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An Assessment Of Combinatorial Transcription Factor Activity At P53 Enhancer Elements, Sylvia Kuang May 2019

An Assessment Of Combinatorial Transcription Factor Activity At P53 Enhancer Elements, Sylvia Kuang

Biological Sciences

Certain non-coding DNA sequences in the eukaryotic genome regulate gene expression. These non-coding regulatory regions, including promoters and enhancers, are controlled by the binding of multiple transcription factors which act together to regulate gene transcription. The number of potential transcription factor combinations regulating any gene presents a massive experimental challenge. One well-known transcription factor, p53, activates multiple transcription pathways involved in tumor suppression, primarily through engagement with enhancers. p53 is one member of a paralogous transcription factor family, which includes the factor p63. Whereas p53 is involved in tumor suppression, p63 is a transcription factor responsible for maintaining epithelial cell …


Rna Secondary Structure Of 3’Utr Regulates Translation Control, M. Grace Hren May 2019

Rna Secondary Structure Of 3’Utr Regulates Translation Control, M. Grace Hren

Biological Sciences

According to the central dogma of biology, DNA is transcribed into mRNA. This mRNA is then translated into a protein. Translation of mRNA into protein is extremely precise, and as such is controlled by many different factors, both spatially and temporally. This phenomenon is known as translation control. Many times, this regulation is influenced by secondary structures, often in the form of stem loops on the mRNA. These secondary structures found on mRNA, specifically in the 3’Untranslated Region (3’UTR) of mRNA, can influence cellular gene expression. These genes can be upregulated or down regulated, depending on stem loop function. When …


Investigating The Effects Of Intrahippocampal Glucose Administration On Spatial Working Memory In Rats, Jeremy Carter May 2019

Investigating The Effects Of Intrahippocampal Glucose Administration On Spatial Working Memory In Rats, Jeremy Carter

Biological Sciences

Insulin is a peptide hormone released by beta pancreatic cells . Insulin’s best-known function is to regulate absorption of glucose into peripheral tissue: this occurs via activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling cascade and subsequent translocation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) to the cell surface. This canonical peripheral insulin signaling pathway appears to exist in essentially identical form within the central nervous system (CNS), so that insulin promotes entry of glucose into neural cells and subsequent increased metabolism. In order to maintain proper function, insulin-responsive hippocampal neurons and glia require glucose metabolism; a catabolic energy-yielding process that requires insulin …


The Efficacy Of Ventral Pallidum- Deep Brain Stimulation In Rat Models Of Epilepsy, Fu Yee Chua May 2019

The Efficacy Of Ventral Pallidum- Deep Brain Stimulation In Rat Models Of Epilepsy, Fu Yee Chua

Biological Sciences

Antiepileptic drugs have been a primary option for patients with epilepsy worldwide, however, about one-third of patients do not respond to pharmacotherapy. For these individuals, resective surgery can be performed but seizures are still reported in some cases. With that in mind, neuromodulation or deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a plausible alternative to provide seizure freedom for refractory individuals. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), anterior thalamus DBS and responsive neurostimulation (RNS) are FDA approved as neuromodulatory approaches for epilepsy. They reduce and delay seizures but do not prevent or abolish seizures. In the previous study, the Shin lab showed that DBS …


Contrasting Roles Rna Binding Proteins G3bp1 And Hur Influence Zika Virus And A Proposed Mechanism By Which Zika Virus Induces Neurological Complications, Gaston Bonenfant Jan 2019

Contrasting Roles Rna Binding Proteins G3bp1 And Hur Influence Zika Virus And A Proposed Mechanism By Which Zika Virus Induces Neurological Complications, Gaston Bonenfant

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Globalization and climate change have contributed to the rampant spread of mosquitos from tropical and subtropical climates into more moderate climates, and thus also the spread of a number of vector-borne viruses. As of 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that of all human infections world-wide, 16% result from vectors such as flies, ticks, and mosquitos. The spread of such viruses has encouraged expedient evolutionary pressures resulting in more pathogenic viruses that continually pose a serious threat to public health. First discovered in 1947, Zika virus (ZIKV) has only recently presented as a detriment to public health. The importance …


