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Instructor/Advisor

Anastassiia Vertii

Keywords

Inflammation, nucleoli, febrile

Abstract

Fever is a physiological response that is defined by an increase in the core body temperature above 38.8 °C, it plays a critical role in the immune response against infections and inflammations. Prolonged and uncontrolled fever can be detrimental to the body’s function and can be associated with cytokine storms in conditions such as sepsis and severe COVID-19, increasing the possibility of mortality and the development of cognitive impairments. Although the physiology of febrile conditions is well understood, the impact of the cellular nuclear structure, particularly centromere-nucleoli interactions, is still poorly understood. Centromeres are critical for chromosome segregation, and they associate with nucleoli during interphase of cell division.

In this study, we investigate the effects of heat stress, simulating febrile conditions (41°C for 2 hours), on the centromere-nucleoli association and their recovery dynamics in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Our initial observations suggest previously undocumented changes in nucleoli integrity during recovery from febrile-like conditions. The significant changes in nucleoli do not prevent cell proliferation suggesting that cell division proceeds without expected nucleoli/centromere positioning within nucleus.

Nucleoli undergo dynamic changes during febrile-like stress recovery

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