6945 research outputs found
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Fall/Winter 2023: SNC prof meets unfilled need for mental health testing in northeast Wisconsin
Get PDFMichelle Schoenleber (Psychology) is a professor, researcher and clinical therapist. She is one a few clinical psychologists in the area testing patients for psychological and neuropsychological disorders.https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/snc_magazine_archives_2019-2023/1022/thumbnail.jp
October 2023
Get PDFIn this issue: St. Norbert College at 125: Nurturing Legacy and Sustaining Purpose Norbertine Women Who Defied Tradition and Inspire Faith King Revives Language, Renews Culture Through First Nations Education ESPN’s Sarah Spain Helps Student-Athletes Prepare for Life After Sports Video: Sights and Sounds of SNC Da
Flavobacterium columnar cyclase knockout displays promising results for vaccine development against Columnaris disease
No full textFlavobacterium columnare is a rod-shaped gram negative bacterium that is strictly aerobic. It is the causative agent of columnaris disease (CD) in many cultured fish, including salmonids, in both warm and cold-water systems. Presentation of CD consists of “straw-like” colony growths on mucosal surfaces of fish (gills and scales) which negatively impacts both fish health and the aquaculture industry. The Type IX Secretion System (T9SS) is necessary for F. columnare virulence. Among the genes that are important for T9SS function is gldN, which is required for both secretion and motility in F. columnare. Deletion of the gldN gene has been shown to reduce virulence. The goal of this study is to examine the toxicity of secreted proteins from the T9SS. Zebrafish infection trials and spent media toxicity assays were performed to examine the effect of spent media (secreted proteins from F. columnare) from the wild type (MSFC-4) and strains with knockouts in the the genes gldN and cylB. CylB is believed to be secreted from through the T9SS. Results suggest the strains lacking specific proteins responsible for chemical reactions that create cyclic compounds appear to cause reduced virulence. Continued experimentation with F. columnare strains and virulence testing in our zebrafish model should shed more light on the mechanisms by which F. columnare causes disease in fish and may lead to the identification of more effective vaccine candidates.https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/collaborative_presentations/1096/thumbnail.jp
T6SS effector and immunity pairs: Contributions to Burkholderia cepacia virulence
No full textBurkholderia cepacia is a gram-negative bacterium responsible for causing soft rot disease in onions and is an infectious agent in immunocompromised people (particularly those with cystic fibrosis). This bacterium is naturally antibiotic-resistant, so it is important to understand the virulence factors that contribute to the pathogenicity of this organism. Previous work used transposon mutagenesis, a plant model of infection, and bioinformatics to identify a vgrG gene as a virulence factor in B. cepacia ATCC 25416. This gene encodes the vgrG tip protein of the Type Six Secretion System (T6SS), a complex structure found in many species of bacteria. This syringe-like system allows a bacterium to inject toxic proteins into neighboring cells during interbacterial competition or during infection of eukaryotic hosts. In other organisms, a toxic effector protein is attached to the vgrG tip protein and is delivered into a neighboring cell, killing it. The effector protein works as a pair with an immunity protein, which is responsible for preventing the autotoxicity of the bacterium by the effector. We are currently working to characterize effector and immunity genes within the genome that may interact with our vgrG of interest. Currently, we have isolated all individual effector and immunity genes for expression studies in Escherichia coli, a bacterium lacking these pairs. Future experiments will elucidate the activities of the proteins encoded by these effector and immunity genes. The characterization of these pairs is crucial in understanding how the T6SS contributes to the virulence of B. cepacia.https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/collaborative_presentations/1099/thumbnail.jp
Characterization of Stem Cell Regeneration in Schmidtea Mediterranea
No full textAnimals rely on stem cells to repair tissue damage following disease or injury. In order to study stem cells, Schmidtea mediterranea (planaria) is used as a model organism because of their unique ability to completely regenerate lost tissues through the use of stem cells. Previous studies have focused on how stem cells proliferate in response to injuries with large tissue losses where many cell types need to be regenerated at once. However, in the case of many human injuries or diseases, only one specific cell type is lost. This project aims to characterize how stem cells respond following destruction of specific cell types, particularly if the injury response mechanism is a general proliferative response or a specialized mechanism depending on the cell type lost. Work up to this point has allowed for destruction of pigment cells via light-induced pigment cell loss. Doing so has allowed measurement of proliferation of stem cells following injury through mitotic index calculations and measurement of pigment cells present following injury through in situ hybridization and qPCR. Current works aim to measure the rate at which stem cells and pigment cells regenerate following injury through BrdU Pulse-Chase experiments. Continued research will give insight about the molecular mechanisms behind regeneration following injury or disease involving specific cell types.https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/collaborative_presentations/1104/thumbnail.jp
2022-2023 Programs
Get PDFAn archived collection of the various events held by the Center for Norbertine Studies during the 2022-2023 school year
The New Era in China-U.S. Relations: Economics and Military Security
No full text“The New Era in China-U.S. Relations: Economics and Military Security,” a Great Decisions lecture by Shale Horowitz, professor of political science at UW-Milwaukee
