A celebration of undergraduate research
The 15th Annual LBC Research Symposium will take place from April 25th through April 29th 2022 in Holmes Hall. You can find the full schedule of events and presentations here.
This site is hosting the virtual portion of the event and you will find several student presentations in the recent posts. Awards for the best presentations will be announced at the MSUFCU Poster session on Monday April 25th in Holmes Hall.
 | Author: Sydney Bush – 1st year |
 | Author: Atef Choudhury – 1st year |
 | Author: Sanjanasri Pothuraju – 2nd year |
 | Author: Blake Potvin – 1st year |
| Faculty Mentor: Volodymyr Tarabara, PhD. – Civil and Environmental Engineering | |
| Mentor: Xunhao Wang – PhD student , Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Abstract:
In the world today there are many viruses that are a concern to human health. These viruses are especially prone to be found in a hospital setting where individuals are being treated for viral infections. Fomites play an important role in the spread of viruses. Higher probability of transfer is associated with fomites in indoor environments and especially with surfaces that are frequently touched. In this study, we numerically estimated adhesion of several viruses (human respiratory syncytial virus, human adenovirus, and coronavirus) to a number of different surfaces (stainless steel, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride) commonly encountered in settings typical for health care facilities. Adhesion was quantified and interpreted based on physicochemical properties of viruses and fomites. Surface charge and hydrophobicity data were obtained in part from published literature and in part by experimental measurements. Hydrophobicity was determined based on measurements of contact angle on the surfaces of selected fomites. Virus-fomites interactions are predicted using the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory. The obtained data can guide screening and selection of materials that discourage virus adhesion, help design anti-adhesive surfaces and develop surface cleaning solutions and protocols.
| Author: Antwan Green, 3rd year undergraduate Neuroscience major |
| Author: Joshua Kaste, plant biology graduate student |
| Mentor: Yair Shachar-Hill Plant Biology faculty |
Abstract:
Metabolic flux is defined as the rate at which metabolic reactions proceed. The analysis of these fluxes is done through the lens of Metabolic Flux Analysis (MFA), where reaction kinetics are represented mathematically to describe flux over time for a set of metabolites in a pathway or network. Ultimately, the aim of MFA is the complete understanding of biological flux through metabolic networks under physiologic conditions. Concepts as complex as MFA must be broken down into understandable pieces before they can be understood, which has not (to our knowledge) been implemented in a structured, accessible, and hands-on way previously. To teach students about this process, we take advantage of the coding language Python. This gives students a chance to observe the kinetics used in the study of metabolic flux and actively observe how different kinetics equations can be applied, and their real-life consequences. We have selected Python as a teaching tool because it has been implemented before in many schools and institutions, mostly due to its beginner-friendly language allowing “common-sense” code strings that are easily readable. Using Python, I developed interactive simulations of metabolic activity that allow students to learn various concepts related to metabolism, including the impact of different assumed kinetics and how isotopic labels can move through a metabolic pathway.
You can find the recorded presentation at:
https://mediaspace.msu.edu/media/LBC+Research+Symposium+Presentation+/1_usn86lxg
| Author: Simran Singh 4th year, Cognitive Neuroscience major |
Abstract:
Maternal sensory signals play a crucial role in the function and structure of a developing brain; specific signals can work to promote vulnerability or plasticity to cognitive as well as emotional disorders. In rodent models of early-life stress, fragmentation as well as maternal lead exposure provoke emotional and cognitive dysfunction in offspring. Our model of early-life disadvantage will help us understand the development/neurobiological underpinnings of aggression and other antisocial behaviors in humans. We investigated the effects of maternal lead exposure and restricted home cage bedding on caregiving in female rats as well as lateral offspring socioemotional behaviors. The use of a laboratory rat model allows us to study the effects of early-life disadvantage on later social, affective, and reward-like behaviors. Female rats were mated and given 0.1% lead acetate in their drinking water or regular drinking water or left undisturbed. On the day of parturition, litters were weighed and culled. Dams were given standard amounts of bedding or low emulate low resource availability and continued to receive leaded or regular water consistent with their pregnancy condition. Offspring behavior entailed the testing of one male and female from each litter for anxiety-like behavior via elevated plus maze. Another female from each litter was mated and tested for maternal aggression towards an unfamiliar male intruder to the home cage. We hypothesize that chronic exposure to lead during prenatal life, alone or together with low maternal home cage bedding, will reduce mothers’ caregiving behaviors and affect socioemotional behaviors in the offspring.
