Evaluation of Anti-Leishmanial Activity of Lactam-Fused Tetrahydropyran Compounds ‡ Megan Quinn Project Mentor(s): Blaise Dondji, PhD Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected tropical disease endemic in 98 countries and is caused by Leishmania parasites, affecting millions of people worldwide. Current treatments, such as Amphotericin B and miltefosine, can be highly toxic, expensive, and are not always effective, making the search for safer and more reliable therapies especially important. The Dondji Research Group is leading a project to identify new compounds with anti-leishmanial activity using in vitro assays. The Beng Research Group supports this work by synthesizing and providing a library of novel bicyclic lactam compounds. These compounds contain fused lactam and tetrahydropyran motifs, structures commonly found in biologically active molecules and exhibiting promising properties, including antimicrobial and antiproliferative activity. To test their effectiveness, compounds will be evaluated against Leishmania major using Alamar Blue assays to measure parasite viability. Amphotericin B will be used as a positive control, while dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) will serve as a negative control. Following incubation, optical density readings will be collected using a spectrophotometer to estimate cell viability, with lower optical density values indicating greater anti-leishmanial activity. We anticipate that screening a diverse set of compounds in this project will lead to the identification of at least one compound that demonstrates strong anti-leishmanial activity while maintaining low toxicity to mammalian cells. Overall, this work contributes to ongoing efforts by the Dondji Research Group to discover safer, more accessible treatments for CL and highlights the value of collaboration between chemistry and biology in drug discovery. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation (May 21, 9:30am–3:00pm) Keywords: Leishmaniasis, Drug discovery, Tetrahydropyrans, Anti-leishmanial activity SOURCE Form ID: 77 Affects of Energy Drinks and Ginkgo Biloba on Memory in Planaria Hana Reynolds Project Mentor(s): April Binder, PhD Planaria are freshwater flatworms used in research on neoblast regeneration, drug effects, and memory due to their comparable nervous system to humans. With the rising number of dementia cases and an increase in younger people experiencing memory issues, it’s important to study whether certain products may have an impact on memory. This project will use a Y-maze to test the effects of energy drinks and gingko biloba on planaria memory. Before planaria are exposed to these chemicals, they will go through 9 days of trials to determine if they are directionally bias. Based on these results, the planaria will be assigned to favor either the left or right side of the maze by using an electrical shock as a negative stimulus. The planaria exposed to energy drinks are expected to choose their assigned side of the maze less often, indicating a decreased memory, while the planaria exposed to the ginkgo biloba are expected to choose their assigned side more often, indicating improved memory. The results from this study will demonstrate whether energy drinks and ginkgo biloba affect planaria memory and may provide insight into possible human effects. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation (May 21, 9:30am–3:00pm) Keywords: Planaria, Y-maze, Memory SOURCE Form ID: 148
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