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Transcription Regulation Of Human Il1b Gene In Monocytes And Lymphoid Cd4 T Cells, Sree H. Pulugulla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cytokines are key regulators of the inflammatory response and play an important role in facilitating intercellular communication between various immune cell types. Interleukin‑1β (IL‑1β) is a potent pro-inflammatory cytokine that is required for robust initiation of innate immune response and subsequent development of adaptive immunity. IL-1β is first synthesized as an inactive cytoplasmic, non‑glycosylated, precursor molecule (proIL‑1β) by monocytes and macrophages in response to invading pathogenic microbes. The activation of caspase‑1 by inflammasomes cleaves proIL-1β into mature biologically active IL-1β that is released from cells via a non-classical, endoplasmic reticulum‑independent secretory pathway directly from the cytoplasm via Gasdermin D membrane …

Monocyte Mri Relaxation Rates Are Regulated By Extracellular Iron And Hepcidin, Praveen S.B Dassanayake

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Monocytes are an important immune cell type in chronic inflammatory conditions like atherosclerosis and heart failure. The increase in number of monocytes released to the peripheral blood circulation, the differentiation of monocytes to macrophages, and the presence of different macrophage subpopulations during pro- and anti-inflammatory stages of tissue injury may provide markers for monitoring inflammation. In particular, changes in monocyte iron metabolism during an inflammatory response may increase the possibility of tracking these immune cells non-invasively using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). When secretion of the polypeptide hormone hepcidin is stimulated during inflammation, it binds the iron export protein ferroportin (FPN) …

An Assessment Of Bsa Protein Hydrogel Biocompatibility In The Vertebrate Intestinal Tract, Ryan Joseph Garde

Theses and Dissertations

The fields of biomedicine and pharmacology have a mission to design methods to treat disease while minimizing adverse side effects using novel drug delivery systems. In developing new therapeutic systems, it is crucial to test that drug delivery systems target pathological cells and tissue and is non-toxic in healthy tissue. One promising method for targeted drug delivery is the use of hydrogels as carriers. Here, we studied the effects of bovine serum albumin (BSA) hydrogel consumption to assess the potential for hydrogel use in treating intestinal disease via oral administration. We investigated intestinal architecture and cell populations following hydrogel treatments …

The Balance Between Prostaglandin E2 Ep3 And Ep4 Receptors Determines Severity Of Cardiac Damage In Myocardial Infarction And An Angiotensin Ii-Induced Model Of Hypertension, Timothy Dean Bryson

Wayne State University Dissertations

According to the center for disease control about 610,000 people die every year in the United States from heart disease, of which, coronary heart disease is the most common form. One major risk factor for heart attack is hypertension, which affects nearly half of all Americans [472, 473]. PGE2 plays an important role in regulating cardiovascular function and mediating inflammation, both of which contribute to the development of hypertension and/or heart disease. Prostaglandin E2 can act as a vasodilator or vasoconstrictor depending on which of its receptor subtypes are activated.

In general, activation of the EP1 and EP3 receptors is …

Endotoxin Increases Oxidative Stress And Oxygen Tension While Reducing Milk Protein Gene Expression In The Mammary Gland, Alexander Jonathan Spitzer

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Mastitis, the inflammation of the mammary gland by bacterial infection, is one of the costliest diseases to the dairy industry primarily due to a loss in milk production. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms underlying reduced milk production during mastitis. We hypothesized that bacterial endotoxin induces cell apoptosis, oxidative stress and increases hypoxia while inhibiting milk gene expression in the mammary gland. To test this hypothesis, mice were bred to pregnancy, and 3 days post-partum the left and right sides of the 4th pair of mammary glands were alternately injected with either the endotoxin liposaccharide (LPS, …

Effect Of Osteoactivin And Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 On Soft Tissue In Rat Spinal Fusion Model, Andrew Ohliger

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Osteoinductive therapeutic strategies are essential for the bone healing process and are applicable in multiple orthopaedic procedures. The novel protein Osteoactivin (OA) has proven to stimulate osteoblast differentiation and function in vitro and bone regeneration in vivo in the rat model. More recently, OA has shown significant bone regeneration ability in sheep. The goal of this study is the comparison of osteoactivin with bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in the rat spinal fusion model.