Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: Microbiology/Immunology/Virology
Session: 1
Aliyah Curry - Alabama State University
Co-Author(s): Leandra B. Jones,Microbiology Program, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Alabama State, Montgomery,A; Sparkle D. Williams,Departments of Pediatrics, Neurobiology and Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, Division of Neonatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham,Birmingham,AL; Alexandre Krendelchtchikov,Departments of Pediatrics, Neurobiology and Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, Division of Neonatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham,Birmingham,AL; Brian Sims, Departments of Pediatrics, Neurobiology and Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, Division of Neonatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham,Birmingham,AL; Qiana L. Matthews,Microbiology Program, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Alabama State, Montgomery,AL
Exosomes are extracellular vesicles that are active in cell-to-cell communication, transferring macromolecules between cells, biological markers used to detect disease states.. Exosomes can be affected by external factors such as alcohol and nicotine. Specifically, we will be focusing on the effect of alcohol on exosome biogenesis. Alcohol has factors that can be beneficial to the body in moderation. However, alcohol in high concentrations can negatively alter extracellular vesicles production and release.
Our goal is to study the impact of alcohol exposure on kidney exosome biology. Human kidney cells (293A) were subjected to (control), 50 mM, or 100 mM of Ethanol for 24 hours, 48 hours or 72 hours. Cell viability was observed at 72 hours post Ethanol treatment. 293A cell viability was significantly decreased with treatments of 50 mM or 100 mM of Ethanol. Exosomes were purified using an ultracentrifugation after dosing with alcohol or vehicle control. The protein quantity and quality was determined using standard protein quantitation methods. NanoSight technology was used to measure exosome count and characterize exosomes along with Enzyme-Linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
We observed that when 293A cells were treated with alcohol, exosome biogenesis was impacted, we observed a decrease in exosome production over time as well as an increase in exosomes carrying HSP60 and HSP70 proteins. Overall, these results suggest alcohol has a negative affect on cells leading to the downstream impact on exosomes. This supports the claim that alcohol can have detrimental effects on the human body. Our future research includes investigating the effects of alcohol consumption on exosome production in vivo.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): This work was supported by the US Dept. of Education, The Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program (MSEIP) (P120A150008) awarded to Dr. Komal Vig (PD) and by NSFCREST (HRD-1241701) awarded to Dr. Shree S. Singh (PI) as well as the Gorgas Memorial Research Foundation research grant awarded to Dr. Qiana L. Matthews (PI). Faculty Advisor/
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Qiana Matthews, qmatthews@alasu.edu
Role: I preformed a protein quanitation assay to determine the quantity of the purified exosomes. I preformed a Western blot and an Enzyme-Linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to characterize exosomes.