 | Author: Megha Pratapwar, 2nd year Nutritional Sciences and Human Biology undergraduate |
| Faculty Mentor: Sarah Comstock, Food Science and Human Nutrition Faculty member |
Abstract:
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of chemicals that are widely used in consumer products that can lead to adverse effects on health in exposed humans. Exposure usually occurs through dust, drinking water, and food. These chemicals break down very slowly and therefore can cause long-term contamination in both humans and the environment . Some possible health effects PFAS can have are decreased fertility, developmental delays in children, increased risk of some cancers, reduced immunity, and interference with hormones. PFAS levels in human milk have been positively associated with decreased diversity in the gut microbiome of 1 month old infants. A literature review identified the levels of various PFAS in human milk in countries around the world. Levels ranged from 0.0073 ng/mL to 24 ng/mL, with milk samples from Faroe Islands having the highest and milk samples from Sweden having the lowest levels of PFAS. This is part of a continuum of research that will eventually analyze the impact of PFAS exposure on the infant gut microbiota at 3 months of age. Since the infant gut microbiota membership is established early in life, understanding the exposures which can alter the composition of this microbiota will enable a clearer understanding of the mechanisms by which compounds, such as PFAS, impact health.
 | Author: Vidhula Srinivasan, 2nd year undergraduate |
| Author: Stina Hench, 4th year graduate student Author: Natalia Duque-Wilckens postdoctoral researcher, | |
| Faculty mentor: Adam Moeser, Department of Physiology faculty member Faculty mentor: A.J. Robison – Department of Physiology faculty member |
Abstract:
Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE), the most frequent type of encephalopathy in the ICU, is associated with long-term psychiatric disturbances and higher sepsis-induced mortality. The pathophysiology of SAE involves changes in neurotransmitter levels as well as increased neuroinflammation, but how peripheral inflammation triggers these responses in the central nervous system remains unknown. Mast cells, the effector cells of the innate immune system, are uniquely positioned to play a key role in linking peripheral to central inflammatory responses: they are distributed throughout the body, including the brain; they can rapidly respond to bacterial endotoxins; and they can release a plethora of mediators that can initiate and amplify inflammation as well as alter neuronal and glial function. Here we crossed the Mcpt5-Cre mouse line with the Cre-dependent B6-iDTR (Jax®) mice to render mast cells susceptible to diphtheria toxin (DTX) ablation to determine both the acute and developmental roles of mast cells in hypothermia and neuroinflammation induced by peripheral administration of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We injected the F1 litters with 30 ng/g DTX every 7 days starting at different developmental stages until adulthood, when animals were challenged with an intraperitoneal injection of 1 mg/kg of LPS. We found that animals in which mast cells were ablated starting before postnatal day 14, but not later, showed a more severe hypothermic response as well as increased levels of the inflammatory cytokine TNFα in the periaqueductal gray, suggesting an early developmental role for mast cells in neuroimmune networks underlying sepsis-induced hypothermia and neuroinflammation.
