Undergraduate Research Symposium May 21, 2010 Mary Gates Hall Online Proceedings POSTER SESSION 1 POSTER SESSION 1 MGH 241, Easel 178 Balcony, Easel 115 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM The Role of the Mitotic Kinase Plk1 and the AKAP Trace-Contaminant Degradation by Wastewater Gravin in Cellular Transformation Microorganisms Karly Anne (Karly) Fischer, Senior, Biology (Physiology) Wayne Tamell (Wayne) Mc Neal, Senior, Civil Engineering Mentor: John Scott, Pharmacology NASA Space Grant Scholar, McNair Scholar Mentor: David Canton, Pharmacology, Howard Hughes Mentor: Heidi Gough, Civil And Environmental Engineering Medical Institute Mentor: John Ferguson, Civil And Environmental Engineering Propagation of cellular signals through protein phosphoryla- tion and dephosphorylation are key regulatory mechanisms in Trace-level contaminants originating from pharmaceuticals mammalian cells. Perturbation of these signaling pathways and personal care products (PPCP) represent a new class can lead to numerous disease states, including cancer. These of contaminants which are suspected to cause adverse im- molecules and their interaction partners are integral parts of pacts to aquatic life. These compounds often enter aquatic every physiological system. Our interest in the regulation of systems through sewers systems and wastewater treatment cellular signaling through the action of a family of proteins plants. The identification of organisms capable of degrad- known as A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) is important. ing PPCP will contribute greatly to the design and imple- AKAPs are signal-organizing molecules that bind to cyclic- mentation of new processes for the removal of PPCP dur- AMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) to further propagate ing wastewater treatment. Naproxen is one of many PPCP activation or inhibition signals in the cell. In addition to PKA, that are studied. Activated sludge from West Point Wastewa- AKAPs scaffold other important signaling molecules includ- ter Treatment Plant was enriched for microorganisms capable ing kinases (protein kinases C and D), phosphatases (PP1 and of degrading Naproxen. These enrichments were transferred PP2B) and phosphodiesterases (PDEs). Of particular interest and isolated while Naproxen degradation was monitored. En- are the interactions of the AKAP Gravin with polo-like ki- richments showing active degradation will be plated on solid nase 1 (Plk1), a regulator of mitosis in eukaryotic cells. This defined media, and colonies capable of degrading Naproxen interaction is of particular interest because elevated expres- will be selected. These colonies will be identified using DNA sion of Plk1 is correlated with certain cancers and Gravin has sequencing. On-going work will include monitoring growth been demonstrated to function as a tumor-suppressor gene. of biomass while monitoring degradation and various starting To evaluate the effect these proteins have on neoplasia (un- concentrations of Naproxen for degradation. controllable cell growth and division) in living cells, max- iprep DNA that encodes for the proteins Gravin, Plk1 and combinations of both are transfected into NIH 3T3 cells and POSTER SESSION 1 allowed to proliferate in selective media. Over time, “normal” Commons East, Easel 39 NIH 3T3 cells form a monolayer and then arrest due to con- 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM tact inhibition. However, if the cells have been transformed (changed cell morphology and growth patterning associated Presidential Influence on Congressional Agenda Setting with neoplasia) they will form a foci of cells on the tissue in Foreign and Domestic Policy culture plate. The plates are stained and then analyzed using Emma Katherine (Emma) Tessier, Junior, Political Science ImageJ software to count the number of foci per plate. Ulti- Mentor: John Wilkerson, Political Science mately, this study will help elucidate the effects of Gravin and Mentor: Loren Collingwood, Political Science Plk1 in cell cycle progression and transformation and provide clues to the role of Gravin in a genetic knock-out mouse. One of the most prominent Presidential roles is to act as chief diplomat for the United States, while Congress is more di- rectly concerned with constituents’ domestic needs. This fun- Undergraduate Research Program 1 exp.washington.edu/urp damental difference in policy roles might suggest that we would expect to see a difference in presidential influence POSTER SESSION 1 across different policy areas. Such a difference in presiden- Commons East, Easel 1 tial influence has implications for voters, and for the field of 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM political science, as it would contribute to our understand- ing of government and presidential power. It is important to Selective Attention to Transparent Motion is