancer cells were injected into athymic nude mice until they reached 100mm 2 and were subsequently treated with LY2090314 or a vehicle control. Tumor volume was recorded twice weekly. The important findings of this study were that in vitro melanoma cells that were unresponsive to the current treatment, Vemurafenib were sensitive to GSK3 inhibition. LY2090314 also increased gene expression of Axin2 and delayed tumor growth in the in vivo mouse model. Activating the Wnt/β- Catenin Pathway through the use of LY2090314 may be a potentially new therapy for treating melanoma patients that are resistant to BRAF inhibitors.