Matching Items (12)
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- All Subjects: Alzheimer's Disease
- All Subjects: Bioengineering
- Creators: Stabenfeldt, Sarah
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Status: Published
Description
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia leading to cognitive dysfunction and memory loss as well as emotional and behavioral disorders. It is the 6th leading cause of death in United States, and the only one among top 10 death causes that cannot be prevented, cured or slowed. An estimated 5.4 million Americans live with AD, and this number is expected to triple by year 2050 as the baby boomers age. The cost of care for AD in the US is about $200 billion each year. Unfortunately, in addition to the lack of an effective treatment or AD, there is also a lack of an effective diagnosis, particularly an early diagnosis which would enable treatment to begin before significant neuronal damage has occurred.
Increasing evidence implicates soluble oligomeric forms of beta-amyloid and tau in the onset and progression of AD. While many studies have focused on beta-amyloid, soluble oligomeric tau species may also play an important role in AD pathogenesis. Antibodies that selectively identify and target specific oligomeric tau variants would be valuable tools for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications and also to study the etiology of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Recombinant human tau (rhTau) in monomeric, dimeric, trimeric and fibrillar forms were synthesized and purified to perform LDH assay on human neuroblastoma cells, so that trimeric but not monomeric or dimeric rhTau was identified as extracellularly neurotoxic to neuronal cells. A novel biopanning protocol was designed based on phage display technique and atomic force microscopy (AFM), and used to isolate single chain antibody variable domain fragments (scFvs) that selectively recognize the toxic tau oligomers. These scFvs selectively bind tau variants in brain tissue of human AD patients and AD-related tau transgenic rodent models and have potential value as early diagnostic biomarkers for AD and as potential therapeutics to selectively target toxic tau aggregates.
Increasing evidence implicates soluble oligomeric forms of beta-amyloid and tau in the onset and progression of AD. While many studies have focused on beta-amyloid, soluble oligomeric tau species may also play an important role in AD pathogenesis. Antibodies that selectively identify and target specific oligomeric tau variants would be valuable tools for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications and also to study the etiology of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Recombinant human tau (rhTau) in monomeric, dimeric, trimeric and fibrillar forms were synthesized and purified to perform LDH assay on human neuroblastoma cells, so that trimeric but not monomeric or dimeric rhTau was identified as extracellularly neurotoxic to neuronal cells. A novel biopanning protocol was designed based on phage display technique and atomic force microscopy (AFM), and used to isolate single chain antibody variable domain fragments (scFvs) that selectively recognize the toxic tau oligomers. These scFvs selectively bind tau variants in brain tissue of human AD patients and AD-related tau transgenic rodent models and have potential value as early diagnostic biomarkers for AD and as potential therapeutics to selectively target toxic tau aggregates.
ContributorsTian, Huilai (Author) / Sierks, Michael R (Thesis advisor) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Tillery, Stephen H (Committee member) / Nielsen, David R (Committee member) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The research question explored in this thesis is how CRISPR mediated editing is influenced by artificially opened chromatin in cells. Closed chromatin poses a barrier to Cas9 binding and editing at target genes. Synthetic pioneer factors (PFs) are a promising new approach to artificially open condensed heterochromatin allowing greater access of target DNA to Cas9. The Haynes lab has constructed fusions of enzymatic chromatin-modifying domains designed to remodel chromatin and increase Cas9 editing efficiency. With a library of PFs available, this research focuses on analyzing the behavior of Cas9 in chromatin that has been artificially opened by PFs. The types and frequency of INDELs (insertions & deletions) were determined after non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) in PF and Cas9-treated cells using quantitative Sanger sequencing and Synthego’s ICE software. Furthermore, NOME-seq analysis was carried out to map nucleosome position in PF and Cas9 treated cells. Although this experiment was unsuccessful, the heat map generated with data obtained from Synthego ICE predicts a possible presence of nucleosome in the vicinity suggesting that perhaps a fully open chromatin state was not achieved. Linear Regression analysis with certain assumptions confirms that with the increase in distance downstream of cut-site, the editing frequency decreases exponentially. Nevertheless, further experimental work should be carried out to investigate this hypothesis.