 | Author: Srushti Pandya, undergrad student |
 | Author: Katie Powell, Research assistant |
 | Faculty mentor: Lorenzo Sempere, Radiology Department faculty member |
 | Author: Katarzyna Kempinska, Postdoctoral Fellow |
Abstract:
microRNAs are non-coding RNA molecules that are often responsible for regulating gene expression. Here, we studied the global loss of microRNA-21 (miR-21) and microRNA-10b (miR-10b) in K-Ras-driven genetically engineered mouse models of PDAC (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma). We generated mouse strains carrying wild type or knockout alleles of Mir-21 and Mir-10b in a well-characterized K-Ras-driven, p53-deleted PDAC model (LSL-KrasG12D; p53lox/+; Pdx1-Cre, KPC). This presentation covers various research methods that were frequently used in order to study the effects of these two microRNAs, as well as the results and implications of the results. Additionally, numerous PCRs were run throughout the last few months which allowed for genotyping to confirm all genetic components were present. Mice were then selected for tracking based off of the genotyping results. Analysis of survival curves and tissue histology of mice with and without the microRNAs of interest were then studied. The results showed increased tumor burden at an earlier age in the microRNA knockout (KO) mice. Studying the results of these research methods has allowed for a more thorough understanding and comparison on the effects of miR-10b and miR-21 in pancreatic cancer.
Please view presentation by clicking this link: Understanding Micro RNA functions in PDAC mouse models – MSU MediaSpace
 | Author: Navya Kalia, 3rd year Undergrad |
| Faculty Mentor: Jessica Lee Department of Psychology Faculty member Faculty Mentor: Alexa H. Veenema Department of Psychology Faculty member |
Abstract:
Social play behavior is displayed by juveniles of various mammalian species and is critical for social competence throughout life. Autistic children engage in much less social play behavior, which may contribute to their life-long deficits in social competence. Thus, it is important to understand the neural mechanisms regulating social play behavior. The posterodorsal region of the medial amygdala (MePD) and the ventral pallidum (VP) are two brain regions that are part of a brain network involved in regulating social behavior. Furthermore, the MePD and the VP have each been shown to regulate social play behavior in juvenile rats. However, it is unknown whether and how the MePD to VP pathway regulates social play behavior in juvenile rats. Therefore, we aim to examine the involvement of the MePD to VP pathway in regulating social play behavior in juvenile male and female rats. First, by combining in situ hybridization with retrograde tract-tracing, we will determine whether MePD projections to the VP are inhibitory in nature by using gad1 as a marker for the GABAergic cells. Next, we will determine whether exposure to social play alters activation of VP-projecting cells in the MePD, using similar methods as the previous experiment, by using fos as an indirect measure of neural activity. Ultimately, outcomes of these experiments will provide insights into a neural pathway-specific modulation of social play behavior in juvenile male and female rats.
 | Eliot Haddad, Undergraduate 4th year, Human Biology Major |
| Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sarah Comstock, Food Science and Human Nutrition Department Faculty Mentor: Dr. Perry Ng, Food Science and Human Nutrition Department |
Abstract:
Diet is one of the principal determining factors of the human gut microbiome. However, there has been little agreement on the specific effects of whole grain wheat, a high fiber food, on the human gut microbiota. Herein, we aim to identify whether consumption of different varieties of whole wheat is associated with gut microbial diversity and markers of intestinal inflammation. To elucidate this, a sample of 28 adults consumed 100g of two different varieties of Michigan grown whole grain crackers: white whole grain and red whole grain. The study took place over a four-week period, each week representing a different time point (A, B, C, and D). In weeks B and D, participants consumed white and red wheat, respectively. In weeks A and C, participants consumed a generic wheat for a washout period. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to characterize the gut microbiome and lipocalin/calprotectin proteins were extracted from fecal samples collected at each timepoint. Gut microbial diversity was not significantly different across timepoints. However, Bifidobacterium levels were significantly lower in the intervention and washout weeks compared to the initial run-in period. There were no significant differences between levels of lipocalin and calprotectin across the four weeks. Overall, the results of this study show that consumption of whole grain wheat at the provided dose has little impact on gut microbial diversity and markers of gut inflammation. This implies that the health benefits of whole wheat consumption may be independent of gut microbial diversity.
Continue reading “Consumption of Whole Grain Wheat has Minimal Impact on Human Gut Microbial Diversity”