Urbaniak A, Jousheghany F, Yuan Y, Piña-Oviedo S, Huczyński A, Delgado M, Kieber-Emmons T, Monzavi-Karbassi B, Chambers TC.
Oncol Lett.
Barnette DA, Davis MA, Flynn N, Pidugu AS, Joshua Swamidass S, Miller GP.
Biochem Pharmacol.
Storey AJ, Wang HP, Protacio RU, Davidson MK, Wahls WP.
G3 (Bethesda).
Klejborowska G, Urbaniak A, Preto J, Maj E, Moshari M, Wietrzyk J, Tuszynski JA, Chambers TC, Huczyński A.
Bioorg Med Chem.
Dusty Barnette won third in the poster presentations, and Allie Davis won first in the oral presentations at the GSA Research Symposium. Dusty and Allie are both students in Dr. Grover Paul Miller‘s lab. Congratulations!
Graduate students Dusty Barnette and Allie Davis, along with Laura Osborn (SURF student), Sasin (Copter) Payakachat (SURF student), and Anna Pinson (INBRE student) attended the Society of Toxicology – South Central Chapter Conference at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center October 17-18. They are all students in Paul Miller‘s lab. Allie, Laura, and Sasin received travel awards.
Dusty presented a poster entitled “C5 Methyl Substituent Alters Which Enzymes Bioactivate Meloxicam Compared to Sudoxicam”. Laura presented a poster entitled “Multiple Metabolic Pathways Decrease Meloxicam Toxicity Relative to Analog, Sudoxicam”. Sasin presented a poster entitled “Identifying How Halogens Impact Bioactivation of Aryl Acetic Acid Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)”. Anna presented a poster entitled “Highly Efficient and Extensive Metabolism of Synthetic Cannabinoid 5F-APINACA Experiences Substrate Inhibition at High Concentrations”. Allie presented a talk entitled “Bioactivation of Halogenated Aromatic Drugs as a Precursor to Drug-Induced Hepatotoxicity”.
Tresor is a Ph.D. Student in his fifth year in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department in the laboratory of Dr. Wayne Wahls.
He has a B.A. in Biology with a Chemistry minor from Hendrix College.
The wrong number of chromosomes, called aneuploidy, is the leading cause of spontaneous pregnancy loss, intellectual disability, and congenital birth defects such as Down syndrome (trisomy 21). These aneuploidies stem from errors during meiosis in one of the parents, which generates their reproductive cells (sperm and eggs). A meiotic process called homologous recombination plays a crucial role in placing the correct number of chromosomes into reproductive cells.
My Ph.D. dissertation is focused on how meiotic recombination is correctly positioned in the genome, which is required for the faithful segregation of chromosomes. By studying five different classes of recombination hotspots in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, I provided new insight into the underlying mechanisms. Diverse, cis-acting regulatory modules (different transcription factors and their binding sites) each function through shared chromatin remodeling pathways that help provide the basal recombination machinery access to its DNA substrates within chromatin. This work helps us to understand broadly conserved mechanisms that create reproductive cells, and it provides insight into the underlying causes of Down syndrome and miscarriage.
I enjoyed the collaborative environment in the BCMB department where students and faculty members are willing to help each other.
I want to do a postdoctoral fellowship and continue doing research while also teaching.
I love analyzing chromatin structure of specific chromosomal regions using micrococcal nuclease to digest non-nucleosomal DNA. Nicely phased nucleosomes flanked by nucleosome-depleted promoters or linker DNA make the most beautiful figures in my opinion. I would love to try to look at an entire genome chromatin structure in various conditions by coupling micrococcal nuclease and deep-sequencing the resulting mononucleosomal DNA.
I am from Rwanda and studied in French before coming to the USA for college. After the first week of classes in college, my chemistry teacher said we would have a quiz at the beginning of the next class period. So that next Monday, I found out that a quiz is a small test the hard way. Although I miserably failed, I will never forget what a quiz is. I love playing soccer, although my advanced age has considerably slowed me down.
Mukiza TO, Protacio RU, Davidson MK, Steiner WW, Wahls WP. Five DNA sequences activate meiotic recombination hotspot via chromatin remodeling. Genetics. 2019.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31511300
Ketkar A, Voehler M, Mukiza T, Eoff RL. Residues in the RecQ C-terminal Domain of the Human Werner Syndrome Helicase are involved in unwinding g-quadruplexes DNA. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2017.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5336152/
Best oral presentation by a graduate student at the American Society of Microbiology-South East Region, Little Rock, AR.
Academic All-America Team for Division III college soccer
We had an impromptu celebration for Dr. Raney’s birthday. Thanks Sharon and Kahla for the birthday treats.
The response of phyllodes tumor of the breast to anticancer therapy: An in vitro and ex vivo study
Alicja Urbaniak, Fariba Jousheghany, Youzhong Yuan, Sergio Piña‑Oviedo, Adam Huczyński, Magdalena Delgado, Thomas Kieber‑Emmons, Behjatolah Monzavi‑Karbassi, Timothy C. Chambers
Oncology Letters
Mukiza TO, Protacio RU, Davidson MK, Steiner WW, Wahls WP.
Genetics.
Histone Modifications as Biomarkers for Immunotherapy.
Taylor EM, Koss B, Davis LE, Tackett AJ.
Methods Mol Biol
The biochemistry department participated in the 18th Annual Village Walk for Cancer Research in Hot Springs Village. The walk is a fundraiser for cancer research at WPRCI. Funds from last years walk are currently funding a project addressing drug resistance in lymphoma in Samantha Kendrick‘s lab. Also walking were Stephanie Byrum, Alicia Byrd, and Tung-chin Chiang.
The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology welcomed new GPIBS students to UAMS with a picnic at Allsopp Park. Thanks to students Katie Bronson and Allie Davis for helping with the organization and set up.
Allie Davis, a graduate student in Dr. Paul Miller’s lab, and Binyam Belachew, a graduate student in Dr. Kevin Raney’s lab received their white coats at the UAMS Graduate School’s annual Research Induction Ceremony celebrating Ph.D. candidates who have successfully passed their qualifying exam in the past year. Congratulations Allie and Binyam!
Allie Davis, a graduate student in Dr. Grover Paul Miller’s lab has recently been elected to two different groups.
Allie was elected to serve on the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX) New Investigator Group. This group comprises promising new investigators (predoctoral, postdoctoral, and new to their careers) that recruit and retain new ISSX members and promote interaction and collaborations between new members and more experienced members to ensure a lively and diverse group for many years to come. Currently, the new investigator group is writing up a conference proceedings paper that covers the ISSX international meeting from this past July.
Allie was also selected to serve on the Drug Metabolism Reviews (DMR) editorial board. Being a predoctoral student, access to many editor friends and colleagues she’s met at conferences and events will help her to learn the editorial process. Allie was selected for this group because she is a promising new investigator who has shown that she is willing and able to communicate and collaborate with scientists across many branches with varying degrees of experience.
Congratulations Allie!
