Development Of Student Data Visualization Tool, Adaption Of Clostridium Difficile Toxin A Into Protein Delivery Vehicle, And Elucidation Of Tcdc Mechanism Of Toxin Control

Advancing student success in higher education is of paramount importance, and is in need for a tool that visualizes student data in a longitudinal manner. Student Circos plots achieve this by plotting student data in circular plots, depicting the timeline and grades for students selected by demographic or performance information. Cellular delivery of exogenous proteins is a bountiful area of research. However, most current systems have limited in vivo applications and most lack cellular specificity. By adapting Toxin A from Clostridium difficile, the goal was to create a cell specific protein delivery vehicle that would be robust in vivo. However, the chimeric constructs produced were unable to be isolated for study. Control of Toxin A and B in C. difficile has been linked to the protein TcdC. However , no clear mechanism has been developed and there is debate on whether TcdC truly plays a role in toxin production. The goal of this project was to identify DNA or RNA molecules within C. difficile that could behave as a protein sink, binding TcdC and preventing the native behavior. Recreation of TcdC binding DNA molecules that adopt a G-quartet structure was not successful and further analyses was not carried out.