Charles E Schmidt College of Science

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Model
Digital Document
Publisher
Florida Atlantic University
Description
Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) are short sequences of amino acids that excel in
crossing the cellular membrane without inducing cytotoxicity Interest in these peptides
stem from their ability to be attached, and grant their penetrating properties to, a variety
of cargo In this work we have combined the application of Confocal Raman Microscopy
(CRM) and Atomic Force Microscopy for the first time to examine the interactions of
unlabeled Transportan (TP), one of the most well studied CPPs, with mammalian cells
CRM’s capability to discriminate control and treated cell groups was verified by principal
component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and was 93-100%
accurate We’ve determined that at a concentration of 20 μM TP enters cells through a
non-endocytotic mechanism, has a high affinity for the cytoplasm and membranes, and
results in a significant increase in cellular stiffness Our work provides the first direct
evidence of this cell-stiffening phenomenon SFTI-1, the smallest member of a bicyclic, cysteine rich class of CPPs, was
examined by CRM to determine the potential role of cyclic structure on cellular uptake
The peptide, along with monocyclic and linear analogs was heavy isotope labeled and
incubated with mammalian cells at numerous concentrations and timespans Our work is
the first SFTI-1 uptake study forgoing the use of fluorophore conjugates, which have
been linked to artificial cellular uptake We demonstrate herein the absence of any CRM
detectable uptake, providing the first evidence that SFTI-1 may not be a CPP
Finally, CRM was applied to the discrimination of normal and basal cell
carcinoma cells obtained from the same donor The use of patient matched cells avoids
the normal biochemical variations that exist among individuals, ensuring that
discrimination is based solely on the cell’s diseased state CRM spectra, analyzed by
PCA and LDA, were capable of spectral discrimination with 100% accuracy Major
differences in the cancerous cells were an increase in lipids and nucleic acids, and an
overall decrease in protein We also demonstrate an enhancement in Raman signal
through the use of an aluminum foil substrate, providing a practical approach for
measuring cells with thin morphologies
Model
Digital Document
Publisher
Florida Atlantic University
Description
Solid tumors can hijack many of the same programs used in neurogenesis
to enhance tumor growth and metastasis, thereby generating a plethora of
neurogenesis-related molecules including semaphorins Among them, we have
identified Semaphorin7A (SEMA7A) in breast cancer We first used to the DA-3
mammary tumor model to determine the effect of tumor-derived SEMA7A on
immune cells We found that tumor-derived SEMA7A can modulate the
production of proangiogenic chemokines CXCL2/MIP-2 and CXCL 1, and prometastatic
MMP-9 in macrophages We next aimed to determine the expression
and function of SEMA7A in mammary tumor cells We found that SEMA7A is
highly expressed in both metastatic human and murine breast cancer cells We
show that both TGF-β and hypoxia elicits the production of SEMA 7 A in mammary
cells SEMA7 A shRNA silencing in 4T1 cells resulted in decreased mesenchymal
markers MMP-3, MMP-13, Vimentin and TGF-β) SEMA7A silenced cells show increased stiffness with reduced migratory and proliferative potential In vivo,
SEMA7A silenced 4T1 tumor bearing mice showed decreased tumor growth and
metastasis Genetic ablation of host-derived SEMA7A synergized to further
decrease the growth and metastasis of 4T1 cells Our findings suggest novel
functional roles for SEMA7A in breast cancer and that SEMA7A could be a novel
therapeutic target to limit tumor growth and metastasis
Model
Digital Document
Publisher
Florida Atlantic University
Description
I present the development and initial validation a new measure designed to assess
specific personal prayer content I used feedback from men and women, along with a
review of the relevant literature, to identify specific prayer content for inclusion in the
Personal Prayer Content Scale (PPCS) (Study 1) I administered the PPCS to a sample of
participants from southeast Florida and southeast Michigan allowing for a cross-national
investigation of the specific content of the thoughts that individuals privately direct
towards a god, gods, or god-like entity (Study 2) I compared men’s and women’s
responses (Study 3) and responses between Christians and non-Christians (Study 4) on
the PPCS The results provide evidence for the reliability and discriminant validity of the
PPCS by demonstrating that personal prayer content predicts aspects of religiosity and is
equally valid for men and women and Christians and non-Christians A validated PPCS
may be of theoretical, empirical, and practical value