Page 29 - Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Proceedings 2017-18

School of Science
Division of Life Science

Supervisor: XUE Hong / LIFS
Student: LI Ping Yin / SSCI Course: UROP1100, Summer
LI Yixuan / SSCI UROP1100, Summer

DNA library construction is one of the main procedures for the preparation of drug experiment. By doing the DNA library,
we can identify and locate specific gene and, more importantly, by comparing the sequence of isolated gene sample and
the sequence of normal gene, we can find out the organism with interested mutation, which can be used in experiment
and drug test. In order to obtain the targeted DNA fragment with specific indexes from a complete DNA sample, we have
done a series of procedures, including fragmentation, end repairing, adenylation, ligation and adding indexes on
different fragments and sending them to another institute for further analysis. After all these, 4 DNA libraries with
concentration between 16.5 to 27.7 ng/µl are obtained from 6 samples.

Supervisor: XUE Hong / LIFS
Student: PARK Harry / BIOT Course: UROP1100, Spring

In the past, mental disorders were considered to be patients’ weakness that should be hidden and to be shamed of.
Now, it is widely accepted that it is similar to other disorders, curable with appropriate measures. With the
improvement of awareness, many discoveries and treatments have been developed. Calmlin is one of those recent
drugs, targeting anxiety disorder such as panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Calmlin is composed of four
herbal formulas: Radix Bupleuri, Rhizoma Corydalis, Flos Albiziae, and Caulis Polygoni Multiflori. Several experiments on
mice were conducted to investigate the effect of Calmlin. Data analysis proved that Calmlin has no significant influence
on mice’s behaviors, but further experiments should be conducted to determine its efficacy.

Supervisor: XUE Hong / LIFS
Student: TO Yuen Ching / BIOT Course: UROP1100, Fall

Gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor is one of the receptor of a major inhibitory neurotransmitter called
GABA in the mammalian central nervous system and is localized in many regions of the brain. To improve the
understanding between the relationship between the GABAA receptor and neuroinflammation, Gabrb2 transgenic mice
was used for investigation. Molecular analyses were carried out to scrutinize the difference on phenotypic and
biochemical alternations.

Supervisor: XUE Hong / LIFS
Student: XIE Jia / SSCI Course: UROP1100, Summer

Due to the change of extracellular microenvironment, the external stress acts on internal biochemical signalling
pathways and inherent these processes, for example, mitosis. The stress is suspected to alter normal mitosis cell division
through chemical means by suppressing spindle assembly checkpoint. Aneuploidy is the result of suppression of spindle
assembly checkpoint, and is a common phenomenon of cancer cells. In this study, we used human cervical carcinoma
(HeLa) and the human liver carcinoma (HepG2). We studied the effect of acidic extracellular microenvironment on
aneuploid response in mitosis, and neutral treatment was given to mimic normal physiological microenvironment as a
control. We observed that tri-daughter cells formation/occurrence was enhanced with increased cell division time.
Providing sufficient support for study cancer cell development.

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