by Blocking understand the relationship between the president’s agenda and Not by Attenuation and the legislative agenda, because it represents the driving Victor Duc Thang (Victor) Nguyen, Senior, Neurobiology, force of policymaking in the United States. I compare the Biochemistry, Psychology President’s influence over the congressional foreign policy Mentor: John Palmer, Pscyhology agenda to his influence over the congressional domestic pol- What neural mechanisms control visual attention? In partic- icy agenda. Scholars have studied the influence of the Presi- ular, how is it that we are able to distinguish between numer- dent on the Congress from many angles, but a direct empirical ous, moving objects within our visual field? We applied prin- comparison between two central policy arenas has not been ciples of contrast detection to a filtering paradigm based on investigated. I hypothesize that the President will have more motion discrimination. Observers viewed a single field of two influence over the congressional foreign policy agenda. My superimposed sets of dots with net motion in several possible analysis examines 46 years of data coded by policy area from directions. The task was to discriminate between cued, rele- the Policy Agendas Project. Correlation and regression anal- vant directions of motion while ignoring irrelevant directions ysis is used to compare the issues emphasized in Presidential of motion. For example, one might discriminate between left- State of the Union Address with those emphasized in Con- ward and rightward motion while ignoring diagonally moving gressional bills and hearings. The ultimate goal is to end the dots. Not all the dots within the sets are moving in the same speculation about presidential influence in the field and bet- direction. By manipulating the percentage of dots moving ter understand the role of the President in legislative agenda together in both relevant and irrelevant directions, one can setting. test for selection by blocking versus selection by attenuation. With blocking, processing of even a strong stimulus is com- POSTER SESSION 1 pletely prevented; with attenuation, processing of an irrele- vant stimulus is decreased (but not zero). The results were Commons East, Easel 40 consistent with blocking and not attenuation. They rule out 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM models of attenuation such as a motion analog to the contrast The Politics of Pork gain model of contrast detection. Possible models of block- Kyle Quenton (Kyle) Corn, Senior, Political Science ing include attention switching, response gain, or a selection Mentor: John Wilkerson, Political Science process in decision rather than perception. The average American Citizen views congressional earmarks, or “pork” as a large wasteful portion of the federal budget. POSTER SESSION 1 Politicians view congressional earmarks as a “political com- Commons West, Easel 83 modity” that can be used to garner electoral support back in 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM their home district. Is pork allocated differently than other federal funds? What are the different considerations that drive Understanding Gene Function in Arabidopsis Thaliana the decisions to allocate pork? I hypothesize that earmarks using T-DNA Insertion Lines are allocated no differently than federal program dollars gen- Gabriel Licina, Sophomore, Biology, Sccc Inactive Code erally. To test this hypothesis, I compare the amount of ear- Amanuel Negash, Junior, Pre-Major, Sccc Inactive Code mark spending and general program spending states received Anna Wang, Sophomore, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, across a range of program areas between 1995-1998. Is the Sccc Inactive Code distribution of earmarks to each state significantly different Sonja Schmidt, Sophomore, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, than their share of general federal funds they receive? If so, Sccc Inactive Code what accounts for these differences? My general findings in- Mentor: John Wiseley, Biology, Seattle Central Community dicate that states receive pork at different rates than other fed- College eral funds. More specifically, the more delegates that a state Mentor: Kate Sowell, Biology, Seattle Central Community has with oversight over a specific category of pork the more College of that category a state will receive. Arabidopsis thaliana, a species widely used in plant research, has had its entire genome sequenced while information on specific gene function is still limited. This research aims 2 to investigate gene function from observable phenotypes us- The Effects of Need on State Social Welfare Spending ing t-DNA insertions generated using Agrobacterium Tume- Melanie Ann (Melanie) Gillette, Junior, Political Science, faciens. A. tumfaciens is a gram negative bacterium that in- Environmental Studies fects dicots