Graduation Year
January 2013
Graduation Month
May
Document Type
Thesis - Campus Access Only
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
School or Department
Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Faculty Mentor Department
Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Faculty Mentor
Andrij Holian
Faculty Reader(s)
Tony Ward
Keywords
inflammasome complex, particulate matter, IL-1B, NF-kB, global climate change, Sand dust
Subject Categories
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health
Abstract
Much of the American Southwest comprises of desert, where about 12 million people live. Population increase and global climate change will cause drastic changes over the next 20 years, expanding the desert, causing larger, more frequent, and more severe sand dust storms. Airborne particulate matter is known to have health consequences within the respiratory system. Black Rock Desert in Nevada is known to have large dust storms. Each year 50,000 people gather together for one week in this desert for an event called Burning Man. It takes place on the playa and frequent dust-storm makes it an excellent environment for studying their negative health impacts. An in vitro model would provide useful information of the type and severity of inflammatory response induced by the inhalation of SW sand dust particles. In such a model it is important to characterize the potential exposure risk of these particles, sand dust components and the type and severity of inflammatory response induced when exposed to cells. Using THP-1 cells, in this study it becomes evident that sand dust particles of the Black Rock Desert strongly activate the NF-κB inflammation pathway and weakly activate the inflammasome complex.
Honors College Research Project
Yes
Recommended Citation
Moog, Cassandra, "In Vitro Particle Exposure To United States Southwestern Sand Dust" (2013). Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts. 5.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/utpp/5
© Copyright 2013 Cassandra Moog