ContributorsHamna, Syeda Fatima (Author) / Haynes, Karmella A (Thesis advisor) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Thesis advisor) / Tian, Xiaojun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Myocardial infarction (MI) remains the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the U.S., accounting for nearly 140,000 deaths per year. Heart transplantation and implantation of mechanical assist devices are the options of last resort for intractable heart failure, but these are limited by lack of organ donors and potential surgical complications. In this regard, there is an urgent need for developing new effective therapeutic strategies to induce regeneration and restore the loss contractility of infarcted myocardium. Over the past decades, regenerative medicine has emerged as a promising strategy to develop scaffold-free cell therapies and scaffold-based cardiac patches as potential approaches for MI treatment. Despite the progress, there are still critical shortcomings associated with these approaches regarding low cell retention, lack of global cardiomyocytes (CMs) synchronicity, as well as poor maturation and engraftment of the transplanted cells within the native myocardium. The overarching objective of this dissertation was to develop two classes of nanoengineered cardiac patches and scaffold-free microtissues with superior electrical, structural, and biological characteristics to address the limitations of previously developed tissue models. An integrated strategy, based on micro- and nanoscale technologies, was utilized to fabricate the proposed tissue models using functionalized gold nanomaterials (GNMs). Furthermore, comprehensive mechanistic studies were carried out to assess the influence of conductive GNMs on the electrophysiology and maturity of the engineered cardiac tissues. Specifically, the role of mechanical stiffness and nano-scale topographies of the scaffold, due to the incorporation of GNMs, on cardiac cells phenotype, contractility, and excitability were dissected from the scaffold’s electrical conductivity. In addition, the influence of GNMs on conduction velocity of CMs was investigated in both coupled and uncoupled gap junctions using microelectrode array technology. Overall, the key contributions of this work were to generate new classes of electrically conductive cardiac patches and scaffold-free microtissues and to mechanistically investigate the influence of conductive GNMs on maturation and electrophysiology of the engineered tissues.
ContributorsNavaei, Ali (Author) / Nikkhah, Mehdi (Thesis advisor) / Brafman, David (Committee member) / Migrino, Raymond Q. (Committee member) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Committee member) / Vernon, Brent (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Monitoring complex diseases and their comorbidities requires accurate and convenient measurements of multiple biomarkers. However, many state-of-the-art bioassays not only require complicated and time-consuming procedures, but also measure only one biomarker at a time. This noncomprehensive single-biomarker monitoring, as well as the cost and complexity of these bioassays advocate for a simple, rapid multi-marker sensing platform suitable for point-of-care or self-monitoring settings. To address this need, diabetes mellitus was selected as the example complex disease, with dry eye disease and cardiovascular disease as the example comorbidities. Seven vital biomarkers from these diseases were selected to investigate the platform technology: lactoferrin (Lfn), immunoglobulin E (IgE), insulin, glucose, lactate, low density lipoprotein (LDL), and high density lipoprotein (HDL). Using electrochemical techniques such as amperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), various single- and dual-marker sensing prototypes were studied. First, by focusing on the imaginary impedance of EIS, an analytical algorithm for the determination of optimal frequency and signal deconvolution was first developed. This algorithm helped overcome the challenge of signal overlapping in EIS multi-marker sensors, while providing a means to study the optimal frequency of a biomarker. The algorithm was then applied to develop various single- and dual-marker prototypes by exploring different kinds of molecular recognition elements (MRE) while studying the optimal frequencies of various biomarkers with respect to their biological properties. Throughout the exploration, 5 single-marker biosensors (glucose, lactate, insulin, IgE, and Lfn) and one dual-marker (LDL and HDL) biosensor were successfully developed. With the aid of nanoparticles and the engineering design of experiments, the zeta potential, conductivity, and molecular weight of a biomarker were found to be three example factors that contribute to a biomarker’s optimal frequency. The study platforms used in the study did not achieve dual-enzymatic marker biosensors (glucose and lactate) due to signal contamination from localized accumulation of reduced electron mediators on self-assembled monolayer. However, amperometric biosensors for glucose and lactate with disposable test strips and integrated samplers were successfully developed as a back-up solution to the multi-marker sensing platform. This work has resulted in twelve publications, five patents, and one submitted manuscripts at the time of submission.
