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  Evaluating Literature on the Incidence of Leiomyoma (Uterine Fibroids) in Black Women

  Tyler Alexander; Kaya Hamilton; Jazmine Rodgers; and Tyra Gross PhD, MPH

  The goal of this study is to review both the literature and online information n uterine fibroids in Black women.

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  Role of Cytochrome C in Apoptosis During Breast Cancer Treatment

  Teresa Beamon, Royce Hooks, Degrick Cheatham, Navneet Goyal, Tulasi Ponnapakkam, and Maryam Foroozesh

  Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women. Various current cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, and radiation therapy. Because of prolonged exposure, resistance to chemotherapy often arises. Chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation therapy have been shown to increase intracellular ceramide levels. Ceramide, a bioactive sphingolipid, is a powerful tumor suppressor molecule that is thought to induce apoptosis and inhibit proliferation.

  As part of our ongoing efforts toward the synthesis of a potent anti-cancer drug, ceramide analog 315, (S,E)-3-hydroxy-2-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino-Ntetradecyl propanamide has been synthesized. Ceramide analog 315 has been shown to induce apoptosis in vitro, and decrease tumor volume and size in in vivo studies. In the present study, an attempt is made to corelate the cytochrome C levels with cell death during the treatment of chemo-resistant breast cancer cells with analog 315.

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  Evaluating Specificity of KDAC8 with Putative Substrates

  Jada A. Bezue, Tasha B. Toro, and Terry J. Watt

  Lysine deacetylases (KDACs) are enzymes that remove an acetyl group from a lysine, thereby regulating the post translational modification of lysine. KDACs are important in many different biological processes and are associated with various mechanisms of diseases in the human body. Peptides of putative substrate proteins were screened for activity with KDAC8 using a combination of fluorescence based and mass spectroscopic methods. The rate of reaction varies based on the amino acids adjacent to the acetylated lysine. Our results also suggest that KDAC8 has high enzymatic activity with multiply acetylated substrates. Correlation of activity data with molecular dynamics simulations suggests that a specific residue, Y100, is important in substrate determination. Our results support the possibility that some, but not all, of the putative substrate proteins are actual substrates of KDAC8. In addition to identifying peptides that react with certain KDACs, we have identified some of the interactions between the peptides and KDAC8 that contribute to substrate selectivity. Future plans include determining which acetyl group is removed first from multiply acetylated substrates and characterizing the interaction of Y100 with substrates using mutations that mimic the corresponding residue present in other KDACs.

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  The Burning and Geodetic Numbers of a Graph: Two Measures of Network Communicability

  Charles Burnette

  Graph theory is an area of mathematics devoted to the study of graphs and their structural properties. Graphs are often used to model pairwise relations/interactions between objects. Graph theory has a wide range of applications in diverse fields such as biology, computer science, linguistics, sociology, etc. Here we consider two different metrics of information propagation in social networks.

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  Quantifying Double Minute Chromosome Touch Patterns in Hi C Sequencing Contact Maps

  Caryn Butler, Angela Nguyen, Ethan Tran, and Matthew Hayes

  Double minute chromosomes ( are small, circular fragments of highly amplified extrachromosomal DNA that harbor oncogenes (Figure 1 If DMs are reduced, this can decrease the malignancy of cancer and potentially prolong life and/or positively affect quality of life In order to reduce DMs they must first be detected The visualization of Hi C sequencing data makes it possible to infer DMs based on their chromatin touch patterns However, statistical analyses of Hi C touch patterns can potentially reduce false positives in algorithms that predict the location of DM amplicons in Hi C data The purpose of this research is to statistically quantify the confidence of predicted double minute amplicons using Hi C sequencing data

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  Development of isoindoline-1,3-dione derivatives as S6K1 inhibitors to function as potential breast cancer therapeutics

  Jumia Callaway, Breyanah Graham, Lihn Tran, Rajesh Komati, Melyssa Bratton, Shahensha Shaik, and Jayalakshmi Sridhar

  S6K1 is an important protein kinase that is downstream to a variety of signaling pathways. S6K1 is a downstream target of mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin), and relays signals to regulate several fundamental cellular and oncogenic processes including the enhancement of mRNA biogenesis, cap-dependent translation and elongation, and the translation of ribosomal proteins. In various cancers, S6K1 is shown to play a prominent role in cancer progression such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and brain tumors. For breast cancer, the hyperactivity of S6K1 has been suggested to be linked to the presentation of breast cancer in cell lines for estrogen positive breast cancer and HER2-positive breast cancer. Therefore, S6K1 overexpression may be closely related to the presentation of these two cancers and may be used as a therapeutic target for the suppression of S6K1 activity by inhibiting the activity of the protein. Our lab has identified 1,3-dioxoisoindolinyl monoamides as ATP-competitive inhibitors of the S6K1 protein. The derivatives of these compounds are synthesized in multistep synthesis in the lab and then tested against various cancer cell lines. The goal is to synthesize a compound that is a potent and selective inhibitor of S6K1 that can be used as cancer therapeutics.

