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Oral Session B

Session Information

Apr 27, 2022 01:00 PM - 01:40 PM(America/New_York)
Venue : Shalala Ballroom West
20220427T1300 20220427T1340 America/New_York Oral Session B Shalala Ballroom West RCIF: Research, Creativity, and Innovation Forum ugrinfo@miami.edu

Presentations

The Role of BET Epigenetic Proteins in the Pathophysiology of the Acute Stage of Spinal Cord Injury

Short 3MT OralBiological Sciences 01:00 PM - 01:40 PM (America/New_York) 2022/04/27 17:00:00 UTC - 2022/04/27 17:40:00 UTC
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most devastating conditions that deeply affects the patient's quality of life. The acute stage of the injury mechanism remains a fairly understudied area containing many potential therapeutic targets for a better functional recovery. In this study we aimed to explore the proliferative aspect of the acute stage of SCI. We approached it using an epigenetic perspective focusing on the role of BET proteins in the injury's pathophysiology. BET proteins have become increasingly clinically relevant as proliferation targets for several diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis, and liver fibrosis. Thus, we hypothesized that inhibiting BET epigenetic proteins would lead to reduced proliferation in the injury. We used I-BET151 as an inhibitor, as well as Brd4 knockout models in order to study whether these proteins also have a role mediating cellular proliferation in SCI. We used EdU Click technology to mark the cells proliferating at 3 days post injury (dpi). We also used immunohistochemistry to get a better understanding of cell-specific effects. We found that BET proteins do not mediate proliferation in the acute stage of SCI. However, the inhibition of BETs lead to a decrease in immune cell infiltration. These results were validated with the use of Brd4 genetic deletion model specific for myeloid cells. This study adds to the knowledge gap in the acute phase of SCI and points towards future research that may result in discovering a novel therapeutic target for recovery.
 
Presenters
SB
Sofia Benavides

Quantification and imaging of supraspinal connectome provides further understanding for developments and evolvement in the field of spinal cord injuries.

PosterBiological Sciences 01:00 PM - 01:40 PM (America/New_York) 2022/04/27 17:00:00 UTC - 2022/04/27 17:40:00 UTC
Studying all the supraspinal projecting populations after spinal cord injury has been difficult because sectioning of tissue and analysis of 2D images of a whole brain is time consuming and laborious. We developed methods that can image the whole mouse brain without sectioning using tissue clearing methods and light sheet microscopy. The present study investigates, in more detail, most of the projecting neurons and mainly quantification using enhanced 3D imagining of most areas including those that been historically overlooked in the spinal cord injury field. This study incorporates newer versions of fluorescent proteins such, as mScarlet and mGreenLanternallow for greater and more precise detection in critical supraspinal areas such as the brainstem. Using 3D software such as Imaris allows us for more accurate, uniform, and overall accessible quantification and labelling of these areas. These advancements in detection and examination allow for contribution and generation of databases. This is especially important regarding closing the gap in dissimilarities and inconsistencies in literature and provide and educational resource for those lacking the expert knowledge for studying these brain areas. Furthermore, this type of approach will provide essential information and tools for those studying regenerative therapies.
Presenters
MF
Marielle Fis

The Effect of Irisin on Post-Stroke Outcome in middle-aged Rats of both sexes

Short 3MT OralPhysical Sciences 01:00 PM - 01:40 PM (America/New_York) 2022/04/27 17:00:00 UTC - 2022/04/27 17:40:00 UTC
Low frequency whole body vibration (WBV; 40 Hz) therapy is a novel treatment that mimics the effects of exercise and may be a useful alternative for individuals that are unable to withstand traditional physical rehabilitation procedures. This may be particularly useful for post-menopausal women following stroke, as females are much more likely than males to have a stroke and a more severe stroke. In a published study using female rats, we demonstrated that post-stroke WBV for one month improves motor function and reduces infarct volume in addition to increasing levels of circulating irisin, a protein hormone secreted from muscles. The aim of the current study is to understand the efficacy of irisin in reducing stroke outcomes in middle-aged rats of both sexes. Rats of both sexes were assigned either tMCAO (90 mins) or sham surgery randomly and subsequent intraperitoneal injection of either recombinant irisin (0.2mg/g body weight) or saline vehicle (0.9%) was given at 4.5 hours. Rats were then treated with irisin or saline once a week for 30 days. On day 23 after tMCAO, rats were subjected to neurobehavioral and spatial learning testing to evaluate postural reflex, sensorimotor integration, proprioception, hippocampus-dependent learning and spatial memory. Following behavioral testing, rat brains were collected for histopathological analysis. Post-tMCAO irisin treatment reduced infarct volume, lessened cognitive deficits, and improved behavioral performance compared to saline treated rats.


Presenters
MW
Megan Wurtz

Energy Based Models For Protein Quality Assessment

Short 3MT OralBiological Sciences 01:00 PM - 01:40 PM (America/New_York) 2022/04/27 17:00:00 UTC - 2022/04/27 17:40:00 UTC
Protein folding is the process in which a sequence of amino acids converge to form a three-dimensional shape. The shape of a protein is extremely important for determining its function. The field of bioinformatics has developed algorithms to accurately predict the structure of a protein. Quality assessment of protein models is a subset of problems associated with these algorithms. 
The goal of QA is to score a computer-generated structure of a protein model based on its divergence from the native structure. This, however, is not trivial, as QA is under the assumption that the correct 3D structure is unknown. The main tool used to tackle this problem is Deep Learning. Energy-Based Models are a subset of Deep Learning where instead of predicting the target given some input, an EBM predicts a compatibility score (energy) between the feature and target vectors. On a given input, the goal is to now find a combination of input/target vectors that maximizes the probability they are compatible. This is done by minimizing the energy (model output) between the current input and target vectors. 
In this way, EBMs learn a distribution of choices over an input as opposed to a single output prediction. It is known that proteins fold to their lowest energy state. Because of this, EBMs may perform better when predicting QA scores, as they follow more in line with the nature of how a protein folds. 

The Relationship between Attention, Mind Wandering, and Well-Being during Covid-19

Short 3MT OralSocial Sciences 01:00 PM - 01:40 PM (America/New_York) 2022/04/27 17:00:00 UTC - 2022/04/27 17:40:00 UTC
My research examines the relationship between attentional performance, mind wandering, and well-being in undergraduate students across the academic year 2020-2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.  It is known that while attention is key for academic achievement, it can also be degraded in stressful circumstances.  Prior evidence suggests that this degradation can be related to mind wandering, broadly defined as off-task thought, and poor wellbeing.  Given that this evidence comes from separate lines of research, the relationship between attentional performance, mind wandering and well-being, especially during particularly challenging times, as the covid-19 pandemic is not well understood.  The present research project examines the following two research questions: 1. Does cognitive performance relate to mind wandering? And 2. Does cognitive performance and mind wandering relate to well-being?  Participants are composed of 349 undergraduate University of Miami students taking an introduction to psychology course (Psy 110) during 2020-2021 academic year.  Participants completed a 1-hour online testing battery which included a sustained attentional task with embedded mind wandering questions and metrics of emotional well-being (e.g. affect and perceived stress). Correlational analyses revealed that lower attentional performance is associated with more mind wandering and more mind wandering is associated with greater negative affect and perceived stress. These findings have potential relevance for proposing training programs, such as mindfulness training, that can specifically decrease mind wandering and negative affect to avoid negative consequences on attentional performance in undergraduate students.
Presenters Carolyn Keatley
Senior Honors Thesis Student
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