Jonathan C's Senior Project Blog

Project Title: Detecting ANP and ANP secretion levels in Atrial cells
BASIS Advisor: Thomas Carpenter
Internship Location: U of A; College of Medicine
Onsite Mentor: Dr. Chris Glembotski, Director, Translational Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Arizona School of Medicine, Phoenix



Project Abstract

The atria is a major part of the heart, serving as a key endocrine pathway to the rest of the body. I believe it is through this pathway that ANP is secreted during extreme hypertension. I will be testing the secretion of ANP during induced hypertension in order to draw a conclusive relationship between ANP secretion levels and hypertension. The reasoning behind this is that hypertension is one of the predominant risk factors for several cardiovascular diseases. If we can draw a relation between hypertension and ANP secretion, we may then be able to draw an indirect relationship between ANP secretion and cardiovascular disease contraction, thus being able to research possible preventative measures in the future.

    My Posts:

  • SRP update #10

    Hello all, this will be my final update blog post, the only blog post left being the conclusion blog post. This week, I will be conducting data analysis on the imaged western blots with the help of Ms. Green. We used 2 types of imagers: a film imager, and a video imager. I will be... Read More

  • SRP update #9

    This week was just wrapping up the research. We did a 2day western blot. The use of this western blot is to determine how much of the protein in our sample was ANP (our protein of interest) by filtering the proteins based on size. Of course, different proteins are different sizes and we can filter... Read More

  • SRP update #8

    This week, I was able to get a lot done in regards to my research. Last Friday, I completed treating atria with Phenylephrine (PE), simply put a chemical used to induce hypertension within the atrial tissues. We then homogenized these atria with the PE and then we froze the samples. On monday, we took the... Read More

  • SRP update #7

    Just today, I've had a sudden shift from my original plans. Originally, my project was about investigating the relation between ATF6 and ANP in contracting cardiovascular diseases. I was planning to choose specifically Atrial Fibrillation as my cardiovascular disease of choice to research. However, I am now researching the detection of ANP and ANP secretion... Read More

  • SRP update #6

    Hello all, With the completion of my curriculum and my lab training, I have a little over a month left to finally start research. I am set to have a mentor (other than Dr. Glembotski) by this friday. Until then, I have begun a bit of self study into Atrial Fibrillation, a cardiovascular disease and... Read More

  • SRP update #5

    With week 5, this marks around halfway into the senior project. The biggest obstacle in my project so far has been getting lab clearance, so with that out of the way, I do think that there are no more major obstacles to getting my research project done. I also have finally completed my curriculum course.... Read More

  • SRP update #4

    This week, there are some exciting news. I have just finalized the rest of my documents to apply for DCC (Designated Campus Colleague) status. For context, the translational cardiovascular research center, Dr. Glembotski's lab, has very heavy security. There are many locked doors that need certain identification to pass through. By becoming a DCC, I... Read More

  • SRP update #3

    This week, due to the senior trip, I was unable to get everything I had planned done. I managed to get through a couple more chapters in the curriculum. As with the previous topics, there was a lot of review of material I already knew, though there was also a lot of new concepts I... Read More

  • SRP update #2

    Hello all, So far this week, I've covered the first couple chapters of the curriculum that Dr. Glembotski has sent me. My goal for this week is to hopefully get somewhere around chapters 4-6 by the end of the week (Friday). Most of the information I have covered so far in the textbook has been... Read More

  • SRP update #1

    Hello all, My offsite mentor, Dr. Glembotski, has assigned me a "translational research curriculum". In this curriculum, I will be studying the basics of molecular and cellular biology, as well as an introduction into basic cardiology over 8 different chapters. In addition, I have been assigned basic training videos to watch and study which will... Read More

  • Introduction

    Hello, welcome to my project on investigating the role of ATF6 and ANP imbalances in the development of cardiovascular diseases. I will be working with Dr. Glembotski at the University of Arizona's college of medicine under a directed study mentorship with the advising of Dr. Carpenter and the counseling of Mrs. Bennett. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)... Read More