Date Approved

2007

Degree Type

Open Access Senior Honors Thesis

Department or School

Biology

First Advisor

Dr. Michael Angell

Second Advisor

Dr. James Vandenbosch

Abstract

Human papillomaviruses are the most frequent known cause of cervical cancer. They preferentially infect epithelial cells, and their life cycles are dependent upon the differentiation of infected cells. Cottontail Rabbit Papillomavirus (CRPV) has been a reliable animal model for papillomavirus study, and has provided germane insight into human papillomavirus biology. Despite the usefulness of CRPV in this regard, single-cell analysis of infected cell cultures has proven challenging due to the latent, non-lytic nature of the virus. The purpose of this study was to develop a highthroughput method for the single-cell detection and analysis of CRPV-infected cells. This method utilizes fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) followed by flow cytometric (FC) analysis. This report describes the initial characterization of an FISHFC protocol designed to detect the highly abundant 28S ribosomal RNA in RK-13 (rabbit) cells.

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