ContributorsLin, Chi En (Author) / La Belle, Jeffrey T (Thesis advisor) / Caplan, Michael (Committee member) / Cook, Curtiss B (Committee member) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Committee member) / Spano, Mark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) are the leading causes of early onset dementia. There are currently no ways to slow down progression, to prevent or cure AD and FTD. Both AD and FTD share a lot of the symptoms and pathology. Initial symptoms such as confusion, memory loss, mood swings and behavioral changes are common in both these dementia subtypes. Neurofibrillary tau tangles and intraneuronal aggregates of TAR DNA Binding Protein 43 (TDP-43) are also observed in both AD and FTD. Hence, FTD cases are often misdiagnosed as AD due to a lack of accurate diagnostics. Prior to the formation of tau tangles and TDP-43 aggregates, tau and TDP-43 exist as intermediate protein variants which correlate with cognitive decline and progression of these neurodegenerative diseases. Effective diagnostic and therapeutic agents would selectively recognize these toxic, disease-specific variants. Antibodies or antibody fragments such as single chain antibody variable domain fragments (scFvs), with their diverse binding capabilities, can aid in developing reagents that can selectively bind these protein variants. A combination of phage display library and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)-based panning was employed to identify antibody fragments against immunoprecipitated tau and immunoprecipitated TDP-43 from human postmortem AD and FTD brain tissue respectively. Five anti-TDP scFvs and five anti-tau scFvs were selected for characterization by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) and Immunohistochemistry (IHC). The panel of scFvs, together, were able to identify distinct protein variants present in AD but not in FTD, and vice versa. Generating protein variant profiles for individuals, using the panel of scFvs, aids in developing targeted diagnostic and therapeutic plans, gearing towards personalized medicine.
ContributorsVenkataraman, Lalitha (Author) / Sierks, Michael R (Thesis advisor) / Dunckley, Travis (Committee member) / Oddo, Salvatore (Committee member) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), remain difficult to ascertain in part because animal models fail to fully recapitulate the complex pathophysiology of these diseases. In vitro models of neurodegenerative diseases generated with patient derived human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) could provide new insight into disease mechanisms. Although protocols to differentiate hiPSCs and hESCs to neurons have been established, standard practice relies on two dimensional (2D) cell culture systems, which do not accurately mimic the complexity and architecture of the in vivo brain microenvironment.
I have developed protocols to generate 3D cultures of neurons from hiPSCs and hESCs, to provide more accurate models of AD. In the first protocol, hiPSC-derived neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) are plated in a suspension of Matrigel™ prior to terminal differentiation of neurons. In the second protocol, hiPSCs are forced into aggregates called embryoid bodies (EBs) in suspension culture and subsequently directed to the neural lineage through dual SMAD inhibition. Culture conditions are then changed to expand putative hNPC populations and finally differentiated to neuronal spheroids through activation of the tyrosine kinase pathway. The gene expression profiles of the 3D hiPSC-derived neural cultures were compared to fetal brain RNA. Our analysis has revealed that 3D neuronal cultures express high levels of mature pan-neuronal markers (e.g. MAP2, β3T) and neural transmitter subtype specific markers. The 3D neuronal spheroids also showed signs of neural patterning, similar to that observed during embryonic development. These 3D culture systems should provide a platform to probe disease mechanisms of AD and enable to generation of more advanced therapeutics.
