2020 Health Sciences Research Day (MU)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10355/79021

More than 200 research projects were virtually displayed during the 2020 Health Sciences Research Day. The annual event showcased research from MU undergraduate, medical and nursing students, as well as pre- and post-doctoral trainees.

The event featured a range of health research, including immunology, nutrition and exercise physiology, diabetes, ophthalmology, orthopaedics and health psychology. Students displayed their work through prerecorded research presentations via CrowdCompass during the day-long event. This year’s keynote speaker was George P. Smith, PhD, Curators' Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences and Nobel laureate.

“The projects shared during Health Sciences Research Day truly show the depth and breadth of the research that is taking place at the University of Missouri on a daily basis,” said William Fay, MD, senior associate dean for research at the MU School of Medicine. “It’s inspiring to glimpse the kind of research that our current and future scientists will one day use to improve lives. The day provides a forum to celebrate the excellent work in research and mentoring that takes place on our campus.”

Source: Health Sciences Research Day website (viewed December 11, 2020) (https://medicine.missouri.edu/news/research-innovation-honored-health-sciences-research-day)

Browse

Now showing 1 - 5 of 6

An overview of 1p36 deletion syndrome and carcinogen genes; a role of genomics in everyday medicine
(2020) Sauer, Madeline; Harris, Shelby; Ghassibi, Michael; Moore, Don
1p36 deletion syndrome is a relatively common deletion syndrome with an incidence of 1 in 5000 births, making it the most common terminal deletion in humans. 1p36 deletion manifests with an array of phenotypic alterations including, but not limited to, intellectual disability, seizure disorder, dysmorphic facial features, congenital heart defects, and hypothyroidism. According to genetic literature widely available to patients and clinicians, such as ONIN and Gene Reviews, malignancy is not a common manifestation of this syndrome. This case, however, demonstrates malignancy as a consequence of 1p36 deletion syndrome.
Rapid sarcomatous transformation of lung squamous cell carcinoma after neoadjuvant therapy: a case report
(2020) Sauer, Madeline Ann; Arshi, J.; Yin, F.
Sarcomatoid carcinoma is a less common subtype of lung carcinoma (<1%). There is a mesenchymal-epithelial transition component and it carries grave prognosis. It is a subcomponent of Non-small cell lung cancers which is the leading cause of cancer mortality. Radiotherapy has previously been implicated as a etiologic agent resulting in this transformation. Here, we present a case which was initially diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma on biopsy and a year later showed rapid progression and presented as high grade spindle cell predominant carcinoma with pleural, lymphovascular and perineural invasion, with a change in the staining pattern when compared to the previous biopsy after radiotherapy.
Deletion of Endothelial Estrogen Receptor Alpha Reduces Arterial Stiffness in Angiotensin II infused-Female Mice
(2020) Lising, Alexander M.; Ramirez, Francisco; Jenkins, Samuel W.; Lastra, Guido; Martinez-Lemus, Luis A.; Manrique Acevedo, Camila
Vascular stiffness is a naturally occurring phenomenon associated with aging, but conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes accelerate its development, particularly in women. The presence of vascular stiffness increases significantly the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Under physiological conditions, estrogen signaling via estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) increases bioavailable nitric oxide in the endothelium and decreases stiffness. Nevertheless, large clinical trials have failed to demonstrate beneficial cardiovascular effects of estrogen therapy. Our previous work has shown that under conditions of over-nutrition, the lack of ERα ameliorates arterial stiffening in obese and insulin resistant females. Given the central role that activation of the Renin-Angiotensin-System (RAS) has in the pathogenesis of CVD, in the present study we examine the effect of an Angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion in female mice lacking endothelial cell (EC).
Small molecule inhibitors of ATP7A as novel theraphies for cancer
(2020) Vinit, Shanbhag; Nikita, Gudekar; Singh, Kamlendra; Petris, Michael; Health Sciences Research Day (2020 : University of Missouri)
Recent studies suggest that trace element copper (Cu) plays a key role in cancer progression. Cu dependent signaling pathways in cancer cells are poorly understood and are being actively investigated. In a recently published PNAS paper, we demonstrated that ATP7A copper transporter promotes breast and lung tumor growth and spread in mice by activating pro cancerous enzyme, lysyl oxidase (LOX). Therefore, we propose that blocking ATP7A using small molecule inhibitors could be a powerful approach in blocking cancer progression. We screened for inhibitors of ATP7A using a structure based virtual screen of ATP7A interacting drug like compounds, resulting in identification of our lead compound, MKV3. We used microscale thermophoresis and standard enzyme activity assays to measure the binding affinity of MKV3 to ATP7A and test the effect of MKV3 on ATP7A dependent LOX and tyrosinase enzymes. In vitro scratch and tumorigenesis assays were performed to test the effect of MKV3 on cancer cell migration and tumor growth. Microscale thermophoresis experiments revealed that MKV3 binds to ATP7A with nanomolar affinity and is a potent inhibitor of ATP7A dependent LOX activity and cell migration of 4T1 breast, LLC and A549 lung cancer cells. Moreover, MKV3 inhibited ATP7A dependent tyrosinase activity in B16 melanoma cells and suppressed B16 tumorigenesis in vivo. In summary, these studies have identified a novel first in class high affinity inhibitor of ATP7A and provide a framework to design MKV3 derivative s with improved therapeutic efficacy in mouse models of cancer. Our findings have the potential for a sustained and powerful impact in cancer therapy.
Effects of regional practice on the outcome of anterior cervical spinal surgery
(2020) Boever, Justus C.; Mesfin, Fassil B.; Health Sciences Research Day (2020 : University of Missouri)
OBJECTIVE: Given the substantial differences in advancement among neurosurgery departments in Africa and North America, we hypothesize that the outcomes of anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) surgeries in Africa will differ from that of their counterparts practicing in North America in terms of length of stay (LOS), blood loss, average post-operative follow-up time, and readmission rate. We hypothesize that the reasons for a difference will be multifactorial, including limitation of resources, education, and patient load. CONCLUSION: The results of our study have found encouraging results among surgeons practicing in Africa and North America. Given the unfortunate lack of resources common in African countries, we expected to finder sharper differences in our results than we actually did, and we are very encouraged at the similarities in outcomes among surgeons responding from Africa and North America. Further study ought to be done to determine the causes of such differences that have the propensity to be detrimental to the patient

Browse

Recent Submissions