Date of Graduation

12-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Biological Sciences

Advisor/Mentor

Ivey, D. Mack

Committee Member/Reader

Marren, Susan M.

Committee Member/Second Reader

Burris, Sidney

Committee Member/Third Reader

Kluess, Heidi

Abstract

The goal of this study was to assess the ATPase activity in the vascular walls of the pulmonary artery, 1A arteriole, and 2A arteriole of the lung of broilers susceptible to idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. This was achieved through the modification of tryptophan in the diet and through the examination of the ATPase activity in the different pulmonary vessels. A QuantiChrom ATPase assay quantified the amount of phosphate ion correlating to the amount of ATPase activity, which was normalized for vessel size using the Coomassie and MicroBCA Protein Assays (giving ?M of phosphate/?g of protein per mL). One way repeated measures tests were used for statistical analyses. According to this study?s results, there was no statistical difference in how the diets affected ATPase activity. When comparing ATPase activities of the different vessels without regard to the diets, a statistical difference was found between the ATPase activities of the 1A and 2A arterioles (more ATPase activity in the 2A arterioles), but not between the pulmonary arteries with either of the arterioles.

Keywords

ATPase; Pulmonary vessels; Diet

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