The Isolation and Characterization of Novel Bacteriophages from Central Illinois

Members of the Illinois Wesleyan University General Biology Science Education Alliance (SEA) laboratory isolated and characterized a number of distinctive mycobacteriophages. Each student collected soil samples from the central Illinois area then used streak assays and titrations to isolate unique phages that infect Mycobacterium smegmatis. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and DNA restriction enzyme digests were used to determine the morphology and tentative cluster placement of each phage. By the end of the semester, fifteen novel phages were isolated with a wide range of characteristics, despite the small sampling area. This data was submitted to the Mycobacteriophage DataBase. After analysis and class discussion, the DNA from three different phages were sent to the University of Pittsburgh for genome sequencing

Mechanisms of Spinal Cord Stimulation to Treat Neuropathic Pain

Chronic pain of neuropathic origin affects millions of people throughout the world every year. One potential treatment for neuropathic pain is Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS), which involves implanting a small series of electrodes in the spinal canal atop the dorsal aspect of the spinal cord. The electric field produced by this electrode modulates the transmission of pain signals. SCS has enjoyed modest clinical success in treating patients with chronic neuropathic pain conditions in which conservative treatments and/or surgical interventions have failed. However, the biological mechanism underlying the therapeutic benefits of SCS is poorly understood. The present study aims to better establish the mechanism by analyzing the changes induced by SCS on protein expression within nervous system tissue. A well-established animal model of neuropathic pain paired with reliable behavioral assessment techniques were used to verify the therapeutic benefits of SCS. Following treatment, nervous tissues were extracted and subjected to Proteomic analysis. Results will be presented examining the effects of SCS on the expression of proteins related to transmission of pain. AMPA receptor proteins which are thought to be responsible for neuronal excitability, NMDA receptors proteins which are thought to be responsible for maintaining pathological pain circuits, and numerous nucleotide-modifying proteins which have been implicated in cellular signaling are some proteins hypothesized to mediate the mechanism of SCS

Dexamethasone Exposure and Thigmotaxis in Larval Zebrafish (\u3cem\u3eDanio Rerio\u3c/em\u3e)

Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid commonly used as an anti-inflammatory drug in humans. Dexamethasone is also given to pregnant women at risk of pre-term delivery to accelerate fetal lung development. Research with animal models has linked early exposure to Dexamethasone to lasting disturbances of cranial/facial morphology and brain development. The current study examined the association between early Dexamethasone exposure and anxiety-like behaviors using Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) as a model organism. Thigmotaxis (edge-preference) in fish is thought to be analogous to rodent wall-hugging behaviors in open field tests. Pharmacological manipulations with anxiogenics and anxiolytics produce reliable alterations in thigmotaxis consistent with the interpretation that thigmotaxis reflects anxiety-like states in fish. Immediately after fertilization, zebrafish larvae were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: 1) dexamethasone plus solvent exposure, 2) solvent exposure, or 3) control. At 7-days post fertilization, the fish were introduced to a novel environment and their thigmotaxic behavior was recorded and analyzed