Elizabeth Fay Participated in Buena Vista University's Eleventh Annual Scholars Day

2015 May 22

Buena Vista University's eleventh annual Scholars Day was held Friday, April 24. The event provided students from all disciplines an opportunity to present their best presentations, original research, academic posters, artistic creations and performances to their peers, professors and the public.

This year's Scholars Day event featured 43 presentations from 86 students, exploring topics from art and business to science and history.

Elizabeth Fay, a senior biology major from Good Thunder, Minnesota, was one of the students who participated. Fay's presentation was titled NIS proteins with altered anion specificity , and the project's abstract is as follows:

The sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) is endogenously expressed in the thyroid, salivary glands, stomach, and in lactating breast tissue. In addition to iodide, it transports several anions including radiotracers used in nuclear imaging such as 99mTc, 18FBF4- and 188/186ReO4- . NIS has become a highly desirable imaging reporter in preclinical and translational oncolytic virotherapy, gene therapy, and cell trafficking studies. However, background signals from radiotracer uptake by organs that endogenously express NIS limits its use in or near those anatomical areas. We seek to develop anion selective NIS reporter proteins that will provide new tools for decreasing background signal and increasing the resolution and sensitivity of NIS reporter imaging. Here we analyze mutations within the putative binding site for NIS substrates focusing on residues I147, Q72 and M68. We demonstrate that mutations within these residues can alter the anion specificity of NIS.

Fay also had a second presentation titled: The effects of vitamin E on organelle function. The abstract for this presentation is as follows:

During normal aerobic metabolism, cells produce reactive oxygen species which can damage cell membranes, proteins, and DNA. Vitamin E is an antioxidant, meaning it converts reactive oxygen species into a non-harmful chemical. In this experiment, the effects of vitamin E on the ability of eukaryotic cells to survive elevated levels of reactive oxygen species and the effects of vitamin E and reactive oxygen species on the location and function of cell organelles were examined. There was a significant difference in cell viability only with treatments of higher amounts of vitamin E. Additionally, it was shown that the addition of paraquat has some effect on the nucleic acids of a cell, and that the addition of vitamin E may alleviate some of this stress.

The keynote speaker for the event was Jeff Anderson, Class of 2003, who is the executive director of communications for the Minnesota Vikings. Anderson is entering his thirteenth season with the Vikings and plays a lead role in the organization's external and strategic communications.

"For some Scholars Day is the culmination of their work at BVU, and for others it becomes the springboard that sends them into a field they had not previously anticipated," said Dr. Steven Mills, assistant professor of Spanish and chair of the events committee who organized the event. "Either way, those who participate find in it a valuable growing experience and a strong sense of accomplishment."

Photos from this year's and previous Scholars Day events, along with a video from this year's event, are available online at www.bvu.edu/scholarsday.