Mark Tanner participated in Celebration of Learning

2012 May 7

More than 75 Augustana students from all academic areas shared their advanced research projects on Saturday, May 5, at the Celebration of Learning. This on-campus research symposium annually gives students an opportunity to show off their academic accomplishments to their families and the Augustana community.

Among the students involved:

Mark Tanner, a senior from Sleepy Hollow, Ill., majoring in biochemistry and biology. The research was titled NSP4 of Rotavirus Has Multiple Calcium-Binding Sites. The nonstructural protein 4 (NSP4) of rotavirus functions as an oligomeric pore and is known to disrupt calcium levels throughout a cell. Though NSP4 alters cellular calcium levels, the affect of calcium on the structure of NSP4 has remained a mystery. It was predicted that NSP4 contains several calcium-binding sites, which may regulate its oligomerization and functioning. Isothermal titration calorimetry was used to determine the amount of calcium-binding sites on several truncations of NSP4. Gel filtration was used to examine the predominant oligomers of NSP4 that formed in differing levels of calcium. It was concluded that NSP4 has multiple calcium-binding sites in regions of the protein that are critical for its functions. Calcium also did not appear to alter the oligomerization of NSP4, though it did cause a change in the molecular weights of the oligomers.

Celebration participants presented their research through a poster display or an oral presentation. Many students expounded on the results of their Senior Inquiry, a multiple-term research project required for most academic programs. Other students shared honors capstone projects or student-faculty research findings. Because of the advanced level of research involved, most of the presenters are upperclass students.

Anne Earel and Stefanie Bluemle, Augustana reference librarians and the event's co-directors, said the Celebration of Learning provided an outlet for students to showcase their accomplishments.

Presentations topics varied greatly and included anthropology, biology, physics, geography, gender studies, theater and more.