Sensory Communication

Contains table of contents on Section 2, an introduction, reports on eleven research projects and a list of publications.National Institutes of Health Grant 5 R01 DC00117National Institutes of Health Grant 5 R01 DC00270National Institutes of Health Contract 2 P01 DC00361National Institutes of Health Grant 5 R01 DC00100National Institutes of Health Contract 7 R29 DC00428National Institutes of Health Grant 2 R01 DC00126U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant AFOSR 90-0200U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-90-J-1935National Institutes of Health Grant 5 R29 DC00625U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-91-J-1454U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-92-J-181

basic Mathematics for beginning Chemistry

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Captive breeding causes small body size in Morpho peleides limpida (Nymphalidae : Morphinae)

Captive breeding has many positive implications in terms of conservation, but when practiced irresponsibly, can result in harmful consequences like inbreeding. Inbreeding has been shown to result in developmental instabilities like small body size and fluctuating asymmetry. In this study, I used small body size as a proxy for inbreeding by comparing measurements of the butterfly Morpho peleides limpida from wild and captive bred populations in terms of right forewing and right antennae length. Both measures of size were found to be larger in wild populations than captive populations. The greatest variation in the means was observed in female right wing measurements, with larger mean lengths in wild populations (76.99mm ± 4.23mm) compared to captive populations (66.58mm ± 2.10mm). This shows that rearing techniques used in butterfly gardens may invoke varying amounts of inbreeding. New measures must be taken to practice more responsible breeding such as ensuring the introduction and maintenance of more genetic variation in captive populations. La cría en cautiverio tiene muchas implicaciones positivas en términos de conservación, pero cuando la practican con irresponsabilidad, puede resultar en consecuencias dañinas como la endogamia. Se ha demostrado que la endogamia puede resultar en inestabilidades en el desarrollo como un cuerpo pequeño y asimetría fluctuante. En este estudio, yo usé el cuerpo pequeño como un aproximado de endogamia comparando medidas del largo del ala derecha y el largo de la antena.https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/tropical_ecology/1034/thumbnail.jp

IL-4 Induces Protection of Porcine Endothelial Cells from Anti-Endothelial Cell Antibody in Association with Upregulation of Claudin-5

Additional contributor: Agustin Dalmasso (faculty mentor).Interspecies organ transplantation offers a potential strategy to the global shortage in vital human organs for donation. Multiple obstacles remain before rejection of foreign organ grafts (xenotransplantation) can be avoided. In pig-to-primate combinations, the vascular endothelium of the transplant is the main target of injury by the host immune system. We are using an in vitro system in which pig endothelial cells (EC) are modified to make them resistant to injury by anti-EC antibodies (abs) in human blood. These abs damage the EC by causing cellular retraction and intercellular gap formation. My aim is to study methods and mechanisms that protect the EC from injury caused by the abs. The cytokine interleukin-4 (IL-4) induces protection of EC from apoptosis and from killing by human complement. My results demonstrated that pretreatment of the EC with pig IL-4 decreases the amount of abinduced cellular retraction and intercellular gap formation. This finding suggested that IL-4 might regulate the expression of proteins that maintain cell-to-cell junctions in the monolayer. Using immunofluoresce, we examined the expression of the junction proteins CD31, VEcadherin, and claudin-5, in IL-4-treated and untreated EC. We found that IL-4 strongly induces claudin-5 expression, but not expression of VE-cadherin or CD31. We now plan to use siRNA silencing of claudin-5 to investigate whether increases in claudin-5 protein are important for protection of EC from ab-induced damage. If this silencing abolishes EC protection, claudin-5 must play a pivotal role in IL-4-induced protection. Conversely, if protection still occurs, claudin-5 is an unnecessary side reaction of the protection. This information will help uncover mechanisms behind IL-4 induced protection, and contribute to new approaches for xenotransplantation