REPU MAGAZINE N 3
2017 REPU Research Projects
2017
ecoREPU
Jose Iturrizaga - University of Missouri - Saint Louis
Parker Laboratory, USA
Avian malaria is a parasitic disease that affects birds, it is caused by
parasites of the genera Plasmodium and Hemoproteus, and it is
transmitted by a dipteran vector. The life cycle includes two bird hosts and
2 dipteran hosts. Usually it does not kill birds, but in new areas it could,
like the Galapagos or Hawaiian islands, it can be very deadly, bringing
massive extinctions. In the 1800´s Avian malaria was introduced to the
Hawaiian Islands, leading to massive extinctions of local avifauna. The
Galapagos archipelago is very similar to the Hawaiian Islands. In the year
2009, Dr. Parker found Plasmodium in a Galapagos penguin (Spheniscus
mendiculus) via PCR, but not the infectious gametocyte stage, focusing
her studies on this parasite. During the REPU internship, Jose Antonio
used molecular techniques to screen mosquito samples to detect the
presence of the Plasmodium parasites.
REPU - Atix
Richard Zapata - Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Laboratorio de Inmunología, Peru
Diabetes is a metabolic disease that can lead to severe and life-
threatening conditions. The need of new therapies for the control and
surveillance of this disease represents a great opportunity for research in
regenerative medicine. This summer, Richard worked on developing a
novel protocol for cell culture of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that
were treated with growth factors (GF) from human platelets lysate as part
of a new approach for regenerative therapy to control diabetes. GF have
been used as therapy based in the role of these molecules in cell growing
and wound healing, while MSCs are the key players in regenerating
tissues. Together, these elements represent a new alternative to control
the progression of diabetic ulcers. However, overstimulation by GF can
lead to cancer in some tissues. For this reason, Richard tested the effect
of different concentrations of GF in MSCs cultures and evaluated, by a
cytogenetics approach, the appearance of chromosomal alterations. In
his words, he found this project "really challenging and brought out the best of his experience”.
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