Undergraduate Research Day Projects
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Organized by the University of Houston Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards, Undergraduate Research Day is an annual event showcasing exceptional scholarship undertaken by the UH undergraduate community.
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Browsing Undergraduate Research Day Projects by Subject "Biochemical and biophysical sciences"
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Item Fractionation of Mushroom Stems to Various Bioactive Molecules and Processing Chitin to Hydrogel for Wound Healing Application(2023-04-13) Ayser, MuhammadOyster Mushrooms have several medicinally active ingredients, such as polysaccharides and vitamins, and their extractives are widely used as nutritional supplements. After the oyster mushrooms are produced, most of the stems are discarded since they are tough to cook and usually end up in landfills. This research is about fractionating mushrooms stems to various bioactive molecules using a combination of re-usable organic solvents and enzymes. A mass balance was completed to quantify various components such as beta-glucans, lipids, vitamins, polyphenols, proteins, and chitin. The mass of each component was identified by measuring the dry weight of mushroom powder left after the extraction. The extracted components were further subjected to spectroscopy [FT-Infrared (FT-IR), powder X-ray diffraction, GC-MS, UV-Visible HPLC] analysis to confirm their structure and composition. The mushroom chitin could be de-acetylated to chitosan and converted to methacrylate chitosan by chemical processing. This chitosan derivative could be crosslinked with the help of the photo initiator Irgacure 2959 and UV light to produce a hydrogel and 3D printed to bio patches used for wound dressing applications. To demonstrate the proof of concept, we took the shrimp shell chitosan and produced methacrylate chitosan and cross-linked to produce hydrogels. We confirmed the reaction by performing FT-IR analysis at different stages. Overall, this research work provides a foundation for converting wasted mushroom stems to chitin which could be further processed to produce chitosan hydrogel bio patches used for wound dressing.Item Pharmacokinetic Modeling of Vincristine and Its Metabolite in Kenyan Pediatric Cancer Patients(2023-04-13) Cornett, Taylor; Dai, LuThe CYP3A5 enzyme more efficiently metabolizes VCR to its M1 metabolite than the CYP3A4 enzyme as reported by Renbarger. CYP3A5 expression varies among Kenyans (90%), African Americans (AA, 70%), and Caucasians (10-20%). In order to dose the patients rationally among the different ethnicities, the pre-requisite is to comprehensively understand the pharmacokinetic (PK) disposition of VCR and M1, as well as the conversion kinetics from VCR to M1. Seventy-seven Kenyan pediatric cancer patients with 9 types of cancers, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Wilm's Tumor, Retinoblastoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma, Hepatoma, Teratoma, and Neuroblastoma were recruited. Dried blood spot (DBS) samples of the Kenyan pediatric patients after an IV dose of VCR (0.9-2.2 mg/m2) were collected via finger stick at various time points depending on the feasibility. The PK co-models of VCR and M1 metabolite were developed, and PK parameters were derived for individual subjects. Using Phoenix NLME 8.0, model discrimination was performed by minimizing the Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) values and visual comparisons of the quality of fitness of the plots. The PK parameters were derived from the best fit Pk model. Large interpatient variability was observed. In conclusion, the feasibility study demonstrated that the current clinical protocol is suitable for the Phase 1 trial. In addition, the establishment of the PK co-models with Vincristine and M1 metabolite enables the derivation of conversion rate constant from VCR to M1 and elimination kinetics of VCR and M1 for individual subjects among the various types of tested cancers. ***This project was completed with contributions from Lorita Agu from Syntarat, Lei Wu from AbbVie Pharmaceuticals, and Jodi L. Skiles, Andrea R. Master, and Jamie L. Renbarger from the Indiana University School of Medicine.