I have developed protocols to generate 3D cultures of neurons from hiPSCs and hESCs, to provide more accurate models of AD. In the first protocol, hiPSC-derived neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) are plated in a suspension of Matrigel™ prior to terminal differentiation of neurons. In the second protocol, hiPSCs are forced into aggregates called embryoid bodies (EBs) in suspension culture and subsequently directed to the neural lineage through dual SMAD inhibition. Culture conditions are then changed to expand putative hNPC populations and finally differentiated to neuronal spheroids through activation of the tyrosine kinase pathway. The gene expression profiles of the 3D hiPSC-derived neural cultures were compared to fetal brain RNA. Our analysis has revealed that 3D neuronal cultures express high levels of mature pan-neuronal markers (e.g. MAP2, β3T) and neural transmitter subtype specific markers. The 3D neuronal spheroids also showed signs of neural patterning, similar to that observed during embryonic development. These 3D culture systems should provide a platform to probe disease mechanisms of AD and enable to generation of more advanced therapeutics.
ContributorsPetty, Francis (Author) / Brafman, David (Thesis advisor) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Committee member) / Nikkhah, Mehdi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects 5.4 million Americans. AD leads to memory loss, changes in behavior, and death. The key hallmarks of the disease are amyloid plaques and tau tangles, consisting of amyloid-β oligomers and hyperphosphorylated tau, respectively.
Rho-associated, coiled-coil-containing protein kinase (ROCK) is an enzyme that plays important roles in neuronal cells including mediating actin organization and dendritic spine morphogenesis. The ROCK inhibitor Fasudil has been shown to increase learning and working memory in aged rats, but another ROCK inhibitor, Y27632, was shown to impair learning and memory. I am interested in exploring how these, and other ROCK inhibitors, may be acting mechanistically to result in very different outcomes in treated animals.
Preliminary research on thirteen different ROCK inhibitors provides evidence that while Fasudil and a novel ROCK inhibitor, T343, decrease tau phosphorylation in vitro, Y27632 increases tau phosphorylation at a low dose and decreases at a high dose. Meanwhile, novel ROCK inhibitor T299 increases tau phosphorylation at a high dosage.
Further, an in vivo study using triple transgenic AD mice provides evidence that Fasudil improves reference memory and fear memory in both transgenic and wild-type mice, while Y27632 impairs reference memory in transgenic mice. Fasudil also decreases tau phosphorylation and Aβ in vivo, while Y27632 significantly increases the p-tau to total tau ratio.
Rho-associated, coiled-coil-containing protein kinase (ROCK) is an enzyme that plays important roles in neuronal cells including mediating actin organization and dendritic spine morphogenesis. The ROCK inhibitor Fasudil has been shown to increase learning and working memory in aged rats, but another ROCK inhibitor, Y27632, was shown to impair learning and memory. I am interested in exploring how these, and other ROCK inhibitors, may be acting mechanistically to result in very different outcomes in treated animals.
Preliminary research on thirteen different ROCK inhibitors provides evidence that while Fasudil and a novel ROCK inhibitor, T343, decrease tau phosphorylation in vitro, Y27632 increases tau phosphorylation at a low dose and decreases at a high dose. Meanwhile, novel ROCK inhibitor T299 increases tau phosphorylation at a high dosage.
Further, an in vivo study using triple transgenic AD mice provides evidence that Fasudil improves reference memory and fear memory in both transgenic and wild-type mice, while Y27632 impairs reference memory in transgenic mice. Fasudil also decreases tau phosphorylation and Aβ in vivo, while Y27632 significantly increases the p-tau to total tau ratio.
