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Evaluating Methods Of Obtaining Male Pheromone From Hymenochirus Sp. Using Analytical Chemistry, Vincent Wing-Kun Leung

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Male Hymenochirus sp. frogs are known to release pheromone that attracts females of the same species. Four methods for collecting secretions containing pheromone in Hymenochirus sp. were tested: norepinephrine injection, gonadotropin-releasing hormone injection, homogenization of gland tissue, and electrostimulation of the skin over the breeding gland area. The samples collected were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry. The HPLC chromatograph for the male norepinephrine sample contained a peak at 6.4 min that was not in the female norepinephrine sample HPLC chromatograph. The male norepinephrine sample mass spectrum had a peak of m/z 292.0 not in the female …

Synthesis And Conformational Studies Of Various Amides, Marcos Beltran-Sanchez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In the past, aminocyclohexanol rings have been successfully utilized as pH-triggered molecular switches in various trans-2-aminocyclohexanol derivatives. By changing the groups on the amine nitrogen, these models provided a wide pH range in which a switch can occur. The pH-induced switch of conformation was monitored by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The models were also incorporated into the bilayer membrane of liposome structures and tested for their ability to disrupt their membrane upon their conformational flip induced by a decrease in pH.

In this work, the amide bond has been studied as a molecular switch and various amide derivatives have been tested for …

The Rational Investigation Of Anti-Cancer Peptide Specificity Using The Knob-Socket Model, Shivarni Patel

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Cancer has been a pervasive and deadly problem for many years. No treatments have been developed that effectively destroy cancer cells while also keeping healthy cells safe. In this work, the knob-socket construct is used to analyze two systems involved in cancer pathways, the PDZ domain and the Bcl-BH3 complex. Application of the knob-socket model in mapping the packing surface topology (PST) allows a direct analysis of the residue groups important for peptide specificity and affinity in both of these systems. PDZ domains are regulatory proteins that bind the C-terminus of peptides involved in the signaling pathway of cancer progression. …

S-Adenosyl- L-Methionine And S-Adenosyl- L-Homocysteine: A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study And Purification Of S-Adenosyl- L-Methionine: L-Homocysteine S-Methyltransferase From Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Mark Lewis Stolowitz

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

An analysis of the 360 MHz ('1)H NMR spectra of the title compounds in ('2)H(,2O) is presented. The ('3)J values for the ribose vicinal protons of S-adenosyl-L-methionine are consistent with a predominantly C(,3')-exo conformation and with one highly favored gauche-anti conformation about the C(,4')-C(,5') bond. The corresponding ('3)J values for S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine imply a similar C(,3')-exo ribose ring conformation, but the orientation about the C(,4')-C(,5') bond is distributed between two gauche-anti rotamers. The methionine side chain of S-adenosyl-L-methionine has approximately equal populations of rotational isomers about the C(,(alpha))-C(,(beta)) and C(,(beta))-C(,(gamma)) bonds, whereas the side chain of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine exhibits a conformational preference …