Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: Antimicrobial
- Creators: Moore, Marianne
- Resource Type: Text
Description
Across large areas of eastern and midwestern North America, a severe reduction in multiple populations of bat species has been observed as the result of the emerging fungal disease, white-nose syndrome (WNS). WNS is caused by a psychrophilic (i.e. cold loving) fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), that invades the skin of bats during hibernation. Recent studies have shown that during hibernation, bats have decreased immune system activity which would suggest increased susceptibility to infection. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an important component of the innate immune system and are expressed constitutively within all tissues that serve as barriers against infection. Killing pathogens at the level of the skin could prevent the need for more complex immune responses likely inhibited during hibernation, and therefore AMPs could be critical in combating infection by Pd and reducing population loss of susceptible bat species. In this investigation, the fungicidal activity of commercially available AMPs derived from the skin of multiple taxa, including amphibians, catfish, and humans were compared in order to study immunity at the level of the skin. Additionally, our aim was to create optimal methods for a low-cost antimicrobial-assay protocol that would provide quantitative results. We found that killing abilities at various concentrations of dermaseptin S-1 against Ca ATCC 10231 were consistent with literature values, while our values for magainin 2 and parasin 1 were far from the values previously recorded by other studies. It is possible that some differences can be accounted for by the difference in antimicrobial assay procedures, but our findings suggest potential differences to the well-known killing abilities of certain peptides nonetheless. Overall, the protocol established for the antimicrobial assays using serial dilutions and Sabouraud Dextrose plates was successful.
ContributorsFrazier, Eric (Co-author) / Lake, Alexis M. (Co-author) / Moore, Marianne (Thesis director) / Penton, Christopher (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Across large areas of eastern and midwestern North America, a severe reduction in multiple populations of bat species has been observed as the result of the emerging fungal disease, white-nose syndrome (WNS). WNS is caused by a psychrophilic (i.e. cold loving) fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), that invades the skin of bats during hibernation. Recent studies have shown that during hibernation, bats have decreased immune system activity which would suggest increased susceptibility to infection. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an important component of the innate immune system and are expressed constitutively within all tissues that serve as barriers against infection. Killing pathogens at the level of the skin could prevent the need for more complex immune responses likely inhibited during hibernation, and therefore AMPs could be critical in combating infection by Pd and reducing population loss of susceptible bat species. In this investigation, the fungicidal activity of commercially available AMPs derived from the skin of multiple taxa, including amphibians, catfish, and humans were compared in order to study immunity at the level of the skin. Additionally, our aim was to create optimal methods for a low-cost antimicrobial-assay protocol that would provide quantitative results. We found that killing abilities at various concentrations of dermaseptin S-1 against Ca ATCC 10231 were consistent with literature values, while our values for magainin 2 and parasin 1 were far from the values previously recorded by other studies. It is possible that some differences can be accounted for by the difference in antimicrobial assay procedures, but our findings suggest potential differences to the well-known killing abilities of certain peptides nonetheless. Overall, the protocol established for the antimicrobial assays using serial dilutions and Sabouraud Dextrose plates was successful.
ContributorsLake, Alexis (Co-author) / Frazier, Eric (Co-author) / Moore, Marianne (Thesis director) / Penton, Christopher (Committee member) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The study of broad therapeutic advantages of dance is a growing field of interdisciplinary study. Yet, direct health benefits of dance from a molecular standpoint are still largely unknown. Literature review of dance performance displays in birds as well as other creatures and use of creative tools to analyze the diverse, lifelong experiences of dancers helped shed some light on the subject. Although dance experience exposes harms tied to the social constraints of how the form is experiences buried under joyful takeaways of dance, research supports overall health benefits from moderate amounts of dance maintained in perfect equilibrium.
ContributorsWilliams, Caroline (Author) / Fitzgerald, Mary (Thesis director) / Moore, Marianne (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Music, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2022-05