endothelium | APS Undergraduate Researcher

Research Project

With a quickly aging US population, research to help us live a longer life is on the forefront. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in the US, so finding ways to decrease cardiovascular disease risk could be the answer. At the Integrative Physiology of Aging Laboratory (IPA Lab) at the University of Colorado Boulder, we focus our research on finding ways to decrease this risk. A recent 5 year clinical research trial tested the effects of a sodium nitrite supplement on cardiovascular disease risk in middle aged and older adults. Sodium nitrite provides the body with a very important signaling molecule called nitric oxide, which specifically targets the blood vessels allowing them to dilate and increase blood flow. Nitric oxide production can decrease as a person ages. Past studies in the IPA Lab indicate that increases in nitric oxide are associated with improvements in the function of the blood vessels, thereby decreasing cardiovascular disease risk (1). Now that the 5-year study is complete, myself and a team of researchers are analyzing endothelial cells collected from subjects. Endothelial cells are found, on the innermost layer of blood vessels and control dilation and constriction of the blood vessels. We are hoping to find mechanisms that sodium nitrate may be acting through to decrease cardiovascular disease risk in middle age and older adults.

Realities of Research

In a perfect world, research would flow without any issues. There would be no problems, no set backs, and no recollecting data. The reality is that this is impossible. There are always mishaps along the way, but the key is overcoming and problem solving these mishaps. Working in the IPA Lab over the past summer, I’ve learned that imaging endothelial cells is an imperfect art. Even if you complete the procedure correctly there are still some slides that don’t stain as well as others or have no cells on them to analyze. Our research team is constantly trying to improve our technique with endothelial cell staining and we have recently made changes to the collection procedure hoping to provide better staining images for the future.

Life of a Scientist

Over the past summer I have also gained insight on what the real life of a physiology researcher is. At times it can be frustrating if your procedure doesn’t work or you don’t receive the results you were expecting, but that’s part of the job. As a researcher it is essential to develop problem-solving skills to work past these frustrating times and to work as a team of researchers helping each other solve problems in the lab. At the same time though it can be one of the most rewarding careers. When you finally finish a paper and publish in a journal, you feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and feel as though you and your team of researchers have made a true impact on the future of science.

After staining the endothelial cell slides, I use a microscope to visualize the immunofluorescence of the cells.

References

Seals DR, Jablonski KL, Donato AJ. Aging and vascular endothelial function in humans. Clin Sci 120(9), 357-75 (2011)

Kayla Woodward is a senior majoring in Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. She is a 2018 Undergraduate Research Excellence Fellow (UGREF) working in Dr. Doug Seals’ Integrative Physiology of Aging Lab at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. Kayla’s fellowship is funded by the APS. After graduation this spring, Kayla plans to apply to medical school pursuing a career as physician and researcher.

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-related disease in which complications inflict harm onto the mother and/or baby, and in severe cases may lead to death. These complications are known to affect 2-8% of all pregnancies. My research has two aims focused on uncovering the methodology behind preeclampsia so that it may be diagnosed prior to delivery and successfully combated against. The first relationship I am looking at is one between physical activity levels and the risk of developing preeclampsia. I have theorized that an increase in physical activity levels during pregnancy will cause a decrease in the risk of developing preeclampsia. This will be assessed by the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire and postpartum medical reports stating if any diagnoses of preeclampsia were present. Preeclampsia is marked by high blood pressure, so the second aim will look at the relationship between the development of preeclampsia and endothelial dysfunction. The endothelium is the layer of cells that line organs, cavities, and especially blood vessels, the heart, and the lymphatic system. I will be looking at how fast blood flows between two points on the body, a measurement called Pulse-Wave Velocity, that will indicate the stiffness of the arteries. Other measurements will also be collected to help assess arterial stiffness, and thus endothelial dysfunction.

I started into this research lab my sophomore year. What I expected was being in a setting similar to my advanced biology lab courses where we ran experiments such as western-blots, PCR reactions, and such. Though my lab does have this component, I chose to be involved in the clinical side of my research, where I would go to see human participants in the hospital. I really enjoyed interacting with human subjects because it made my work feel more personal and translatable to human life. I have learned a lot of new techniques since my first day, such as collecting images of the arterial walls contracting and relaxing as blood flows and also recording blood pressures by listening to the sound of the heart. What surprised me, however, was how difficult it could be to collect clear vascular measurements since a lot of our work required participants to lie still and awake for 2.5 hours, and occasionally not swallow. At times like those, the vascular imaging data would become too distorted or imprecise for the analysis software later. Thus I learned how to help communicate these needs to the participant in a way that still kept them calm and comfortable but help bring clarity and accuracy to the data. Luckily, we have not ran into any major challenges in our study, and so our research question has remained the same.

What have you learned about life as a scientist?

What I’ve learned about the life of a scientist is that your study makes your schedule, in most cases. Though my role in my lab is more flexible than my more experienced peers who tend to be involved in more than one study, my weekly schedule is still created by the availability of the participants. This was sometimes a great thing, such as when your participants come in on time and everything runs smoothly. But it can also have cons, such as participants never showing up, canceling at the last minute, or having scheduled visits at painfully early hours like 7 a.m. What has made it continuously worth it has been getting to learn something new every day not just from my scientific peers, but also from the participants who volunteer their time to helping us hopefully discover more answers and treatments. Being a part of these efforts to understand preeclampsia and mitigate its impact on up to 8% of pregnant women has been one of my most valuable involvements and I hope to continue to grow in this area and as an aspiring scientist.

Rumbidzai Majee is a senior majoring in Human Physiology/Pre-med track at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA. She is a 2017 STRIDE fellow working in Dr. Gary Pierce’s lab at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA. Rumbidzai’s fellowship is funded by the APS and a grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood institute (Grant #1 R25 HL115473-01). After graduation, Rumbidzai plans to pursue a career as a physician scientist in the area of Obstetrics and Gynecology or Dermatology.