Category: Pharmacology

2022-23, Health and Medicine, Medicine and Physiology, Pharmacology

Potential for Macrophage Cell Cultures to Produce New Medications

Julia Chivu ’23 Macrophages typically dominate the immune system with broad responsibilities related to cell repair, immune response, and homeostasis. However, macrophages also have organ-specific functions embedded into their epigenetic makeup. These powerful and specialized cells may be used in various macrophage therapies that can impact both humans and animals. In spite of this astounding potential, these treatment options are not available yet since scientists … Continue reading Potential for Macrophage Cell Cultures to Produce New Medications

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Medicine and Physiology, Pharmacology

The Role of Gene Expression Variation in the Development of Mammalian Drug Resistance

Simran Kaur ‘20 Designing drugs is often challenging because identical cells within a specific network will exhibit varying genetic expression (noise), resulting in drug resistance. The source of this variation is most often stochastic, accumulations of random fluctuations occurring during transcription, translation, and post-translational regulation. Gene expression noise currently poses as the greatest barrier in finding a cure for cancer and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). … Continue reading The Role of Gene Expression Variation in the Development of Mammalian Drug Resistance

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Disease, Health, Medicine and Physiology, Pharmacology

Chloroquine as a Promising Anti-Viral Drug in Immunocompromised Patients Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Simran Kaur ‘20 SARS-CoV-2, a new type of coronavirus, is responsible for a global pandemic that currently has infected hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide. The virus belongs to the same family of viruses responsible for certain cases of the common cold, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The virus is incredibly contagious, spreading through respiratory droplets and exploiting commonly-found human … Continue reading Chloroquine as a Promising Anti-Viral Drug in Immunocompromised Patients Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Health and Medicine, Pharmacology, Sociology

Open-Label Placebos and Test Anxiety

Ayesha Azeem ‘23 Test anxiety is a condition that affects up to 40% of students who suffer immense stress and worry before and while taking a test. Anxiety in test situations can present itself in many different ways and  may not seem so apparent to the sufferer at first. Symptoms include: nervousness, high heart rate, sweating, avoidance, and failing concerns. Anxiety can weaken the ability … Continue reading Open-Label Placebos and Test Anxiety

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Cancer, Disease, Health and Medicine, Pharmacology

Improved Body Composition After Testosterone Treatment in Young Male Cancer Survivors

Priyanshi Patel ’22 Young male cancer survivors have low testosterone levels compared to those of  healthy populations. Long term effects of low testosterone involve endocrine disorders that affect up to 50% of adult childhood cancer survivors, and younger survivors are often unsure as to whether they would benefit from testosterone treatment. A study was conducted in the United Kingdom on secondary hospital outpatients.. The study … Continue reading Improved Body Composition After Testosterone Treatment in Young Male Cancer Survivors

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Microbiota, Pharmacology

Our Gut’s Interference in Some Medications

Mariam Malik ‘22 A drug is characterized as any substance that may alter one’s psychology or physiology. Depending on its purpose, each drug takes a different path once inside the body, but researchers at Harvard University have determined the role of the gut in interfering  with a drug’s path and eventually, its effectiveness.  Professor Emily Blaskus and graduate student Vayu Maini Rekdal focused on Levodopa, … Continue reading Our Gut’s Interference in Some Medications

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Pharmacology

Yeast and the Biosynthesis of Cannabinoids

By Allan Mai ‘20 Scientists have recently been exploring routes to biosynthesize cannabinoids by introducing a series of genes into yeast cells. Using the simple sugar galactose, Dr. Xiaozhou Luo and his team at the University of California at Berkeley successfully devised a pathway to produce major cannabinoids such as cannabigerolic acid and cannabidiolic acid among others. The biosynthesis of such compounds would allow for … Continue reading Yeast and the Biosynthesis of Cannabinoids

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Cancer, Pharmacology

Protein WTp53: Fights Tumors or Boosts Cancer?

By Ellie Teng ‘21 A prominent protein in cancer research, p53, is known for its cancer fighting abilities. p53 suppresses the initiation of tumor growth by inhibiting the cancer metabolic switch from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis. Glycolysis is attributed to cancer metabolism and is required for tumorigenesis, or the formation of tumors. Essentially, p53 protects the genome against mutations and prevents the mutations from being … Continue reading Protein WTp53: Fights Tumors or Boosts Cancer?

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2016-17, Medicine and Physiology, Pharmacology

Peptide Microarrays Can Identify Tuberculosis Antibody Responses

  By Caleb Sooknanan ’20 Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s most prominent cause of death by infection. Scientists have become increasingly interested in the humoral immune responses associated with TB, but it is difficult to find the antigenic targets that correspond to specific stages of TB infection and disease. Dr. Davide Valentini and researchers at Karolinska Institutet conducted a study to determine whether peptide microarray … Continue reading Peptide Microarrays Can Identify Tuberculosis Antibody Responses

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2016-17, Medicine and Physiology, Pharmacology

The Effect of Acetaminophen on Pregnant Women

by Sahil Rawal (’19) Acetaminophen is a painkiller that is often used by pregnant women as an analgesic, as it is readily available over-the-counter. The CDC had previously deemed this drug safe, and it was shown to cause no major birth defects. However, there have been recent studies that have shown that acetaminophen may play a role in causing autism-like symptoms in children. As a … Continue reading The Effect of Acetaminophen on Pregnant Women

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2016-17, Chemistry, Health, Pharmacology

Chromatography Separates Cyclosporin Analogs

by Jenna Mallon (’18) In recent years, cyclic peptides have emerged as leaders in therapeutic drugs due to their in vivo stability and bioavailability. A class of specific cyclic peptides known as Cyclosporins has been effective in preventing rejection and infection in the body after organ transplants. The different analogs of Cyclosporin are very structurally similar, making separation extremely difficult. For this reason Yuefei Shao, … Continue reading Chromatography Separates Cyclosporin Analogs

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