Office of Undergraduate Research

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/20157

Emphasizing equitable and inclusive access to research opportunities, the University of Maryland's Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) empowers undergraduates and faculty to engage and succeed in inquiry, creative activity, and scholarship. This collection includes materials shared by undergraduate researchers during OUR events. It also encompasses materials from Undergraduate Research Day 2020, Undergraduate Research Day 2021, and Undergraduate Research Day 2022, which were organized by the Maryland Center for Undergraduate Research.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 338
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    Nutrient Uptake Shifts During T4 Phage Replication in Escherichia coli
    (2025) Goodwin, Gabriel; Altberger, Hannah; Varghese, Riya; O'Hara, Jessica
    The rising threat of antibiotic resistance has prompted renewed interest in alternative therapies, such as phage therapy. Phage therapy offers a targeted approach by lysing specific bacterial hosts, potentially circumventing antibiotic resistance. Our study investigates the host-pathogen interaction between Escherichia coli and T4 bacteriophage, a virus that targets only E. coli, with a focus on metabolic changes during infection. E. coli relies on various carbon sources to fuel its metabolic pathways, and viral infection can reprogram host metabolism to prioritize viral replication, often depleting cellular energy and nucleotide pools. Previous studies on other viruses have shown variable dependence on nutrients such as glucose and glutamine for replication. To determine nutrient utilization by T4 phage, uptake assays adapted for bacterial cells were conducted to examine glucose and glutamine consumption in uninfected versus phage-infected E. coli cells. Infected cells showed a marked increase in uptake of both glucose and glutamine, suggesting that both are critical for efficient viral replication. Ongoing research using glutaminase and glutamine synthetase knockout strains will help clarify the specific roles of these pathways in supporting phage propagation.
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    Generating Functions for Horses
    (2025-04-23) Schreyer, Benjamin; Gasarch, William
    Before the photo-finish, ties were common in races. With ties we call these arrangements weak orderings. If we have n horses in a race we define that there are H(n) ways for the horses to be ranked. Further we want to more easily count outcomes of horse races where some horses have ”rigged”the race.
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    DNA Aptamer Against Alzheimer’s β-Amyloid 42 Protein
    (2025) Abasi, Keon; Alcoleas, Mariana; Kothale, Siya; Munyaneza, Joey; Spirito, Catherine
    Alzheimer's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder. Currently, there are 6.9 million cases in individuals aged 65+ in the US, with an expected rise to 13.8 million by 2060. Current diagnostic methods, such as spinal taps and brain scans, are invasive and not widely accessible, exacerbating public health inequities. Recently, antibody-based blood tests have been developed to detect Alzheimer's, but aptamer-based diagnostics can be a cheaper and more accessible alternative to these antibody-based diagnostics. This study aims to develop a DNA aptamer capable of binding to the β-amyloid 42 protein, a biomarker associated with Alzheimer's, for a wide range of potential diagnostic applications. We conducted positive and negative selections using a Ni-NTA bead-based in vitro selection method against a His-GST tagged β-amyloid 42 protein. During selection, we utilized asymmetric PCR and gel extraction to amplify the single-stranded DNA. Results indicated enrichment of target-binding sequences in early selection rounds, though we encountered issues with low yields from gel extraction. Future work includes optimizing gel extraction protocols, gel shift assays to measure binding affinity, and increasing selection stringency to enhance aptamer specificity and binding affinity. This research aims to further contribute to developing non-invasive, cost-effective diagnostic tools for early Alzheimer's detection, aligning with the broader goals of improving access to diagnostic resources for all.
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    Accessible, In-Lab Cell-Free Expression System for Biosensor Development
    (2025-04) Meyer, Jonathon; Amankwah, Amma; Bansal, Navya; Kotoulek, Klara; Marin, Andrea; Sembria, Maricka; Spirito, Catherine
    Early detection of medical and environmental conditions is difficult, as external markers may develop long after cellular and molecular markers do. There is a need for point-of-care devices that can quickly and easily detect these markers in various samples. RNA-based fluorescent biosensors offer an easily customizable solution for detection and reporting. A major limiting factor in the deployment of biosensors is their reliance on living cells; cell-free protein expression (CFPE) systems can overcome this barrier. However, commercial CFPE kits are expensive, which hinders their overall use and deployability, especially in low-income settings. To address this pressing challenge, we developed our own Rosetta 2(DE3)pLysS E. coli cell-free protein expression system that can be produced at a lower cost. To evaluate its performance, we compared it to a commercially available kit with standardized fluorescent reporters. While our design underperformed commercially available lysate, it performed comparably to a lysate developed by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM). We aim to optimize our lysate and protocols to further increase performance and develop point-of-care devices for disease biomarkers of interest.
