University Honors

Health effects of electronic cigarettes (ECs) are not well understood despite theirgrowing popularity. In this project, I tested the hypothesis that apical air-liquid interfaceexposure of 3D human bronchial epithelium to EC aerosol would produce adverse effects inthe tissue. I have analyzed proteomics data collected on human respiratory tissue that wasexposed to aerosol from various ECs. I used the PRISM graphing software to create volcanoplots showing the up and downregulated proteins. I used the DAVID BioinformaticsDatabase software to determine which processes were significantly affected by specific flavorgroups of ECs. This was done using the functional annotation tool to group the significantclusters. These groups were created based on biological similarities, such as organelles andfunction. I also used Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software to create a tox list and determinewhich pathways and biological processes were affected in these experiments. Using thisinformation, I was able to determine how EC chemicals affect cells and if they maycontribute to the development of disease. This information will also help to direct furtherresearch to ensure the regulation and safety of ECs.