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  Tracking Functional Connectivity using Dynamic Independent Component Analysis During Meditation

  Aalliyah Celestine, Tahlia Korin, Jeremy Cohen Ph.D, and Wendy Hasenkamp Ph.D

  We plan to extract data from fourteen fMRI-scanned meditation practitioners. The meditation process was modeled into four intervals of component states: focused attention, mind wandering, awareness of mind wandering, and shifted attention.

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  Mass Incarceration and Recidivism

  KALIYAH CHISOLM

  Study of Mass Incarceration and Recidivism

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  Fire Shut Up in My Bones: A New Era in Opera

  Sakinah A. Davis

  Fire Shut Up in My Bones is the 2014 memoir by NY Times journalist and columnist Charles Blow, telling the story of his coming-of-age as a young Black man in rural Northern Louisiana and how he has to struggle to deal with childhood abuse.

  New Orleans jazz composer, Terence Blanchard, chose this memoir as the subject of his second opera.

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  Triphenylethylene Analogs as Therapeutic Agents for Breast Cancer

  Holly Honore, Bouri Kang Ph.D, and Florastina Payton-Stewart Ph.D

  The most frequently diagnosed cancer for women is breast cancer Around 5 10 of diagnosed breast cancer cases are metastatic and close to 30 of patients with early stage disease will go on to relapse with metastatic disease 1 Hormone receptor positive breast cancer makes up 70 of breast cancer cases The first line treatment for breast cancer is endocrine therapy Endocrine therapy, also known as hormone therapy, adds, blocks, or removes hormones to treat the disease There are two types of endocrine therapy for breast cancer One type is drugs that prevent estrogen and progesterone from being available for breast cancer cells to grow The other type of endocrine therapy is drugs or surgery to keep the ovaries from making hormones There are several different types of treatment options (see Figure 1 While we have made many advances in this area, a significant number of patients develop endocrine resistance, prompting the need for newer therapeutic agents 2

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  Strength as Identity: Framing Mental Health Impacts Black Women's Help-Seeking Attitudes

  Arielle D. Jones and Elliott D. Hammer

  Investigate the effect of framing professional psychological help as beneficial for the self vs. beneficial for the family, on the relationship between SBW identity and attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Examine the impact of the clinical vs. character-based explanation of mental illness on SBW’s attitudes towards help seeking.

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  #WHYIDIDNTREPORT: Thematic Trends Found Among Black Women Survivors of Sexual Violence

  Dr. Shantoyia Jones, Dr. Tia Smith, and Jia Kirk-Walker

  Substantiated in the research and clinical experiences are the most often reported and observed barriers: privacy issues; fear of retaliation; and difficulties understanding and processing traumatic events (Sable, Danis, Mauzy, & Gallagher; 2006).

  • Black Women are at the highest risk to experience sexual assault on college campuses, leaving Asian women second (Cantor et al., 2015; Minow & • 2009).

  •“Current deficiencies in the system contribute to substantial under reporting of sexual offences and discourage people who allege they have been assaulted from giving evidence” (Victorian Law Reform Commission; 2004)

  • The recent hashtag #WHYIDIDNTREPORT is evidence that these phenomena remain a traumatic crisis, especially among Black identified women.

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  XULA INVESTIGATIVE STORIES PROGRAM

  Helen Malmgren, Dr. Tia L. Smith, and Dr David Robinson-Morris

  The XULA Investigative Stories Program brings together students and veteran journalists to explore some of our nation’s most critical issues—inequity in our schools, industrial waste in our neighborhoods, mass incarceration—and to examine how these issues are playing out in the City of New Orleans.

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  Assessing the Impact of a Nutritionally Complete Palatable Diet on Alcohol Dependence-induced Escalated Alcohol Drinking and Negative Emotional States in Male & Female P-Rats

  Larry Mason Jr., Joi Coleman, and Sunil Sirohi

  Assessing the impact of a nutritionally complete palatable diet (NPD) on alcohol dependence-induced escalated alcohol drinking in male and female P-rats.

