Biology subjects

Little, A. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Little, A. C..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Development of a high-throughput radial migration device

By combining the radial migration assay with injection molded gaskets and a rigid fixture, we have developed a more reliable and sensitive method for measuring radial cell migration. This method is well adapted for use on high throughput automated imaging systems. The use of injection molded gaskets enables low cost replacement of cell-wetted components. Furthermore, the design enables secondary placement of attractants and co-cultures. This device and high-throughput application permit the use of therapeutic screening to evaluate phenotypic responses e.g. cancer cell migration. This approach is orthogonal to other 2D cell migration applications such as scratch wound assays, although here we offer a non-invasive, high-throughput device which is currently not commercially available. Collectively, we have designed a systematic, reliable, high-throughput application to monitor phenotypic responses to chemotherapeutic screens, genetic alterations (e.g. RNAi; CRISPR; others), supplemental regiments, and other approaches offering a reliable methodology to survey unbiased and non-invasive cell migration.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2019

Integration of high-content fluorescence imaging into the metabolic flux assay reveals insights into mitochondrial properties and functions

Metabolic flux technology with the Seahorse bioanalyzer has emerged as a standard technique in cellular metabolism studies, allowing for simultaneous kinetic measurements of respiration and glycolysis. Methods to extend the utility and versatility of the metabolic flux assay would undoubtedly have immediate and wide-reaching impacts. Herein, we describe a platform that couples the metabolic flux assay with high-content fluorescence imaging to simultaneously enhance normalization of respiration data with cell number; analyze cell cycle progression; quantify mitochondrial content, fragmentation state, membrane potential, and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. Integration of fluorescent dyes directly into the metabolic flux assay generates a more complete data set of mitochondrial features in a single assay. Moreover, application of this integrated strategy revealed insights into mitochondrial function following PGC1a and PRC1 inhibition in pancreatic cancer and demonstrated how the Rho-GTPases impact mitochondrial dynamics in breast cancer.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Women’s preferences for facial masculinity are not related to their hormonal status

Although widely cited as strong evidence that sexual selection has shaped human facial attractiveness judgments, evidence that preferences for masculine characteristics in mens faces are related to womens hormonal status is equivocal and controversial. Consequently, we conducted the largest ever longitudinal study of the hormonal correlates of womens preferences for facial masculinity (N=584). Analyses showed no compelling evidence that preferences for facial masculinity were related to changes in womens salivary steroid hormone levels. Furthermore, both within-subject and between-subject comparisons showed no evidence that oral contraceptive use decreased masculinity preferences. However, women generally preferred masculinized over feminized versions of mens faces, particularly when assessing mens attractiveness for short-term, rather than long-term, relationships. Our results do not support the hypothesized link between womens preferences for facial masculinity and their hormonal status.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2017

Positive Sexual Imprinting For Human Eye Color

Human romantic partners tend to have similar physical traits1, but the mechanisms causing this homogamy are controversial. One potential explanation is direct matching to own characteristics2,3. Alternatively, studies showing similarity between parent and partner4,5 support positive sexual imprinting6,7, where individuals are more likely to choose mates with the physical characteristics of their other-sex parent. This interpretation has been strongly criticized because the same pattern could also be caused by sex-linked heritable preferences3, where similarity in appearance between an individuals partner and their other-sex parent is caused by similarity in preferences between the individual and their same-sex parent. The relationships among own, parents and same-sex partners eye color provide an elegant test of these hypotheses, which each postulate a different best predictor of partners eye color. While the matching hypothesis predicts this will be own eye color, the sex-linked heritable preference hypothesis predicts this will be the other-sex parents eye color and the positive sexual imprinting hypothesis predicts this will be the partner-sex parents eye color. Here we show that partner eye color was best predicted by the partner-sex parents eye color. Our results provide clear evidence against matching and sex-linked heritable preference hypotheses, and support the positive sexual imprinting hypothesis of the relationship between own and partners eye color.

animal behavior and cognition↗