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Characterizing Colorectal Cancer Cells And Their Interactions With Polymethoxyflavones By Raman Microscopy, Hua Zhang Nov 2016

Characterizing Colorectal Cancer Cells And Their Interactions With Polymethoxyflavones By Raman Microscopy, Hua Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

Polymethoxyflavones (PMFs), especially Nobiletin (NBT) and 5-demethylnobiletin (5DN), have been widely studied and proved to have anti-cancer effects. However, their exact modes of action against cancer cells are not fully understood. Raman spectroscopy is a molecular vibrational spectroscopy can be used to measure overall biochemical function of single cells noninvasively and without adding any chemical labels. Herein, we characterized the cellular responses of human colorectal cancer HT29 and HCT116 cells, that grow on the gold coated slides, to the treatments of NBT and 5DN using Raman microscopy. Raman microscopic images obtained indicated the different modes of action of these two …


Alternative Methods For The Treatment Of Chemo-Resistant Cancers, Kaitlyn Wong Jul 2016

Alternative Methods For The Treatment Of Chemo-Resistant Cancers, Kaitlyn Wong

Doctoral Dissertations

Great strides have been made in cancer therapy in the past century, yet it remains one of the leading causes of death in the United States today. This work aimed to shed light on novel methods to treat a variety of aggressive and often chemo-resistant cancers both in vitro and in vivo. The first aim of this work was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of poly(methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) (polyMPC) prodrugs compared to standard chemotherapeutic agents. Conjugation of polyMPC to drugs such as doxorubicin (Dox) can result in its improved solubility, prolonged half-life and therapeutic efficacy. PolyMPC and polyMPC-Dox (at a …


Bioengineered Platforms To Study Carcinoma Cell Response To Drug Treatment, Thuy V. Nguyen Jul 2016

Bioengineered Platforms To Study Carcinoma Cell Response To Drug Treatment, Thuy V. Nguyen

Doctoral Dissertations

The tumor extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an important role in facilitating tumor growth and mediating tumor cells' resistance to drugs. However, during drug development, potential chemotherapeutics are screened in plastic plates, which lack relevant ECM physicochemical cues. In order to improve drug development process, this dissertation includes the development of relevant 2D and 3D biomaterial systems that can be used to study carcinoma cell response to drug treatment. A novel poly(ethylene glycol)-phosphorylcholine (PEG-PC) high-throughput biomaterial platform was developed to study how the ECM mechanochemical properties affect cancer cells' response to drug. The PEG-PC biomaterial is optically transparent, has a mechanical …


Antidepressant Use And Risk Of Colorectal Cancer In The Women's Health Initative, Jenna F. Kiridly Jul 2016

Antidepressant Use And Risk Of Colorectal Cancer In The Women's Health Initative, Jenna F. Kiridly

Masters Theses

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer among U.S. women; 63,610 new cases were estimated to have occurred in 2015. Prior studies found a reduced risk of colorectal cancer among antidepressant (AD) users, however, none adjusted for depression, which is itself linked to increased colorectal cancer risk and could confound this relationship. We assessed the relationship between ADs and AD drug classes with risk of colorectal cancer in a prospective cohort of 145,190 women between the ages of 50-79 without a previous history of cancer at enrollment. Current AD use was assessed at baseline. Over an average follow-up of …


Chemical Stability Of Curcumin: Structure And Activity Relationship (Sar) Study, Zheyuan Du Jul 2016

Chemical Stability Of Curcumin: Structure And Activity Relationship (Sar) Study, Zheyuan Du

Masters Theses

Over the past decades, numerous studies have shown that curcumin has potent biological activities. As a potential chemopreventing agent, curcumin was demonstrated to exert anti-cancer effects in both in vitro and in vivo studies. However, low bioavailability of curcumin limited human clinical trials and its application to be formulated as therapeutics. In this thesis, we will summarize the anti-cancer effects of curcumin in animal studies and clinical trials. In addition, an SAR study will be introduced to elucidate the mechanism of curcumin degradation at physiological pH. We synthesized various curcumin analogues and compared their stability in phosphate buffer using HPLC …