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  Let it Shine! Piano Music by Black Composers

  Aaron Mathews D.M.A

  Black composers have contributed exceptional works to classical piano literature. This poster presentation highlights selected repertoire from a pedagogical perspective.

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  Panel Escritores

  Rhana Azalea Menefee

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  Catalytic Specificity of KDAC 7

  Hajjia S. Mohammed Gipson, Kyara A. Nichols, Tasha B. Toro, and Terry J. Watt

  Protein post translational modifications are chemical adaptations that take place in the human body to control behavior of proteins. The acetylation of lysine is one type of protein post translational modification. Lysine deacetylases, or KDACs, are enzymes that help regulate proteins by reversing this modification. It has been shown that KDACs are essential in many biological processes. Therefore, better understanding these KDACs could lead to the improved treatment of diseases. Some of the KDACs, including KDAC7, have both a catalytic domain and a second domain of unknown function. The catalytic domain of these KDACs also has a histidine residue at a position that is a tyrosine in other KDACs. We are investigating how these differences from other KDACs affect the activity of KDAC7 with potential substrates. The wild type KDAC7 catalytic domain is considerably less active with model peptide substrates than a KDAC7 mutated to have a tyrosine residue. We are also cloning the full length KDAC7 gene for expression and purification of the full length protein, to measure the effect of the second domain on activity of the catalytic domain. This work will help provide a greater understanding of how KDAC7 interacts with substrates and the possible identity of substrate proteins.

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  Examining Physical Activity and It’s Impact on Older Black Women

  Ta’Mia Morrissette; Sydney Kirven MPH, BS; Kwame Jackson BS; and Amy Thierry PhD, MPH

  Disparities in cognitive impairment have been documented among racial/ethnic minority older adults, which can be linked to both social inequalities and daily behaviors

  • Older Black adults have twice the risk of developing cognitive-related diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia compared to Whites

  • Less is known about the factors that may maintain cognitive health among Black women specifically

  • Cognitive functioning shown to be improved by physical activity; however, limited research has assessed this association among older Black women

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  Oxidative Damage and LRP-1 Signaling in Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells

  Meghan Mouton, Micah Starghill, Brooke Jones, Andy Nguyen, Denise Cayton, and Dr. Partha Bhattacharjee PhD

  Oxidative damage is caused by an imbalance in the production and accumulation of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to oxidative stress. The Bhattacharjee lab is studying the relationship between oxidative damage and lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP- 1) signaling. LRP-1 signaling is important because it may be involved in cell migration and invasion. This, in turn, may control RPE cell movement and invasion through the expression of LRP-1. We used diabetic mice that were homozygous for the spontaneous mutation Leprdb along with the non-diabetic heterozygous controls and treated them with 100μM apoEdp. Treatment started at 12 weeks of age for all mice and the mice were sacrificed at 24 weeks. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses were done to study neural apoptosis and LRP-1 targeted signaling pathways. It was found that treatment of LRP-1 targeted apoEdp resulted in the inactivation of cytoplasmic protein phosphatases PP2A, increase in intracellular kinase activity of PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 pathways, significant reduction in retinal ganglionic cell death, and inhibition of proapoptotic BCL-2 associated death (BAD) and cleaved caspase 3. We plan to study the LRP-1 signaling and BRB integrity in obesity-induced type 2 diabetic mice. Using the combined data of the diabetic and induced diabetic mice, our overall goal is to utilize this data and apply this to how oxidative stress treatment of human retinal pigment epithelium (hRPE) affects endocytosis through LRP-1 and intracellular phosphatase/kinase signaling.

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  Simulating Double Minute Evolution using Java

  Derrick Mullins and Matthew Hayes

  Double minutes are small fragments of circular DNA. Unlike typical chromosomes, they are composed of circular fragments of DNA, up to only a few million base pairs in size and contain no centromere or telomere. They're highly amplified and formed as a byproduct of chromothripsis , or excision and circulation of genomic segments. They are known to harbor oncogenes (genes that are overexpressed) and cause cancer onset when overexpressed. This Java program simulates the evolution of double minutes using recursion, which is the repeated application calling itself. Each double minute shows start and end coordinates and the orientation of the chromosome. Explanation of Process

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  H-DNA structure stimulates Alu-Alu Recombination

