Randy Ankeny - Advisor, Robert M. Nerem, PhD

"Dynamic Shear Stress Regulation of Inflammatory and Thrombotic Pathways in Baboon Endothelial Outgrowth Cells"

Due to isolation ease and proliferative ability, endothelial outgrowth cells (EOCs), are a prominent candidate as a cell source in a tissue-engineered application or a vascular implant. Many studies on EOCs have centered on their origin, response to stimuli, as well as similarities and differences with vascular endothelial cells. This study investigates thrombotic and inflammatory pathways under dynamic hemodynamic conditions in baboon EOCs.

Jin Sung Hong - Advisor, Cheng Zhu, PhD

"2D Kinetics of 3.L2 TCR-pMHC Binding Determine T-cell Function"

In the continuation of studies on class I restricted TCR system (OT1), we investigated two-dimensional (2D) kinetics of TCR-pMHC interaction in a class II restricted TCR system (3.L2). Our results from the adhesion frequency assay and the thermal fluctuation assay show that 2D kinetics correlate well with the ligand potency and better predict the T-cell function than 3D measurements.