Christy MancusoUniversity of New Mexico | UNM · Department of Biology
Christy Mancuso
PhD (Biology)
About
21
Publications
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Introduction
Education
August 2012 - August 2018
August 2007 - May 2009
August 2003 - May 2007
Publications
Publications (21)
Background
Protein is the main structural and functional component of cells making it crucial for the survival of all living organisms. Wild mammalian herbivores and omnivores often consume diets deficient in the amount of protein required to grow and maintain homeostasis. To compensate, mammals likely rely on their gut microbiota to synthesize ess...
Land-use conversion and resulting habitat fragmentation can affect the source(s) of primary productivity that fuels food webs and alter their structure in ways that leads to biodiversity loss. We investigated the effects of landscape modification on food webs in the Araguaia River floodplain in central Brazil using the top predator, and indicator s...
American black bears typically rely on forested habitats, so it is not expected that they spend prolonged periods of time in shrub-dominated arid lands like the red rock deserts of southeastern Utah. While these areas are known to be used as corridors between metapopulations (i.e. the La Sal mountains, Tavaputs Plateau and Uncompahgre Forest), it w...
Rationale:
Hydrogen isotope (δ2 H) analysis of keratinaceous bulk tissues has been used in forensic science to reconstruct an individual's travel history or determine their region-of-origin. Here, we use a compound-specific approach to examine patterns of individual amino acid δ2 H values in relation to those of local tap water, bulk scalp hair ti...
Concern about adolescent diets, obesity, and the associated health risks have been growing in the United States. This inspired former First Lady Michelle Obama to spearhead the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA), which made changes to the national school lunch program by increasing servings of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Our study exami...
Rationale
Strontium isotope ratios (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) in human fingernail keratin tissues have been underexplored for region of origin and travel history reconstruction studies. Here we investigated ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in fingernail keratin to establish baseline measurements in a resident group and to examine how ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios changed with relocation.
Me...
Global travel has increased, and having a diagnostic tool to distinguish residents from visitors would be valuable. This study examined stable isotope biomarkers of fingernail tissues of resident (n = 26) and nonresident (n = 22) participants in Salt Lake City (SLC), UT, from 2015 to 2016. The purpose of this research was to determine whether finge...
This study focuses on the examination of stable isotope biomarkers in human fingernails of travelers who ventured away from Salt Lake City, UT and subsequently returned. Here, we describe three case studies examining: individual travelers (n = 4), paired travelers (n = 2), and a traveler (n = 1) who repeatedly left and returned. Our case studies ex...
Water availability and sustainability in the Western United States is a major flashpoint among expanding communities, growing industries, and productive agricultural lands. This issue came to a head in 2015 in the State of California, when the State mandated a 25% reduction in urban water use following a multi-year drought that significantly deplet...
Infection is the most common cause of mortality in early life, and immunization is the most promising biomedical intervention to reduce this burden. However, newborns fail to respond optimally to most vaccines. Adjuvantation is a key approach to enhancing vaccine immunogenicity, but responses of human newborn leukocytes to most candidate adjuvants,...
Hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) is a life-saving therapy for many malignant and non-malignant bone marrow diseases. Associated morbidities are often due to transplant-related toxicities and infections, exacerbated by regimen-induced immune suppression and systemic incursion of bacterial products. Patients undergoing myeloablative conditioning f...
Staphylococcus epidermidis (SE) causes late onset sepsis and significant morbidity in catheterized preterm newborns. Animal models of SE infection are useful in characterizing disease mechanisms and are an important approach to developing improved diagnostics and therapeutics. Current murine models of neonatal bacterial infection employ intraperito...
Summary of gene products used in the mouse TLR signaling array.
(PDF)
Comparison of bacterial burden in solid organs of female and male mice. Neonatal pups were injected with 108 CFU of SE and euthanized at 2 h for harvest of spleen and liver. Organ homogenates were plated for bacterial CFU. Pup tissue was genotyped using real time PCR. Mean CFUs were similar for female and male pups (N = 3–7, Mann-Whitney t-test).
(...
Intra-jugular injection in newborn mice. Video illustrates the necessary steps for performing accurate intra-jugular injection in newborn mice (injection sore 4). These steps are further described in table 1.
(M4V)
Background:
Tracheal aspirates (TAs) from critically ill neonates accumulate bacterial endotoxin and demonstrate mobilization of endotoxin-binding proteins, but the potential bioactivity of endotoxin in TAs is unknown. We characterized innate immune activation in TAs of mechanically ventilated neonates.
Methods:
Innate immune activation in TAs of...
Identification of safe, effective treatments to mitigate toxicity after extensive radiation exposure has proven challenging. Only a limited number of candidate approaches have emerged, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve any agent for a mass-casualty radiation disaster. Because patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell tr...
Detection and clearance of bacterial infection require balanced effector and resolution signals to avoid chronic inflammation. Detection of GNB LPS by TLR4 on m induces inflammatory responses, contributing to chronic inflammation and tissue injury. LXs and Rvs are endogenous lipid mediators that enhance resolution of inflammation, and their actions...
Analysis for age-dependent evolution of cytokine responses to TLR
agonists. 100 µl of whole blood was cultured overnight with
Pam3CSK4 (TLR1/2), Poly (I:C) (TLR3), LPS (TLR4), Flagellin (TLR), FSL-1
(TLR6/2), Gardiquimod™ (TLR7), ssRNA (TLR8) and CL075 (TLR7/8) or ODN
M362 (TLR9) at birth (cord), 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9 and 12 months of age.
IFNγ, TNFα,IL...
The global burden of neonatal and infant mortality due to infection is staggering, particularly in resource-poor settings. Early childhood vaccination is one of the major interventions that can reduce this burden, but there are specific limitations to inducing effective immunity in early life, including impaired neonatal leukocyte production of Th1...