{"id":35627,"date":"2024-07-09T15:18:05","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T22:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/?page_id=35627"},"modified":"2024-09-16T11:57:24","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T18:57:24","slug":"marcos-monteiro","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/cohorts-2\/2017-2018-cohort\/marcos-monteiro\/","title":{"rendered":"Marcos Monteiro"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Marcos Monteiro<\/h1>\n\n\n
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Marcos Monteiro <\/strong>graduated from Eastern Washington University in 2020 with a major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. He is interested in understanding how microbes cause infectious diseases at the molecular level and in understanding the relationship between the human microbiome and diseases. He received the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and worked on research in the Fred Hutchinson summer research program for undergraduates in the summer of 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcos was accepted with full funding into the Biological and Biomedical Sciences PhD Program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; the Biology PhD Program at Indiana University Bloomington; the Molecular Biosciences (MBS) PhD Program at Montana State University; the IBMG PhD program at IU School of Medicine; theBaylor College of Medicine PhD Program in Immunology & Microbiology; and the Biology and Molecular Genetics PhD Program at Emory University, where he began attending in Fall 2020.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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2018-19 McNair Faculty Research Mentor: <\/strong>Dr. Andrea Castillo<\/a> – Biology<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research Title: <\/strong>Manuka Honey Chelates Iron to Impact Iron Regulation in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract:<\/strong> The gram-negative bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is a leading cause of infections in burn patients and demonstrates a high level of antibiotic resistance. For this reason, Manuka honey (MH) has been investigated as an alternative antimicrobial and proven effective against 152 different strains of P. aeruginosa. Additionally, exposure to sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of MH has not bred MH resistant bacteria. This is likely due the multiple antimicrobial mechanisms of MH, a major one being methylglyoxyl (MGO) production. Recent studies suggest that iron limitation may be an additional MH antimicrobial mechanism. Herein, we used a colorimetric ferrozine-based assay to demonstrate that MH chelates ferrous iron from solution. To determine if bacteria cultured with MH experienced iron limitation, iron regulated siderophore production was quantitated in P. aeruginosa cultured with sub-MICs of MH; siderophores are small molecules that bind ferric iron with high affinity and are produced by bacteria when iron is limited. MH treated P. aeruginosa produced significantly more siderophores than the untreated controls. Finally, we examined whether supplemental iron could offset the antimicrobial effects\u2014growth inhibition\u2014of MH. Growth of P. aeruginosa supplemented with either ferrous (Fe2+) sulfate or ferric (Fe3+) citrate increased significantly over the non-supplemented controls. Our results support that iron limitation through iron chelation contributes to MH\u2019s antimicrobial activity. Our future experiments will investigate which components of MH act to chelate iron and how iron uptake mutants respond to MH with iron supplementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019 Summer Research Mentor: <\/strong>Dr. Neelendu Dey<\/a>, MD at Fred Hutch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research Title: <\/strong>Bioengineering Escherichia coli as a Tool for Understanding Carcinogenic Products of Bile Acid Metabolism by Gut Bacteria<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract: <\/strong>Conjugated bile acids (CBA) are synthesized by the liver from cholesterol and released into the small intestine to emusify fats and insoluble vitamins. Bacteroides vulgatus is a gut microbe that efficiently metabolizes CBA into unconjugated bile acids (UBA); its genome encodes three distinct bile salt hydrolase (bsh) genes. UBA can be further modified by gut bacteria to produce deoxycholic acid (DCA), high levels of which are linked to colorectal cancer and colorectal adenomas. It is unclear how multiple encoded bsh genes relate to robust deconjugation by B. vulgatus. We hypothesize that one or more bsh genes encode enzymes that are efficient in deconjugation and that co-expression of multiple bsh genes enables efficient deconjugation by B. vulgatus. Our goal is to functionally characterize each B. vulgatus bsh genes via recombinant expression in Escherichia coli using the pBAD plasmid system. To validate our use of the pBAD plasmid system, we cloned the red fluorescent protein (RFP) gene into pBAD. Our results show that bsh 2, bsh 3, and RFP were cloned into pBAD in the desired region and successfully transformed into E. coli. We verified our results through plasmid extraction followed by PCR targeting the gene of interest, and via capillary sequencing. Future work will involve assessing the deconjugation ability of each bsh gene by culturing these E. coli constructs with conjugated bile acids. This work will further our understanding of B. vulgatus and other bsh-expression microbes contribute to the production of DCA and the development of colorectal cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro Accepted into Two Additional PhD Programs<\/a><\/h2>\n\n

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro! Marcos has been accepted into the Molecular BioSciences PhD Program at Montana State University and the PhD Program in Immunology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, both with full funding. This is in addition to four other PhD acceptances! Marcos is a senior at Eastern Washington University … Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro Accepted into Multiple PhD Programs<\/a><\/h2>\n\n

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro! Marcos has been accepted into the Biological and Biomedical Sciences PhD program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the Microbiology PhD program at Indiana University, Bloomington, and the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics PhD program at Emory University, all with full funding! This is in addition to … Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro Accepted into Indiana University School of Medicine<\/a><\/h2>\n\n

EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro has been accepted into the BioMedical Gateway program at the Indiana University School of Medicine Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro! Marcos has been accepted into the Indiana BioMedical Gateway (IBMG) program at the Indiana University School of Medicine with full funding! Marcos is a senior at Eastern Washington … Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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McNair Scholars Publish Article with Mentor in the Journal of Applied Microbiology<\/a><\/h2>\n\n

Congratulations to current EWU McNair Scholar Marcos Monteiro, former EWU McNair Scholar Laurisa Ankley and McNair Faculty Mentor Dr. Andrea Castillo, along with fellow student Katherine Camp and Dr. Robin O’Quinn, for the publication of their article “Manuka honey chelates iron and impacts iron regulation in key bacterial pathogens” in the Journal of Applied Microbiology! … Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Marcos Monteiro, McNair Scholar, Earns The Barry Goldwater Scholarship!<\/a><\/h2>\n\n

Biology Student First at EWU to Win Prestigious STEM Scholarship Check out the great news!  <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Marcos Monteiro, McNair Scholar, has been accepted to the 2019 Fred Hutch Summer Undergraduate Research Program!<\/a><\/h2>\n\n

EWU McNair Scholar, Marcos Monteiro, was accepted to the world-renowned nonprofit research institution, The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Marcos will have the opportunity to work with a faculty mentor to complete an independent research project and present their findings at a competitive poster session. During the program, Marcos will meet fellow undergraduates, faculty and … Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marcos Monteiro Marcos Monteiro graduated from Eastern Washington University in 2020 with a major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. He is interested in understanding how microbes cause infectious diseases at the molecular level and in understanding the relationship between the human microbiome and diseases. He received the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and worked on research … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9086,"featured_media":0,"parent":35609,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"wpo365_audiences":[],"wpo365_private":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-35627","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9086"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35627"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36930,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35627\/revisions\/36930"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}