Lizi Lomtadze

Major: Psychology

Bio: Lizi was born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia, before moving to the United States, and is currently majoring in Psychology on the Pre-med track. After graduating from Fordham, she intends to pursue a medical degree and continue engaging in scientific research. Working on the research over the summer sparked her interest in the field and in the summer of 2023, she will be working on a study in the field of endocrinology.

Title of Research: Cell Senescence in WS1, BJ, CCD-1070SK and IMR-90 Skin and Lung Fibroblasts

Mentor: Dr. Deborah C. Luckett, Department of Natural Sciences

Abstract: This study investigated the senescence and morphology changes at different passage numbers in WS1, BJ, CCD-1070Sk and IMR-90 skin and lung fibroblast cells. This is valuable information for researchers who are doing studies on fibroblast cells. Each cell line was cultured in Eagle’s Minimum Essential Medium(EMEM) and supplemented with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum, 1% penicillin-streptomycin, and 1% Non-Essential Amino Acid (NEAA) using T25 and T-75 flasks. The cells were subcultured at 75% confluence with 0.25% trypsin and 0.53mM EDTA.

The Senescence-associated β-Galactosidase (SAβ-gal) assay was performed at various passage numbers using Lab-Tek 2-well and 4-well chamber slides. Senescent cells were indicated by a blue color in the cytoplasm. The senescence and morphologies of the cell lines were observed at various passages. In both the skin and lung fibroblasts, senescent cells were found in both lower and higher passage numbers in addition to the morphological changes.