Korean American Studies: Then and Now

This thesis is a literature review of Korean American studies that compares work from the Old Guard (pre-2000s) and the New Guard (post-2000s) with the goal of finding an overarching trend occurring over time. Through analyzing sources from multiple disciplines, I argue that the main trend from the Old Guard to the New Guard is a pulling away from South Korea. As the Korean American Studies field progressed, it found itself needing to create distance between itself and South Korea. Because of how traditional Korean values were overturned and questioned due to immigrating to the United States, Korean Americans claimed an identity as Korean Americans rather than Korean immigrants living in America. I conclude that although the trend from the Old Guard to the New Guard is that of creating distance, moving forward, the trend is bound to change as the Korean American community grapples with its potential exclusiveness and as South Korea becomes more active on the world stage

Using Developmental Frameworks to Implement Focus Groups in School-Aged Children

This poster describes the use of virtual focus groups with school-aged children in the development of a pediatric wellbeing picture scale to screen for mental health and wellbeing. Children\u27s opinions, creative ideas, and insights allow acquisition of new data and knowledge, but unfortunately, are frequently overlooked. When using developmentally-based principles, focus groups have been shown to be a successful and reliable method for collecting data from this age group and a novel way to better understand the child’s interactions and experiences. Focus groups have a number of advantages, allowing for in-depth exploration of discussion by the participants. Students in Nursing 499 conducted developmentally-based focus groups with children grades 3-5 to develop the Pediatric Well Being Picture Scale. Basing focus groups on theoretical frameworks of Piaget, Erikson, and Kohlberg creates an environment conducive to open discussion and expression of children’s ideas. These focus groups give children the opportunity to connect to one another and feel more comfortable in talking about items about emotional wellbeing. This allowed the researcher to gain an understanding of the children’s perspective for the items on the wellbeing scale. Limitations noted due to the virtual environment included maintaining the child’s attention, adequacy of technology, and assuring that each child had the opportunity to equally participate. Benefits include more openness and candor due a sense of anonymity from not being in the same location.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2022/1066/thumbnail.jp

The Retinoblastoma Tumor Suppressor Regulates a Xenobiotic Detoxification Pathway

The retinoblastoma tumor suppressor (pRb) regulates cell cycle entry, progression and exit by controlling the activity of the E2F-family of transcription factors. During cell cycle exit pRb acts as a transcriptional repressor by associating with E2F proteins and thereby inhibiting their ability to stimulate the expression of genes required for S phase. Indeed, many tumors harbor mutations in the RB gene and the pRb-E2F pathway is compromised in nearly all types of cancers. In this report we show that both pRb and its interacting partners, the transcriptional factors E2F1-2-3, act as positive modulators of detoxification pathways important for metabolizing and clearing xenobiotics—such as toxins and drugs—from the body. Using a combination of conventional molecular biology techniques and microarray analysis of specific cell populations, we have analyzed the detoxification pathway in murine samples in the presence or absence of pRb and/or E2F1-2-3. In this report, we show that both pRb and E2F1-2-3 act as positive modulators of detoxification pathways in mice, challenging the conventional view of E2F1-2-3 as transcriptional repressors negatively regulated by pRb. These results suggest that mutations altering the pRb-E2F axis may have consequences beyond loss of cell cycle control by altering the ability of tissues to remove toxins and to properly metabolize anticancer drugs, and might help to understand the formation and progression rates of different types of cancer, as well as to better design appropriate therapies based on the particular genetic composition of the tumors

Differential roles of two homologous cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor genes in regulating cell cycle and innate immunity in arabidopsis\u3csup\u3e1[OPEN]\u3c/sup\u3e

© 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved. Precise cell-cycle control is critical for plant development and responses to pathogen invasion. Two homologous cyclindependent kinase inhibitor genes, SIAMESE (SIM) and SIM-RELATED 1 (SMR1), were recently shown to regulate Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) defense based on phenotypes conferred by a sim smr1 double mutant. However, whether these two genes play differential roles in cell-cycle and defense control is unknown. In this report, we show that while acting synergistically to promote endoreplication, SIM and SMR1 play different roles in affecting the ploidy of trichome and leaf cells, respectively. In addition, we found that the smr1-1 mutant, but not sim-1, was more susceptible to a virulent Pseudomonas syringae strain, and this susceptibility could be rescued by activating salicylic acid (SA)-mediated defense. Consistent with these results, smr1-1 partially suppressed the dwarfism, high SA levels, and cell death phenotypes in acd6-1, a mutant used to gauge the change of defense levels. Thus, SMR1 functions partly through SA in defense control. The differential roles of SIM and SMR1 are due to differences in temporal and spatial expression of these two genes in Arabidopsis tissues and in response to P. syringae infection. In addition, flow-cytometry analysis of plants with altered SA signaling revealed that SA is necessary, but not sufficient, to change cell-cycle progression. We further found that a mutant with three CYCD3 genes disrupted also compromised disease resistance to P. syringae. Together, this study reveals differential roles of two homologous cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors in regulating cell-cycle progression and innate immunity in Arabidopsis and provides insights into the importance of cell-cycle control during host-pathogen interactions

Identification of the SPLUNC1 ENaC-inhibitory domain yields novel strategies to treat sodium hyperabsorption in cystic fibrosis airway epithelial cultures

