MBS Capstone Titles

Subject Area	Capstone Title
Alternative Medicine	Analysis of the potential usage of medicinal plants in Rural America - The Clearwater County Example.
Biochemistry	What Role do Apoptotic Proteins, such as the Bcl-2 Family of Proteins and Caspases, Play in Neurodgenerative Disorders? The Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Effect Hypothesis in the Pathogenesis of Parkinsons Disease. In vivo Tissue Energetics During Experimental Porcine Septic Shock. Intracellular Localization of a Conformationally Altered Form of Cytochrome c in Apoptotic Cells. Review and Comparison of Computational Methods for Identifying Translation Start Sites in EST Data. Pretreatment of skeletal muscle with dichloroacetate to prevent reperfusion injury following acute hypoxia. Michaelis Menton Kinetics for Determining Enzymatic Activity of N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase Enzyme in Blood Plasma of Wild-Type Individual. Functional analysis of sugarcane sucrose transporter ShSUT1 by expression in oocytes and two-electrode voltage clamping. Pentameric Phospholamban Structure and Controversy
Bioinformatics	Comparison of Amino Acid sequences of TCA Cycle Enzymes Across Species. The Mechanisms of Programmed Cell Death, An Apoptotic Role for Ceramide, and the Characterization of a New Ceramide-Generating Enzyme. Review and Comparison of Computational Methods for Identifying Translational Start Sites in EST Data. Resulting Publication: Afshin Nadershahi, Scott C Fahrenkrug, Lynda BM Ellis BMC Bioinformatics 2004, 5:14 (16Feb2004) http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/5/14/abstract A Course Description for Biol 4950, Algorithms for Biological Computation. Resulting Course: Biol 4950, Algorithms for Biological Computation, Taught Fall 2003, U of MN by Mark Furtney Computational Analysis of Azetidine-2-Carboxylate Hydrolase Parallelization of the Gagneur/Klamt Algorithm for Calculating Elementary Nodes of Metabolic Graphs. Stochastic Simulation of the p53-MDM2/MDMX Loop.
Biomedical	Prosthetic Heart Valve Endocarditis. Obtaining Market Approval for a De-Novo Medical Device. In vitro and in vivo Examination of the Effects of Chemical Sterilants on Polyurethance Catheters. Implantable and Indwelling Medical Device Biomaterial Surface Treatment for Prevention of Microbial Adhesion, Subsequent Colonization and Biofilm Formation. Biofilms and Medical Devices: "A Race to the Surface." Ularitide: New hope in the treatment of acute decompensated heart failure? Heart Failure: Treatment Options, Disease Management & Economic Factors.
Cell Biology	Evaluating the Time Course of Dye Uptake for Mechanically Stimulated HeLa Cells Expressing Cx43 Hemichannels Cancer and the Tumor Suppressor p27 [kip1] Septin Localization at the Hyphal Tip of Candida albicans. Determine the sequences required for interaction between Protein Phosphatase 1 (PPP1cA) and HS7 and the functional consequences of this interaction. NOM1: Subcellular Localization and Interacting Proteins. Finding Clues to its Cellular Function Regulation of Dye Permeability in Mechanically-Sensitive Culture Cells. The Effect of Leucine-Rich Alpha-2-Glycoprotein-1 on Cell Survival During Stress.
Ecology	Population Trends in Three Taxa of Mole Salamanders (Genus Amybstoma) in a Protected Northeast Ohio Breeding Pond 1994-2002.
Entomology	Tapping Into Traditions: Percpeptions of Risk Toward the Asian Longhorned Beetle (A. glabripennis) Among Minnesota Anishinaabe.
Food Science	StarLink: A Case Study of an Unprepared Grain Industry; Current Conformance to Zero Tolerance Standard for Allergenicity Issues
Genetics/ Genomics	A Review of Microarrays for Gene Expression and Genomic Analysis. The Human Genome Project’s Ability to Refocus Scientific Endeavors and Reshape Existing Legal Principles. Gene Targeting: Historical Development, Technical Advances and the State of Gene Targeting at the University of Minnesota. A Transgenic Model of Comorbid Tourette’s Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Circuitry. Chemokine Receptor Expression Differences: A Gross Phenotypic Analysis of Three Mouse Strains. A Review of Non-Viral Gene Therapy for the Liver. Cancer Cells and Virus-Directed Gene Therapy
Immunology	Autoimmune Diseases: A Search for Etiology. An In Vivo Tracking System to Detect and Characterize the Immune Responses to a Central Nervous system Tumor and Evaluation of a Tumor Antigen Encoding Plasmid DNA Vaccine. An Overview of the Immunosuppressive Factors Exhibited by Various Leukemias and Their Effects on Cytotoxic T Lymphycytes. Multipotent Adult Progenitor Cells as Therapeutic Tools for Hemophilia. HIV-1 Fitness in Response to a Fusion Inhibitor Drug. A Breach In Tolerance: The Roles of B Cells in the Immunopathogenesis of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Microbiology	Analysis of the Biological Activity of the Zinc Dependent MHC-II Beta-Chain binding site of Streptococcal pyrogenic Exotoxin C. Resulting Publication: T.J. Tripp, J.K. McCormick, J.M. Webb and P.M. Schleivert. "The Zinc-Dependent Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Binding Site of Streptococcal Pyrogenic Exotoxin C Is Critical for Maximal Superantigen Function and Toxic Activity." Infection and Immunity 71(3):1548-1550. http://iai.asm.org/cgi/content/full/71/3/1548
Neuroscience	Functionality of IB4 on Rat Dissociated Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Overview of Cognitive Impairment.
Pharmacology	Comparison of the protective effects of glucose metabolism and opioid preconditioning against hypoxic damage in swine skeletal muscle.
Plant Biology	Incorporating Phytoremediations into the Plant Biology Curriculum. HYPERSENSITIVE TO RED AND BLUE 1 and its C-terminal regulatory function define a signaling step in photoperiodic control of FLOWER LOCUS T expression. Lake Phalen Plant Guide
Toxicology	Does nucleotide excision repair recognize and remove O6-pyridyloxobutyl guanine?