Browsing by Author "Paris, Nina"

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Detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biomarkers from thermally injured mice in situ using imaging mass spectrometry
(2017-12) Hamerly, Timothy; Everett, Jake A.; Paris, Nina; Fisher, Steve T.; Karunamurthy, Arivarasan; James, Garth A.; Rumbaugh, Kendra P.; Rhoads, Daniel D.; Bothner, Brian
Monitoring patients with burn wounds for infection is standard practice because failure to rapidly and specifically identify a pathogen can result in poor clinical outcomes, including death. Therefore, a method that facilitates detection and identification of pathogens in situ within minutes of biopsy would be a significant benefit to clinicians. Mass spectrometry is rapidly becoming a standard tool in clinical settings, capable of identifying specific pathogens from complex samples. Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) expands the information content by enabling spatial resolution of biomarkers in tissue samples as in histology, without the need for specific stains/antibodies. Herein, a murine model of thermal injury was used to study infection of burn tissue by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This is the first use of IMS to detect P. aeruginosa infection in situ from thermally injured tissue. Multiple molecular features could be spatially resolved to infected or uninfected tissue. This demonstrates the potential use of IMS in a clinical setting to aid doctors in identifying both presence and species of pathogens in tissue.
Further Investigation of How and Why the Lipid Bilayer Composition of Escherichia coli (E. coli) Differs in Aerobic and Anaerobic Environments
(Montana State Univeristy, 2017-04) Paris, Nina
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a highly studied bacterium because it is easy to grow and can grow in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. E. coli cells are surrounded by a lipid bilayer to help facilitate what can enter and leave the cell and to help protect it from the environment. Lipids are very sensitive to energy levels in a cell and therefore can give insight into metabolic stress in cells. Last summer I determined that the lipid composition of E. coli lipid membranes is different when grown in aerobic versus anaerobic conditions. Experiments since then have been done and it has been determined that the lipid composition changes quickly once E. coli cells are transitioned from aerobic to anaerobic environments. This shows that lipid synthesis and metabolism of the lipid bilayer of E. coli is affected by whether oxygen is available.