Asghar, Waseem

The majority of HIV prevalence is found in Sub-Saharan Africa with 36.9 mil-
lion living with HIV/AIDS. The cultural implications such as patient non-compliance
or denial of available routine medical care can potentially cause limitations on the ef-
fectiveness of detecting such virulent pathogens and manage chronic disease. The lack
of access to healthcare and further socioeconomic impacts hinder the ability to ade-
quately diagnose and treat infection in resource-limited settings. Intervention through
diagnosis and treatment helps prevent the spread of transmission, where pre-exposure
prophylaxis or active disease prevention measures are not readily available. The cur-
rent gold standard for HIV detection is by molecular detection; Reverse-Transcription
Polymerase Chain Reaction is widely used that employs cycles of temperature condi-
tions that require a thermal cycling platform and typically laboratory space for RNA
extraction separate from RT-PCR space required. Serological detection can be ad-
vantageous for surveillance and screening, Lateral Flow Assays and Enzyme-Linked
Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) can detect a viral protein (antigen) or antibodies.
The ELISA can require at least 12 hours of assay preparation and takes a diagnostic
laboratory many resources to run. There is need to develop Point-of-Care (POC) testing that can potentially be used for decentralized testing that can leverage ex-
isting technologies such as smart phone capability and routine medical or diagnostic
tests with cutting edge applications leveraging micro
uidics, nanotechnology and in-
tegrated circuit design. Such technologies allow for automated, rapid turnaround
and cost-e ective diagnosis of HIV, where these assays could potentially be read-
ily deployed. It is such technology that can potentially change the way diagnostics
are performed, as POC technology can be rapidly disseminated, enable decentralized
testing and, is user-friendly. A novel smart phone-enabled automated magnetic bead-
based platform was developed for a micro
uidic ELISA for HIV-1 detection at the
POC to meet this demand.

Current sperm processing methods used in assisted reproductive technologies can
cause damage to the sperm cell. New ways that mimic the natural guidance mechanisms
present in the female genital tract may offer ways to sort sperm with better fertility
parameters. Sperm that respond to these cues may have better over sperm health. Human
sperm exhibit positive rheotaxis by orienting and swimming against the fluid released by
the female genital tract. At certain flow rates sperm can actively orient and swim against
the flow. Sperm retrieved that exhibit positive rheotaxis have higher motility and better
morphology than the original semen sample.

SRSF1 is a widely expressed mammalian protein with multiple functions in the regulation of gene expression through processes including transcription, mRNA splicing, and translation. Although much is known of SRSF1 role in alternative splicing of specific genes little is known about its functions as a transcription factor and its global effect on cellular gene expression. We utilized a RNA sequencing (RNA-¬‐Seq) approach to determine the impact of SRSF1 in on cellular gene expression and analyzed both the short term (12 hours) and long term (48 hours) effects of SRSF1 expression in a human cell line. Furthermore, we analyzed and compared the effect of the expression of a naturally occurring deletion mutant of SRSF1 (RRM12) to the full-¬‐length protein. Our analysis reveals that shortly after SRSF1
is over-¬‐expressed the transcription of several histone coding genes is down-¬‐regulated, allowing for a more relaxed chromatin state and efficient transcription by RNA Polymerase II. This effect is reversed at 48 hours. At the same time key genes for the immune pathways are activated, more notably Tumor Necrosis Factor-¬‐Alpha (TNF-¬‐α), suggesting a role for SRSF1 in T cell functions.