Michael Lee
Pronouns: he, his, him
Research Mentor(s): Xinna Li
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Pathology / Medicine
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 6 – 4:40pm – 5:30 pm
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Michael Lee, Xinna Li
Presenter: 82
Abstract
This research project was conducted to determine how the presence or absence of certain growth factors in various organs of a mouse can lead to a suppression or an enhancement of aging. Furthermore, this project was completed to discover a potential connection between these growth factors and the acceleration or delay of disease in mice so that treatments can be developed to treat corresponding diseases in older humans. This project builds off of a previous project concluding that altered adipose tissue potentially results in longer life spans for Snell dwarf (known for their decreased growth hormone levels leading to the decreased release of insulin) and GHR knock-out mice (known for their significantly increased longevity). (PMID: 32464603). Various methods, including the homogenization of tissue into a powder using a hammer and liquid nitrogen, sonication of tissue to break down cellular membranes, dilution of tissue using PBS, 1.5 ml tubes, and various pipettes, and the development and imaging of a Western blot, are used to determine protein concentration. This protein concentration is quantified using a sheet that correlates concentration with the location and thickness of any band on the Western blot. Results that have already been found include the conclusion that adipose tissue is correlated with aging and growth and that the liver and kidney of a mouse tend to have the highest concentration of protein. In addition, the lifespan of Ames dwarf mice can be countered by injections of growth hormone starting around 2 weeks after birth. This conclusion supports my hypothesis, which is that the liver and kidney are, to an extent, involved in various biological processes, including aging. These results demonstrate that the information received from this project can be applied to older generations of people, who are more susceptible to the numerous conditions associated with aging.
Biomedical Sciences, Interdisciplinary
