Hunter Santogrossi, Dinesh Aryal, Ryan Christopher Vergara, Keith Jackson

Heme oxygenase (HO-1) produced in kidney is implicated in pathophysiology of several metabolic disorders. Chronic metabolic acidosis (CMA) is one of these disorders whose consequence has been linked with hypertension. But there lacks study on renal HO-1 mediated effect of CMA on pressure natriuresis and renal vasculature. We examined the renal HO-1 expression during CMA and its effects in tubular sodium transport & renal vasculature. Male SD rats were grouped into 4 groups (n=5). [I. Control, II. CMA, III. CMA+DALA, IV. CMA+ZnPP]. 0.28M ammonium chloride induced CMA model was implemented for the latter 3 groups with respective HO-1: inducer/inhibitor treatments in Groups III & IV, for 8 weeks. HO-1 levels in microdialysis samples of interstitial fluid, serum & urine Na+ were analyzed & renal arterial blood flow (RBF) measured. Renal HO-1 levels and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were increased in CMA group vs control. HO-1 induction in kidneys were independent to that of circulating HO-1, as depicted by no changes in renal HO-1 in III & IV groups. Serum Na+ rose but urine Na+ fell significantly in CMA group vs control suggesting reduced pressure natriuresis. But there was no sign of changes in the RBF in all groups, suggesting no renovascular hypertension contributed by renal HO-1. Also, the serum eNOS levels in CMA group were reduced significantly vs control. The elevated renal HO-1 in CMA group might have reduced the NO release in the vessels which may led to the rise in MAP.

Hollie Devoltz, Blaise Kliebert, Myra Berthiaume, Josh Bergeron, Raj Nathaniel

Escherichia coli is a gram-negative facultative anaerobic bacterium that is commonly found in the intestines and digestive tracts. Although a typically harmless organism, E.coli is known to cause urinary tract infections. E.coli possesses several virulence genes that enable its pathogenicity within a host. The fimH gene encodes for type 1 fimbriae, a factor that allows for adhesion and invasion into the uroepithelium. iucC is another common gene that encodes for aerobactin, an agent responsible for the sequestration of iron to promote proliferation of the bacteria within infected cells. Other virulence genes include hly, a hemolysin gene and cnf, implicated in cell necrosis. Urinary tract infections involving E.coli are a severe public health issue with high rates of recurrence and increasing antimicrobial resistance. The goal of our study was detection of various virulence genes from clinical isolates of E.coli that caused recurrent nosocomial and community acquired infections. Clinical E. coli cultures were obtained from a tertiary care hospital in south Louisiana for the purpose of isolating DNA and conducting PCR amplification. Presence of these virulence genes are an important indicator of pathogenicity, and these findings can be used in epidemiological predictions involving these bacteria.

Landon Ossman, Carter Murphy, Melissa Barkemeyer, Jamie Newman

Today, approximately two-thirds of the United States population is obese or overweight. Obesity is intricately linked to a myriad of diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and respiratory disorders. The multifaceted influence of obesity on health underscores the need for comprehensive strategies to address and mitigate its associated comorbidities. Sugar is one of many established contributors to the progression of adipogenesis; therefore, we aim to investigate the effects of natural and artificial sugar on morphological characteristics and gene expression throughout adipogenesis in human adipose derived stem cells. We will examine the natural sugar fructose and the artificial sugar sucralose. Quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR will be used to monitor changes in the transcription of select genes related to self-renewal and adipogenesis, including ki-67, a gene expressed during DNA replication, and pparγ, a regulator of adipogenesis. Cells will be stained using phalloidin and dapi, which stain actin filaments and nuclei, respectively, along with Oil Red O to visualize intracellular lipid content. We expect elevated sugar concentrations to contribute to the upregulation of adipogenesis-promoting genes and thus greater lipid accumulation. With this data, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms utilized by natural and artificial sugars, ultimately leading to recommendations promoting their healthy dietary levels.

Makenzie Mulberry

Drosophila willistoni, like other Drosophila species, serves as a widely used model organism in genomic and biological research due to its cost efficiency, short generation time, and well-characterized genetics. It is especially valuable for genomic studies because of the unique fusion of the Muller E and Muller F elements, which together form chromosome III in this species. This project aims to produce high-quality annotations of the D. melanogaster Muller F and Muller E element genes on chromosome three of D. willistoni. A comparative analysis of a 56,000 base pair region of chromosome III was conducted using multiple datasets of assembled genomic DNA sequences to examine overlapping DNA fragments at the base pair level. This analysis utilized bioinformatic tools, including FlyBase, NCBI BLAST, and the GEP genome browser. Using this data, we have identified several putative genes, their orthologs, and the coding regions of each gene. Our findings characterize the evolutionary conservation and dynamics of the chromosome III genomic region across two Drosophila species, thus contributing to future investigations of gene function, evolutionary biology, and comparative genomics using the Drosophila species.