Student Research Programs - Office of Undergraduate and ...

global climate change, which may affect variables including temperature and precipitation on water resources,
vegetation, and many other ecological systems through a series of projects that include field
monitoring/observation, remote sensing, and systems modeling. The focus of this pilot project has been on the
establishment and survival patterns of red fir seedlings within this watershed. Future climate change may impact
the distribution of the mature red fir stands due to seedlings sensitivity to environmental conditions including soil
moisture, extreme soil temperatures and intense solar radiation (Chappell and Agree, 1996). These mature stands
are important due to their influence of the snowpack and runoff within the watershed (Gordon, 1970). In order to
acquire a better understanding of the relationship of high elevation red fir and these environmental conditions,
the favored conditions must first be determined. My role was to assist in the sampling of red fir plots throughout
the watershed looking for seedling success in varying microclimates. Several iButtons have been placed
throughout the watershed to record air temperature and soil temperature. Volumetric water content (VWC) has
also been recorded using a TDR moisture probe. Ten mobile meteorological (MET) stations will soon be placed
throughout Galena Creek to record solar radiation, air temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind speed and
direction. Data collected from the red fir plots and MET stations can be used to characterize the larger scale
climate and help with snowpack predictions and hydrologic modeling.
KSHV ENCODED LANA RECRUITS ANTI-APOPTOTIC PROTEIN, BCL-2 TO PROMOTE CELL GROWTH
Ruth Salas
Program: NIH INBRE
Mentor: Subhash Verma
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Nevada, Reno
Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV) also called Human Herpesvirus 8
(HHV8) is is the caustive agent of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) primary effusion
lymphomas (PELs) and multicentric castleman’s disease (MCDs). KSHV causes
significant mortality in infected individuals by inducing body cavity based
lymphomas in immuno-compromised individuals. Introduction of HAART, in HIV-
AIDS patients, have significantly reduced the risk of KSHV induced tumors but these
tumors are still a major problem in immune deficient people. KSHV like other
herpesviruses establishes life long latent infection with the expression of limited genes. Latency Associated
Nuclear Antigen (LANA) is predominantly detected protein in almost all the infected cells. LANA is important for
inducing tumorigenesis and has been shown to degrade the tumor suppressor genes, p53 and pRB to promote cell
growth. KSHV encodes cellular homolog of Bcl-2 termed as KS-Bcl-2. Viral Bcl-2 (KS-Bcl-2) has limited homology to
the cellular counterparts but has been shown to protect various cell types from apoptosis mediated by the
expression of apoptosis inducing genes, BAX, Bim. However, the roles of LANA in recruiting KS-Bcl-2 for KSHV
infected cells were not understood. Scanning of LANA secondary structure for potential motifs found a Bcl-2
binding domain in the amino terminal domain, between amino acids 275-303, of LANA. We generated a LANA
mutant deleted for the Bcl-2 binding domain by PCR mutagenesis. The sequencing data confirmed deletion of
275-303aa, the Bcl-2 binding domain in LANA. We determined the binding of KS-Bcl-2 in a coimmunoprecipitation
assay by transfecting the KS-Bcl-2 with LANA in human cells. The Bcl-2 deletion mutant of
LANA failed to bind to KS-Bcl2 confirming the recruitment of Bcl-2 by the LANA amino acids 275-303. The
recruitment of Bcl-2 by LANA may help in preventing apoptosis thus promotes cell growth.
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