ContributorsTurk, Mari (Author) / Huentelman, Matt (Thesis advisor) / Kusumi, Kenro (Thesis advisor) / Jensen, Kendall (Committee member) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
An in vitro model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is required to study the poorly understood molecular mechanisms involved in the familial and sporadic forms of the disease. Animal models have previously proven to be useful in studying familial Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by the introduction of AD related mutations in the animal genome and by the overexpression of AD related proteins. The genetics of sporadic Alzheimer’s is however too complex to model in an animal model. More recently, AD human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have been used to study the disease in a dish. However, AD hiPSC derived neurons do not faithfully reflect all the molecular characteristics and phenotypes observed in the aged cells with neurodegenerative disease. The truncated form of nuclear protein Lamin-A, progerin, has been implicated in premature aging and is found in increasing concentrations as normal cells age. We hypothesized that by overexpressing progerin, we can cause cells to ‘age’ and display the neurodegenerative effects observed with aging in both diseased and normal cells. To answer this hypothesis, we first generated a retrovirus that allows for the overexpression of progerin in AD and non-demented control (NDC) hiPSC derived neural progenitor cells(NPCs). Subsequently, we generated a pure population of hNPCs that overexpress progerin and wild type lamin. Finally, we analyzed the presence of various age related phenotypes such as abnormal nuclear structure and the loss of nuclear lamina associated proteins to characterize ‘aging’ in these cells.
ContributorsRaman, Sreedevi (Author) / Brafman, David (Thesis advisor) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Committee member) / Wang, Xiao (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death in individuals under the age of 45, resulting in over 50,000 deaths each year. Over 80,000 TBI patients report long-term deficits consisting of motor or cognitive dysfunctions due to TBI pathophysiology. The biochemical secondary injury triggers a harmful inflammatory cascade, gliosis, and astrocyte activation surrounding the injury lesion, and no current treatments exist to alleviate these underlying pathologies. In order to mitigate the negative inflammatory effects of the secondary injury, we created a hydrogel comprised of hyaluronic acid (HA) and laminin, and we hypothesized that the anti-inflammatory properties of HA will decrease astrocyte activation and inflammation after TBI. C57/BL6 mice were subjected to mild-to-moderate CCI. Three days following injury, mice were treated with injection of vehicle or HA-Laminin hydrogel. Mice were sacrificed at three and seven days post injection and analyzed for astrocyte and inflammatory responses. In mice treated with vehicle injections, astrocyte activation was significantly increased at three days post-transplantation in the injured cortex and injury lesion. However, mice treated with the HA-Laminin hydrogel experienced significantly reduced acute astrocyte activation at the injury site three days post transplantation. Interestingly, there were no significant differences in astrocyte activation at seven days post treatment in either group. Although the microglial and macrophage response remains to be investigated, our data suggest that the HA-Laminin hydrogel demonstrates potential for TBI therapeutics targeting inflammation, including acute modulation of the astrocyte, microglia, and macrophage response to TBI.
ContributorsGoddery, Emma Nicole (Author) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Thesis director) / Addington, Caroline (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Neurological disorders are difficult to treat with current drug delivery methods due to their inefficiency and the lack of knowledge of the mechanisms behind drug delivery across the blood brain barrier (BBB). Nanoparticles (NPs) are a promising drug delivery method due to their biocompatibility and ability to be modified by cell penetrating peptides, such as transactivating transciptor (TAT) peptide, which has been shown to increase efficiency of delivery. There are multiple proposed mechanisms of TAT-mediated delivery that also have size restrictions on the molecules that can undergo each BBB crossing mechanism. The effect of nanoparticle size on TAT-mediated delivery in vivo is an important aspect to research in order to better understand the delivery mechanisms and to create more efficient NPs. NPs called FluoSpheres are used because they come in defined diameters unlike polymeric NPs that have a broad distribution of diameters. Both modified and unmodified 100nm and 200nm NPs were able to bypass the BBB and were seen in the brain, spinal cord, liver, and spleen using confocal microscopy and a biodistribution study. Statistically significant differences in delivery rate of the different sized NPs or between TAT-modified and unmodified NPs were not found. Therefore in future work a larger range of diameter size will be evaluated. Also the unmodified NPs will be conjugated with scrambled peptide to ensure that both unmodified and TAT-modified NPs are prepared in identical fashion to better understand the role of size on TAT targeting. Although all the NPs were able to bypass the BBB, future work will hopefully provide a better representation of how NP size effects the rate of TAT-mediated delivery to the CNS.
ContributorsCeton, Ricki Ronea (Author) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Thesis director) / Sirianni, Rachael (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05