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    Associations between social responsiveness and brain structure in children
    (2025) Karan, Anna; Blaustein, Madison; Collins, Mia; Perry, Aleyah; Dr. Tracy Riggins PhD
    Early childhood is critical for assessing socioemotional development, especially to identify risk of a disorder developing. Research exists showing relations between brain development and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Damage to the amygdala can result in impaired response and perception of social cues (1). Additional findings show larger amygdala and hippocampal volumes (2) and cortical thinning (3) in individuals with ASD. Behavioral studies have shown that social responsiveness as a key indicator of risk (4). However, children with differences in social behavior without ASD are understudied. This project will investigate relations between neurological variations and differences in social responsiveness in 4- to 8-year-old typically developing children. We will explore relations between amygdala volume, hippocampal volume, and cortical thickness of frontal, parietal and occipital lobes and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) scores (3). Our study includes approximately 200 children (ages 4-8 years), with neuroimaging and questionnaire data. We measured social responsiveness using the SRS, a parent-report questionnaire (4). We measured amygdala and hippocampal volumes and cortical thickness from structural brain scans using Freesurfer. Correlations between measures will be conducted using R. We hypothesize that lower levels of social responsiveness will be associated with larger amygdala and right hippocampal volumes and decreased cortical thickness. Conducting this research will expand brain research in relation to socioemotional development in all children. (1) Skuse et al., 2003 (2) Barnea-Goraly et al., 2014 (3) Richter et al., 2015 (4) Aldridge et al., 2011
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    Investigating The Role of E.Coli Fumarase In Bacteriophage Replication
    (2025) Weaver, Trinity; Festekjian, Shaunt; O'Hara, Jessica
    Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically infect and hijack Escherichia coli's metabolic processes to proliferate, ultimately destroying the host cell in the process. The Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle (TCA Cycle) is a multi-step aerobic enzyme-catalyzed pathway that occurs in the cytoplasm of E. coli and is responsible for generating the electron-carrier molecules NADH and FADH2 which are crucial for generating ATP for the cell in future steps of cellular respiration. The E. coli genes, sdhA, fumA, fumB, fumC and mdh, encode enzymes that catalyze different reactions that are necessary for the TCA cycle. We hypothesize that the removal of these genes would negatively impact the growth rate and ATP levels of E. coli and, as a result, inhibit or slow the replication of bacteriophage. To determine the effects of the removal of these genes, enzyme assays, comparative growth curves of the knockout strains, and plaque assays of bacteriophage replication were measured and investigated. Furthermore, we quantified the knockout’s effects by collecting lysis curves as well as performing an ATP assay using bioluminescence.
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    Advanced Characterization of Engineered Living Materials
    (2025) Anderson, Shiv; Molinari, Sara
    Engineered Living Materials (ELMs) are biological structures composed of cells embedded in a self-produced protein matrix [Molinari et al. 2021]. Our lab pioneered de novo ELMs made of elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) displayed on the cell surface [Molinari et al. 2022]. Previous studies show that a fraction of ELPs detach from the outer membrane to be secreted into the media, contributing to the formation of macroscopic ELP-cell aggregates [Molinari et al. 2022]. Since the secretion of ELPs was not intentional, it is impossible to calculate the exact ELP-cell ratio within ELMs. However, this ratio is critical for the control of final ELM mechanical properties. To characterize the ELP-cell ratio within ELMs, I inserted a Tobacco Etch Virus protease (TEVp) cut site between the ELP and the surface anchor. This allows the ELP to be cleaved from the cell surface by adding TEVp to the media. In this way, I will quantify the protein content via immunoblotting and the cell number by measuring colony-forming units and the production of fluorescent proteins.
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    What brain regions are responsible for conspecific mate recognition?
    (2025) Merlo-Coyne, Maureen; Parker, Coltan; Juntti, Scott
    Astatotilapia burtoni is a species of cichlid fish from East Africa. Cichlids are remarkable for having evolved into thousands of species all in the same area and yet continuously mate with their own species. Fertile females release prostaglandin F2𝛼 (PGF2𝛼) related pheromones that males need to detect in order to successfully mate (Li et al., 2024). Pheromones are important for cichlid behavior, but it is not known what brain regions in the male brain respond to female pheromones. I hypothesize that male brains will have different levels of preoptic area activation dependent on odor species. The activity marker from this experiment is strongly expressed in the POA. The males exposed to PGF2a A. Burtoni females appear to have more activation than that of the vehicle, and other species. The next step in this project is to quantify the cell number and fluorescence intensity of the POA and other regions of interest. This experiment lays the groundwork to recreate a larger trial with a bigger sample size that can determine if A. burtoni are able to detect species through pheromone signaling. This would be of large significance given the unknown mechanism through which cichlids in lake Tanganyika do conspecific mating while surrounded by thousands of fish of very similar species.
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    Portable Sensor for One-Pot Ligation LAMP Assay to Detect miRNA Biomarkers
    (2025) Adane, Yedidya; Berdia, Jason; Bhargava, Aayush; Fernandes, Catarina; Pallavajjala, Roshni; Vitievsky, Mark; Spirito, Catherine; Hilton, Shannon
    microRNAs (miRNAs) are short sequences of non-coding RNA that play a vital role in the regulation of gene expression in cells and tumorigenesis. Previous research has identified specific miRNAs can be used as biomarkers, as patients with cancer exhibited elevated concentrations of miRNA in blood samples. Patients can have poor prognosis rates without early detection; however, current detection methods are invasive, time-consuming, and expensive. In this study, we have developed a point-of-care screening tool to detect miRNA using ligation-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (ligation-LAMP) and a 3D-printed sensor. Specifically, we designed a colorimetric ligation LAMP assay that has high sensitivity and specificity to miRNA-155, a cancer biomarker, and created a One-Pot system using Thermally Responsive Alkane Partitions (TRAPs). Furthermore, we have developed a portable sensor for the assay, with controlled heating and real-time quantification, to make the assay more accessible at the point of care. Combining the One-Pot assay with the portable sensor allows for rapid and inexpensive detection of miRNA biomarkers.