Hypoxia Inducible Lipid Droplet Associated (HILPDA) is frequently overexpressed in tumors and promotes neutral lipid storage. The impact of Hilpda on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor growth is not known. In order to evaluate Hilpda-dependent lipid storage mechanisms, expression of Hilpda in murine pancreatic cells (KPC) was genetically manipulated. Lipid droplet (LD) abundance and triglyceride content in vitro were measured, and model tumor growth in nu/nu mice was determined. The results showed that excess lipid supply increased triglyceride storage and LD formation in KPC cells in a HILPDA-dependent manner. Contrary to published results, inhibition of Adipose Triglyceride Lipase (ATGL) did not ameliorate the triglyceride abundance differences between Hilpda WT and KO cells. Hilpda ablation significantly decreased the growth rate of model tumors in immunocompromised mice. In conclusion, Hilpda is a positive regulator of triglyceride storage and lipid droplet formation in murine pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and lipid accumulation and tumor growth in vivo. Our data suggest that deregulated ATGL is not responsible for the absence of LDs in KO cells in this context.
Anatomy and physiology courses are sometimes seen as difficult, which can lead to a lack of motivation in students to learn and engage in the course material. Students may also see the material as “dry,” have issues forming personal connections, or struggle to connect the content to the real world. These issues may lead to students not performing well in the course or feeling that the health field is not ideal for them. Popular culture, especially mainstream superheroes, can serve as an option for mending these gaps by being a gateway to connecting to many students’ lives. Superheroes can be integrated into the classroom through relevant, creative, and unique examples that include clinical correlates, modern scientific innovations, and some real-life “supers” living among us. Real anatomy and physiology can still be taught and explained through discussing these “incredible” examples and also present an opportunity for students to be creative in generating their own anatomical and physiological explanations for various superpowers. Superheroes also help open the classroom up to being a place of acceptance, primarily through their secret identities, which cover a broad range of idols that students can look up to, whether it is their career or based on a character’s race or sexual orientation. Professors can become the superhero in their classroom and help students become more engaged and interested in the material.
Students often find human anatomy courses to be difficult due to the large amount of content covered at a fast pace, which can result in students failing to retain pertinent information. Superheroes are at the forefront of today's popular culture, with many students identifying with specific characters. Utilizing aspects of students' lives, or their agency, that they can resonate with in the classroom, such as their interests in superheroes or personal connections to fictional characters, may help drive students' motivation to learn course content. This study investigated if the use of superheroes in an anatomy curriculum helped undergraduate students learn, apply, and improve their anatomical knowledge. Two courses at The Ohio State University—Columbus Campus, one with a superhero‐based curriculum and one with a traditional anatomy curriculum were compared over three semesters using quizzes and survey data. Results from this project found that the use of superheroes/pop culture in anatomy education is an effective way to teach content. The study also showed that most students found the use of superheroes increased their motivation to learn, helped them gain a deeper understanding of the material, and helped them find the content more approachable and enjoyable. In summary, anatomy curricula can still be taught and explained through these creative and “marvel”‐ous examples as it can help students connect the material to their own agency and drive motivation to learn.
Anatomy is a course that is sometimes considered intimidating, confusing, or boring, with others finding the material difficult due to the amount of content that is covered at a fast pace. Collectively, this can result in students failing to retain the information or not succeeding in the class. Superheroes are at the forefront of today’s popular culture, with many students identifying with specific characters in these universes. Utilizing aspects of students’ lives that they resonate with, such as their interests in superheroes or personal connections to characters, can help drive students’ motivation to learn the course content. Superheroes can be included in the classroom by discussing the characters powers and how they parallel different clinical conditions and modern scientific innovations. The purpose of this study is to explore if the use of superheroes in an anatomy curriculum helps undergraduate students learn, apply, and improve their anatomical knowledge base. This study utilized students in Anatomy 1300 SuperAnatomy and Anatomy 2300 Human Anatomy at The Ohio State University to explore the use of superheroes in an anatomy curriculum. This study will utilize a cumulative pre‐test and post‐test to compare scores between Anatomy 1300, which utilizes superheroes in the classroom, and Anatomy 2300, an average anatomy course. These examinations cover content that is covered in both courses. Survey and demographic data will be used to see if students are able to identify more with the course material due to the variety of characters that are used as examples in class discussions. Data is currently still being collected for this study, but preliminary data supports the hypothesis that students will do better at learning and retaining anatomical content when superheroes are used as examples while teaching the course material. On the pretest, the average scores between Anatomy 1300 (63%, n= 16) and Anatomy 2300 (55%, n= 95) were similar (t = ‐.819; p = .21). On the post test, the average scores between Anatomy 1300 (89%, n= 16) and Anatomy 2300 (74%, n= 14) were statistically different (t =3.48; p< .001). The use of superheroes in an anatomy curriculum improved students’ performance on the post‐test, supporting the claim that students will do better at learning and retaining anatomical content when superheroes are used as examples while teaching the course material. Typical anatomy course content can still be taught and explained through discussing these “marvel”‐ous examples. This study suggests ways for educators to incorporate creative teaching into their classroom using characters that can help students connect the material to their own agency and drive their motivation to learn the material. The results from this study can also be applied to multiple levels of education (e.g., high school, graduate, etc.), as well as explored in other curriculums and disciplines. The superhero examples can also be used to connect to underrepresented populations and hopefully increase diversity in the health sciences. This ...
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