The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) is responsible for Na+ and fluid absorption across colon, kidney, and airway epithelia. Short palate lung and nasal epithelial clone 1 (SPLUNC1) is a secreted, innate defense protein and an autocrine inhibitor of ENaC that is highly expressed in airway epithelia. While SPLUNC1 has a bactericidal permeability-increasing protein (BPI)-type structure, its NH2-terminal region lacks structure. Here we found that an 18 amino acid peptide, S18, which corresponded to residues G22-A39 of the SPLUNC1 NH2 terminus inhibited ENaC activity to a similar degree as full-length SPLUNC1 (∼2.5 fold), while SPLUNC1 protein lacking this region was without effect. S18 did not inhibit the structurally related acid-sensing ion channels, indicating specificity for ENaC. However, S18 preferentially bound to the βENaC subunit in a glycosylation-dependent manner. ENaC hyperactivity is contributory to cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. Unlike control, CF human bronchial epithelial cultures (HBECs) where airway surface liquid (ASL) height was abnormally low (4.2 ± 0.6 μm), addition of S18 prevented ENaC-led ASL hyperabsorption and maintained CF ASL height at 7.9 ± 0.6 μm, even in the presence of neutrophil elastase, which is comparable to heights seen in normal HBECs. Our data also indicate that the ENaC inhibitory domain of SPLUNC1 may be cleaved away from the main molecule by neutrophil elastase, suggesting that it may still be active during inflammation or neutrophilia. Furthermore, the robust inhibition of ENaC by the S18 peptide suggests that this peptide may be suitable for treating CF lung disease

An acidic microenvironment in Tuberculosis increases extracellular matrix degradation by regulating macrophage inflammatory responses

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection causes marked tissue inflammation leading to lung destruction and morbidity. The inflammatory extracellular microenvironment is acidic, however the effect of this acidosis on the immune response to M.tb is unknown. Using RNA-seq we show that acidosis produces system level transcriptional change in M.tb infected human macrophages regulating almost 4000 genes. Acidosis specifically upregulated extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation pathways with increased expression of Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) which mediate lung destruction in Tuberculosis. Macrophage MMP-1 and -3 secretion was increased by acidosis in a cellular model. Acidosis markedly suppresses several cytokines central to control of M.tb infection including TNF-α and IFN-γ. Murine studies demonstrated expression of known acidosis signaling G-protein coupled receptors OGR-1 and TDAG-8 in Tuberculosis which are shown to mediate the immune effects of decreased pH. Receptors were then demonstrated to be expressed in patients with TB lymphadenitis. Collectively, our findings show that an acidic microenvironment modulates immune function to reduce protective inflammatory responses and increase extracellular matrix degradation in Tuberculosis. Acidosis receptors are therefore potential targets for host directed therapy in patients

Compendium of TCDD-mediated transcriptomic response datasets in mammalian model systems

2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is the most potent congener of the dioxin class of environmental contaminants. Exposure to TCDD causes a wide range of toxic outcomes, ranging from chloracne to acute lethality. The severity of toxicity is highly dependent on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). Binding of TCDD to the AHR leads to changes in transcription of numerous genes. Studies evaluating the transcriptional changes brought on by TCDD may provide valuable insight into the role of the AHR in human health and disease. We therefore compiled a collection of transcriptomic datasets that can be used to aid the scientific community in better understanding the transcriptional effects of ligand-activated AHR.Peer reviewe

Assessing changes in the food retail environment during the COVID-19 pandemic: opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned

Background COVID-19 mitigation strategies have had an untold effect on food retail stores and restaurants. Early evidence from New York City (NYC) indicated that these strategies, among decreased travel from China and increased fears of viral transmission and xenophobia, were leading to mass closures of businesses in Manhattan’s Chinatown. The constantly evolving COVID −19 crisis has caused research design and methodology to fundamentally shift, requiring adaptable strategies to address emerging and existing public health problems such as food security that may result from closures of food outlets. Objective We describe innovative approaches used to evaluate changes to the food retail environment amidst the constraints of the pandemic in an urban center heavily burdened by COVID-19. Included are challenges faced, lessons learned and future opportunities. Methods First, we identified six diverse neighborhoods in NYC: two lower-resourced, two higher-resourced, and two Chinese ethnic enclaves. We then developed a census of food outlets in these six neighborhoods using state and local licensing databases. To ascertain the status (open vs. closed) of outlets pre-pandemic, we employed a manual web-scraping technique. We used a similar method to determine the status of outlets during the pandemic. Two independent online sources were required to confirm the status of outlets. If two sources could not confirm the status, we conducted phone call checks and/or in-person visits. Results The final baseline database included 2585 food outlets across six neighborhoods. Ascertaining the status of food outlets was more difficult in lower-resourced neighborhoods and Chinese ethnic enclaves compared to higher-resourced areas. Higher-resourced neighborhoods required fewer phone call and in-person checks for both restaurants and food retailers than other neighborhoods. Conclusions Our multi-step data collection approach maximized safety and efficiency while minimizing cost and resources. Challenges in remote data collection varied by neighborhood and may reflect the different resources or social capital of the communities; understanding neighborhood-specific constraints prior to data collection may streamline the process