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A Systems Biology Approach Identifies A Gene Regulatory Network In Parotid Acinar Cell Differentiation., Melissa Ann Metzler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: This project sought to understand the gene regulatory networks that drive parotid salivary gland acinar cells to terminally differentiate, and drive expression of terminal differentiation genes in dedifferentiated ParC5 cells. Methodology: Laser capture microdissection was used to isolate acinar cells at multiple time points during differentiation. This important step allowed us to measure gene expression in a single and important cell type. A systems biology approach was taken to measure global mRNA and microRNA expression across acinar cell terminal differentiation in the rat parotid salivary gland. In ParC5 cells, the ER stress activator tunicamycin was used to stimulate Xbp1 …

Using Intrinsic Properties Of Polyaniline To Sense Expression Of The Microrna Let-7, Jared N. Gloria

Honors Theses

MicroRNAs are approximately 22-nucleotide long RNA molecules that function through decay and translational repression of messenger RNA. The microRNA let-7 is found to play a role in maintaining the fate of differentiated cells in humans. Thus, expression level of this microRNA is a reliable biomarker of tumor cell phenotype. However, there are significant limitations in the current profiling techniques of microRNA. The current methods like northern blotting, microarrays, RT-PCR, or using locked nucleic acid (LNA) for in-situ hybridization are either laborious, semi-quantitative, or expensive. In this research we try to address this issue by developing a fast, specific, and inexpensive …

The Role Of Microrna In Cardioprotection: Ischemic Preconditioning And Mesenchymal Stem Cell Paracrine Effects, Kristin Luther

Dissertations

Changes in gene expression and protein levels are an important aspect of cardioprotection in which short non-coding RNA known as miRNA may play a key regulatory role. We investigated the functions of several miRNAs in the context of two cardioprotective stimuli, ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) paracrine effects. We hypothesized that downregulation of a set of miRNAs (miR-148a/b, miR-30b, and let-7a*) augments expression of protective heat shock proteins during IPC, and that MSC exosomes transfer miR-21 to cardiomyocytes, resulting in downregulation of pro-apoptotic genes and reduction of infarct size.

IPC increased the level of Hsp70, Hsp90, and …