The Effect Of Anthropogenic Environmental Modifications On Malaria Vectors In Amazonian Peru And Brazil, Catharine Prussing Jan 2019

The Effect Of Anthropogenic Environmental Modifications On Malaria Vectors In Amazonian Peru And Brazil, Catharine Prussing

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Malaria is the most deadly vector borne disease, causing substantial morbidity and hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide each year. In the Americas, the incidence of malaria has increased steadily since 2014. The factors driving continued malaria transmission are complex and highly variable across endemic areas. These factors include inadequate access and financial commitment to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, and a failure to target interventions to heterogeneous malaria transmission patterns and vector populations. Nyssorhynchus darlingi (formerly Anopheles darlingi), the predominant malaria vector in Latin America, is known for behavioral, phenotypic, and genetic variability across its range, which allow it to …


Inteins From Pathogenic Microbes As Regulatory Elements And Potential Drug Targets, Cathleen Maria Schiraldi Jan 2019

Inteins From Pathogenic Microbes As Regulatory Elements And Potential Drug Targets, Cathleen Maria Schiraldi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Inteins are self-splicing elements that orchestrate the autocatalytic process of protein splicing, during which the intein excises itself from a host polypeptide. This multistep reaction involves a series of coordinated nucleophilic attacks and peptide bond rearrangements that remove the intein and reassemble the flanking halves, called exteins, to form the mature host protein. Some inteins are also mobile elements, and can spread to the same or ectopic sites using an internal homing endonuclease domain.


Examining The Mechanisms Of Nucleic Acid Structural Rearrangements Using Nanospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry, Botros Toro Jan 2019

Examining The Mechanisms Of Nucleic Acid Structural Rearrangements Using Nanospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry, Botros Toro

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

RNA’s diverse gene regulatory functions are tied to its ability to adopt and rearrange between an ensemble of three-dimensional structures. This concept is illustrated by the process of genome dimerization in HIV-1 and other retroviruses, which is mediated by the dimerization initiation site (DIS) of viral RNA. This essential stem-loop domain establishes a metastable kissing complex (KC) intermediate that seeds the structural rearrangements necessary to stabilize genome dimerization. Most approaches applied to study RNA structure provide us with a snapshot of RNA at equilibrium, leaving key details on dynamics concealed. This thesis explored the merits of nanospray ionization mass spectrometry …


Development Of A Neutropenic Murine Model For Invasive Candida Auris Infection, Steven Torres Jan 2019

Development Of A Neutropenic Murine Model For Invasive Candida Auris Infection, Steven Torres

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In less than a decade, the emerging fungal pathogen Candida auris has become a major public health threat due to its multidrug resistant (MDR) phenotype, high transmissibility, and high mortality rates that range between 30%-60%. Unlike other Candida species, C. auris has acquired high levels of resistance to an already limited arsenal of antifungals. As an emerging pathogen, there are currently a limited number of documented murine models of C. auris infection. These animal models using a range of inoculums from 105 –108 cells per mouse, and the environmental and occupational exposure of working with these models has not been …


Butterflies As Charismatic Indicators : Can Study Of Impact Of On-Farm Habitat Enrichment On Butterfly Populations Provide Insight About Habitat Quality For Other Insects?, Erin Allen Jan 2019

Butterflies As Charismatic Indicators : Can Study Of Impact Of On-Farm Habitat Enrichment On Butterfly Populations Provide Insight About Habitat Quality For Other Insects?, Erin Allen

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Populations of insect pollinators have been declining precipitously across the Northern Hemisphere, due to disease, insecticide application, and habitat degradation and loss. As a result, crop pollination services are at risk, and the ecological insurance provided by biodiversity is in jeopardy. Regional efforts to combat the decline of pollinator diversity and abundance include the New York State Pollinator Protection Plan to assess regional pollinator health, strategies to enhance wild pollinator habitat, as well as on-farm habitat enhancement strategies to augment pollinator populations in and around crops. One such habitat enhancement strategy involves improving native floral resource availability, which is often …