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delivering beads into an optical cavity for levitation. Beads of this size are subject to the van der Waals force and will adhere strongly to any surface. One method for successfully launching microscopic glass beads is to place them on a surface to which a vibration is applied. If the vibration is sufficient, the beads will bounce off of the surface and into the air. In order to control the frequency of the vibration, a piezoelectric material can be attached under the surface on which the beads rest. These materials contract and expand proportional to an applied voltage allowing vibrational motion of the material in a controlled way. Applying a voltage such that the piezoelectric material vibrates on resonance will amplify the force felt by the beads. With a force larger than the van der Waals force, the beads will detach. Once free of the surface they can be optically trapped and levitated by a focused laser. AN ANALYSIS OF THE NEARSHORE WATER TEMPERATURES OF LAKE TAHOE Sarah Calhoun Program: NSF REU Mentor: Sudeep Chandra Department: Natural Resources and Environmental Science University of Nevada, Reno Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake that has been studied extensively over the last 50 years, primarily for the factors that are changing offshore clarity. Decreasing offshore clarity is attributed to rising temperatures and the current nonnative species that inhabit the lake, causing unfavorable changes in the ecosystem. Both of these factors can be associated with the development that continues to occur around the coastal areas of the lake and the interaction of people with nearshore habitats. The nearshore environment is the area that most visitors to the lake spend their time. It is also the area of the lake where many invasive species are establishing, such as warmwater fishes. Recent studies suggest that the establishment of these fishes may be partly due to increases in nearshore temperature due to climate change. The probability of these nonnative species increasing in numbers and spreading to the offshore areas increases if the temperatures continue to rise. In this study we examine the mean summer temperatures in the nearshore areas around the lake through the use of periodic temperature loggers. Taking a closer look at four particular sites existing in marinas and open water, this study points out the differences in temperatures around the lake and the effects of cultural eutrophication in Lake Tahoe. A literature search on invasive species and their temperature-preference relationships was also conducted to gain an understanding as to why such species occur around Lake Tahoe. This study will further the understanding of ecological effects caused by current and potential invasive species and the overall effects of warmer nearshore temperatures on a large freshwater ecosystem. CHARACTERIZATION OF LANA’S ROLE IN THE RECRUITMENT OF TOPOISOMERASE II BETA Nathan Carter Program: NIH INBRE Mentor: Subhash Verma Department: Biology University of Nevada, Reno Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) also called Human Herpesvirus 8, is a member of the gammaherpesvirus family, and is associated with human cancers including Kaposi’s Sarcoma, Primary Effusion Lymphoma, and Multicentric Castleman’s Disease. KSHV, like other herpesviruses, establishes life 7
long infection without causing any disease symptoms in healthy individuals. However, it causes various lymphoproliferative diseases in immune compromised individuals including the AIDS patients. In the infected cells, KSHV remains latent and expresses only a subset of genes. Latency Associated Nuclear Antigen (LANA) is among the proteins expressed during latency and is important for tethering the KSHV episomal DNA to the host chromosomes. LANA interacts with various cellular and viral proteins and is classified as an oncogene. LANA is known to bind to terminal repeats in the KSHV genome, facilitate viral DNA replication and is important for episomal maintenance, but lacks any enzymatic activity, suggesting the recruitment of host replication machinery. A previous LANA binding affinity column identified Topoisomerase II Beta (TopoIIb) as an LANA interacting protein. TopoIIb is required for cellular DNA replication therefore we hypothesized that LANA recruits TopoIIb at the site of replication to initiate DNA replication. Here, we characterized the binding of TopoIIb with LANA using immunoprecipitation assay. We also determined the binding of topoIIb with LANA in a co-localization assay in KSHV infected tumor cells. In our immunoprecipitation assay, TopoIIb bound to LANA full length and the binding region was mapped to the N-terminal domain of LANA. Using a confocal microscopy, we were able to find distinct nuclear compartments with LANA and TopoIIb co-localizing together in KSHV infected, BCBL-1 tumor cells. These results confirmed our hypothesis that LANA recruits TopoIIb for the replication of viral DNA. DETERMINING THE ROLE OF LANA IN CHROMATIN REMODELING Shanthan Challa 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 linked to primary effusion lymphomas (PELs) and multicentric castleman’s disease (MCDs). KSHV causes tumors predominantly in HIV+ immunocompromised patients and is among the leading cause of AIDS related deaths. Although the introduction of HAART for the treatment of HIV/AIDS has reduced the risk of KSHV induced tumors but the virus remains present in the infected individuals and causes these KS tumors to reoccur. Therefore, KSHV specific drugs are needed to eliminate virus from infected individuals. KSHV, like other herpesvirus persists indefinitely in the infected host and exhibit two distinct phases, latency and lytic. During latency, only a subsets of genes are expressed and the Latency Associated Nuclear Antigen (LANA) is among the most expressed proteins in all KSHV tumors. Our yeast-2-hybrid data with LANA as bait identified a component of the chromatin remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex, CHD4 (Chromodomain Helicase DNA binding protein 4) suggesting its role in viral chromatin modulation. Since chromatin remodeling plays an important role in viral reactivation and tumorigenesis a better understanding of the regulation of chromatin structure is warranted in controlling viral infections and viral-associated tumorigenesis. We hypothesize that LANA might be recruiting CHD4 at the viral chromatin to modulate the expression of viral genes for establishment of latency. Immuno Florescence Assay on BCBL and Hela cells showed that LANA and CHD4 co-localize in-vivo. Co-immunoprecipitation analysis was performed with over expressed LANA and CHD4 in HEK293 cells and we found out that LANA does interact with CHD4 for expression of viral genes. To map the specific binding region of CHD4 with LANA , co-immunoprecipitation analysis was done with cells expressing CHD4 Wild type, N-terminus and C-terminus along with LANA. The result indicated that LANA colocalizes with CHD4 and binds to its N-terminus. 8
Page 1 and 2: Student Research Programs 2011 Summ
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Page 17 and 18: activity and PGE2 levels, while DHA
Page 19 and 20: HABITAT PREFERENCES OF NORTHERN FLY
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Student Research Programs - Office of Undergraduate and ...

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