Journal of Undergraduate Research

Spencer Bella and Dr. Jeffrey Edwards, Physiology and Developmental Biology Participating in mentored research funded by ORCA has again provided me with valuable research experience and taught me valuable lessons about the research process. Although due to certain setbacks my project was not able to progress to the point of conclusive results, the results we […]

Jared Tadje and Professor R. Paul Evans, Zoology Geologic evidence indicates that there was a volcano about 30,000 years ago in Southern Idaho. Before the volcano, Bear Lake was connected to the Snake River, but lava flow from this volcano separated them. Currently, a river connects Bear Lake to the Lake Bonneville region surrounding the Great […]

Sean David Paulsen and Dr. Allan M. Judd, Zoology Recent neuroimmunoendocrine research has focused on points of convergence between what have traditionally been labeled the “nervous,” “immune,” and “endocrine” systems. We are beginning to realize that the walls marking the boundaries of these systems are not as exclusive as once thought. Certain commonalities or areas […]

Nicholas Bishop and Dr. Marc D Hansen, Physiology and Developmental Biology Purpose and Protocol My research aims to elucidate the protein interactions at cell-cell contacts (adherens junctions or AJ’s) by studying the fluorescence recovery of three known AJ proteins (zyxin, VASP, and actin) after photobleaching. At AJ’s, zyxin interacts with VASP (Vasioukhin et al., 2000) […]

Brandon G. Wilkinson and Dr. James Porter, Physiology and Developmental Biology Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one leading cause of death in the United States. High blood pressure (hypertension) is a form of CVD and affects nearly 1 in 3 American adults. Men are more likely than women to develop hypertension until 45 years […]

Nathan La Monica and Dr. Dixon Woodbury, Physiology & Developmental Biology SNAP-25, a protein that is found abundantly in the brain, is a key player in the process of releasing neurotransmitters. Vesicles, or small spheres of lipid membranes, contain neurotransmitters and have numerous proteins that extend outward from the vesicle. To release the neurotransmitters proteins […]

David Holt and Dr. Robert Seegmiller, Physiology and Developmental Biology Introduction Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SEDC) is a recessive human genetic disorder characterized by skeletal abnormalities and early onset osteoarthritis (OA).1 Type II and the alpha 3 chain of type XI collagen together are integral in the development of normal articular cartilage (AC) and are both […]

Liz Gibbons and Dr. John Bell, Physiology and Developmental Biology The purpose of my project was to further study cell membrane changes during apoptosis, or programmed cell death. This was an extension of the research being done by Dr. Bell and my fellow students on the susceptibility of cells to the enzyme secretory phospholipase A2 […]

Brandon Forbes Neurons communicate to other cells by releasing neurotransmitter through a process called exocytosis. Exocytosis of neurotransmitter containing vesicles to their plasma membranes is via the SNARE protein complex. Studies that have examined the SNARE protein complex, using an in vitro lipid bilayer model, have thus far not examined the effects of cholesterol on […]

Dustin Danowski and Professor David Busath, Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology Botulinum Neurotoxin (BoNT) is currently being widely researched a a possible treatment for many medical conditions, as well as for cosmetic purposes. However, the mechanism describing how this family of toxins interact with their receptors to cause endocytosis is not well understood. We have developed […]