Welcome to Beth Delorme-Axford's web page..

I am a first year graduate student in the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

My first lab rotation was with Martin Schmidt, Ph.D. In Dr. Schmidt's lab, I worked on the Snf4 and Gal83 subunits of SNF1 in S. cerevisiae. Using site-directed mutagenesis techniques, I introduced point mutations and domain deletions into Snf4 and Gal83 to assess for effects on SNF1 functioning. Below is an agarose gel confirming the Gal83 mutations by restriction enzyme digestion with BglII and BamHI.

I am currently in my second lab rotation with Carolyn Coyne, Ph.D. I am studying coxsackie virus B (CVB) entry in a placental cell culture model system. This will enable us to ultimately understand transmission of the virus in utero. Using immunocytochemistry, pharmacological inhibitors, and siRNAs, I am exploring CVB endocytosis in BeWo cells. Below is a fluorescence image of BeWo cells infected with CVB. Several of the cells (center) are undergoing lysis. Virus is stained with mouse anti-VP1 (1:500), and goat anti-mouse Alexa Fluor 488 (1:1000). VP1 is a CVB capsid protein. Nuclei are stained with DAPI.

I am actively seeking a lab for my third rotation. I can't wait to choose a thesis lab and settle in for the next few years.

I previously completed my Masters degree at the College at Brockport, State University of New York. I investigated the localization and internalization of melanin-concentrating hormone receptor-1 (MCHR-1) in lipid rafts. MCHR-1 is a GPCR linked to obesity and leptin/insulin signaling. This is a western blot demonstrating that VSVg-tagged MCHR-1 co-localizes with caveolin-1 enriched lipid raft fractions following ultracentrifugation and caveolae isolation via discontinuous sucrose gradients. Co-fractionation is independent of MCH exposure (1.0-uM) for ten minutes when equal protein is loaded onto 10% SDS-PAGE gels.

Publications

Cook LB, Delorme-Axford EB, Robinson K. Caveolae as potential mediators of MCH-signaling pathways. BBRC 2008: 375(4); 392-5.

Abstracts

Delorme EB, Robinson K, Cook LB. Localization of melanin-concentrating hormone receptor-1 to caveolar membranes. ASCB 47th Annual Meeting. December 2007. Washington, DC. Poster.

Delorme EB, Robinson K, Cook LB. Localization of melanin-concentrating hormone receptor-1 to caevolar membranes. Rochester Academy of Science 34th Annual Paper Session. November 2007. Geneseo, NY. Oral presentation.

Nagahama M, Delorme E, Cook LB. Melanin-concentrating hormone-induced desensitization of MAPK signaling in a cell culture model. National Conferences for Undergraduate Research 2007 Annual Session. April 2007. San Rafael, CA. Poster.

Professional Society Memberships

American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), student member since December 2007.