  Danyael Murphy, Hanlin Yang, Maria A. Morales, and Prescott L. Deininger

  The high abundance of Alu elements in the human genome creates an environment that contributes to specific form of genetic instability related to nonallelic recombination. With over 1 million copy in the human genome, Alu elements are distributed across all chromosomes providing an enormous potential for non-allelic interactions. We have been studying the mechanisms of Alu/Alu interactions in causing genomic deletions using a site-specific doublestrand break that mimics environmental damage, such as ionizing radiation, to the DNA. This damage occurs throughout the cell cycle. However, the most common form of breaks in DNA occurs by replication pausing during the S phase. H-DNA forming motifs are short DNA sequences that can form unusual structures that have been shown to cause double strand break in the DNA. Due to the abundance of Alu element and H-DNA in the human genome, we hypothesize that H-DNA can induce Alu-Alu recombination in the event where the H-DNA is located between two Alu elements and represents a good model of Sphase dependent DNA breaks. To test our hypothesis, we used the previously published Alu-Alu recombination system, cloning the H-DNA sequence between either identical or mismatch Alu elements in the system. Our results indicate that H-DNA stimulates Alu-Alu recombination in both the identical system and the mismatch system when compared to the control group without H-DNA. Furthermore, cells carrying the H-DNA in the mismatch Alu-Alu recombination system show a significant shift in their repair pathway from Alt-NHEJ to Alu-Alu recombination. These data indicate a strong link between H-DNA and chromosomal instability associated with Alu-Alu recombination and demonstrate that cell cycle, among other factors, has a major influence on the nature of genetic instability caused by Alu elements.

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  Cancer Genomes with eccDNA Oncogene Amplification Show Evidence of Deletion-Episome Model of Double Minute Chromosome Formation

  Angela Nguyen, Dr. Rahib Islam, and Matthew Hayes

  Double minute chromosomes are fragments of extrachromosomal DNA found in various cancer subtypes. The formation of double minute chromosomes causes gene amplification which then results in the overexpression of cellular oncogenes. Their mechanism of formation is poorly understood, but analysis of DNA sequencing data can potentially uncover evidence of hypothesized mechanisms of their formation. In this study, we use the whole genome sequencing data of non-solid tumor genomes to study double minute chromosomes and investigate features that support the deletion-episome model of their formation.

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  Reliability of Stroke Imaging: A Comprehensive Review

  Henry Nguyen and Markus Lammle MS PhD

  Stroke is a leading cause of death globally and is responsible for an estimated 140,000 deaths annually in the United States alone [1]. Despite this sobering reality, the care of stroke patients has been greatly revolutionized within the past decade, and advances in stroke imaging have been at the forefront of these discoveries. The resulting improvement in patient outcomes has been noticeable and recently moved stroke from the third leading cause of death within the United States to the fifth [1]. While these recent innovations are full of promising potential, their implementation has left much to be desired in terms of practicality and balance. For example, the level of access to these novel resources has great variability across institutions and has caused a visible lack of consensus regarding best practices and optimal imaging algorithms [2]. Through this review, we aim to shine light on these discrepancies, discuss ongoing research dedicated to addressing them, and envision what lies ahead for the future of stroke imaging.

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  Novel Therapeutic Agents for Triple Negative Breast Cancer via Suzuki Coupling Reactions

  Deeuatrail Nichols Jr., Dr.Borui Kang, and Dr. Florastina Payton-Stewart

  Dr. Payton-Stewart’s lab focuses on designing and synthesizing anticancer agents to target nuclear receptors, such as the estrogen receptor and other signaling pathways overexpressed in breast cancer. Our Objective is to mimic structures of first-line therapeutic agents, as well as the chemical structures of known phytochemicals, that have anti-cancer properties.

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  Using bis-MPA As A Platform For Novel Drug Delivery Systems

  Sharon Ogbanna, Blaine Derbigny, Greg Hodge, and Dr. Stassi DiMaggio

  2,2-bis(methylol)propionic acid (bis-MPA) dendrimers are ideal backbones for novel drug delivery systems. Bis-MPA based dendrimers tend to be stable with multiple terminal groups with potential for functionalization, making them excellent for use in targeted drug delivery. However, these dendrimers have low water solubility. Amphiphilic block copolymers, a class of Stimuli Responsive Polymers (SRPs), can be conjugated to the end of the dendrimer. This increases the water solubility of the molecule while simultaneously increases the efficiency of SRPs. Water solubility can be further increased through the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) as linkages between the dendrimer and the SRP. The efficiency of free SRPs will be compared to the efficiency of the novel vehicle to determine if the proposed materials are viable as drug delivery systems.