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Genomic Approaches For Pathway Identification In Regenerating Sensory Epithelia Of The Inner Ear, David Alvarado
Genomic Approaches For Pathway Identification In Regenerating Sensory Epithelia Of The Inner Ear, David Alvarado
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
The inner ear utilizes sensory hair cells as mechano-electric transducers for sensing sound and balance. In mammals, these sensory hair cells lack the capacity for regeneration and if damaged lead to hearing or balance disorders. However, non-mammalian vertebrates such as birds maintain their regenerative abilities throughout their life. We completed a gene expression profiling time course of regenerating sensory epithelia: SE) in avian cochlea and utricle on a custom transcription factor microarray following damage by laser and chemical ablation and identified genes from known signaling cascades differentially expressed during SE regeneration. In the second study, we selected 27 of these …
Integrated Genomics Of Susceptiblity To Therapy-Related Leukemia, Patrick Cahan
Integrated Genomics Of Susceptiblity To Therapy-Related Leukemia, Patrick Cahan
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia t-AML is a secondary, generally incurable, malignancy attributable to the chemotherapeutic treatment of an initial disease. Although there is a genetic component to susceptibility to therapy-related leukemias in mice, little is understood either about the contributing loci, or the mechanisms by which susceptibility factors mediate their effect. An improved understanding of susceptibility factors and the biological processes in which they act may lead to the development of t-AML prevention strategies. In this thesis work, we identified expression networks that are associated with t-AML susceptibility in mice. These networks are robust in that they emerge from distinct …
Dissecting The Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Synpase Development And Neuronal Functions In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Shuo Luo
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
The development and function of the nervous system is under delicate regulation of diverse tissue-derived signals in multi-cellular organisms. In Dr. Nonet's lab, I am using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to ask two basic questions: 1) How do different tissues in an organism coordinate to regulate neural functions and behaviors? 2) What controls the development of synapse, the basic unit of the nervous system? These questions divide my dissertation into three parts, with the first two parts related to the first question and the third part to the second question. In the first part of this dissertation, I present …
Evolution Of Endosperm Starch Synthesis Pathway Genes In The Context Of Rice: Oryza Sativa) Domestication, Guoqin Yu
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
The evolution of metabolic pathways is a fundamental but poorly understood aspect of evolutionary change. The rice endosperm starch biosynthetic pathway is one of the most thoroughly characterized biosynthesis pathways in plants, and starch is a trait that has evolved in response to strong selection during rice domestication and subsequent crop improvement. In this study, I have examined six key genes in the rice endosperm starch biosynthesis pathway to investigate the evolution of this pathway before rice domestication and during rice domestication. Oryza rufipogon is the wild ancestor of cultivated rice: Oryza sativa). Oryza sativa has five variety groups: aus, …
A Role For The Ecdysone Response Gene E93 In Imaginaling Patterning During Metamorphosis, Xiaochun Mou
A Role For The Ecdysone Response Gene E93 In Imaginaling Patterning During Metamorphosis, Xiaochun Mou
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Drosophila melanogaster E93 is an early ecdysone response gene that encodes a pipsqueak domain transcription factor. E93 is induced by ecdysone at the end of larval development, and directs the death and elimination of several larval tissues during metamorphosis. Although E93 has been considered a dedicated regulator of larval cell death, I have found that E93 is also widely expressed in imaginal tissues during metamorphosis, where it is required for the proper patterning of many adult structures. Our working hypothesis is that E93 functions in imaginal tissues as a metamorphosis-specific cofactor that determines the pupa-specific action of numerous other transcription …
Flap Endonuclease 1 Ensures Telomere Replication And Stability, Abhishek Saharia
Flap Endonuclease 1 Ensures Telomere Replication And Stability, Abhishek Saharia
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Telomeres, protein-DNA structures that distinguish the end of a chromosome from a bona fide DNA double strand break, are integral to genomic stability. High fidelity replication of telomeres is indispensable for their stability. Telomere replication is a challenging task that is completed through the coordinated actions of telomere binding proteins and DNA replication and repair proteins in ways that are not well understood. This work focuses on delineating the function of one DNA replication and repair protein, Flap Endonulcease 1: FEN1), in telomere replication and maintenance. I demonstrate that FEN1 is essential for the efficient replication of telomeres through its …
Coordinate Interstitial Deletions Of Retinoblastoma (Rb1) And Neurobeachin (Nbea) Genes On Chromosome 13 In Mgus And Multiple Myeloma, Julie O'Neal
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Coordinate interstitial deletions of Retinoblastoma: RB1) and Neurobeachin: NBEA) genes on chromosome 13 in monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance: MGUS) and multiple myeloma By Julie O'Neal Doctor of Philosophy in Biology and Biomedical Sciences: Molecular and Cellular Biology) Washington University in Saint Louis, 2009 Assistant Professor Michael H. Tomasson, Chair Numeric or structural chromosomal abnormalities are detected in nearly all patients with plasma cell dyscrasias, including primary amyloidosis, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance: MGUS) and multiple myeloma: MM). Chromosome 13 deletions, most frequently monosomy 13, are detected in 10- 20% of MM cases by routine cytogenetics …
A Phenotypic And Genetic Characterization Of The Cell Adhesion Molecules Echinoid And Friend-Of-Echinoid In The Directed Cell Movements Of Ommatidial Rotation During Drosophila Eye Development., Jennifer Fetting
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Correct development of multicellular organisms relies on the precise patterning of cells, which must respond to and interpret specific cues that instruct the cells to differentiate and often undergo directed cell movements and rearrangements to give rise to functional tissues and organs. Differential adhesion between the stationary and mobile cells permits and promotes these cellular movements, effecting patterning of cells and tissues. During Drosophila eye development, groups of cells, the ommatidial precursors, undergo a 90° rotational movement within a matrix of stationary cells, providing the cell motility readout of tissue polarity. The mechanisms that regulate ommatidial rotation are not well …
Expression Analysis And Stem Cell Engineering, Cara Rieger
Expression Analysis And Stem Cell Engineering, Cara Rieger
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
The overall goal of the thesis was to develop tools to advance Investigations of stem cells in tissue engineering therapeutics for neurodegenerative disease and spinal cord injury. Two tools to characterize cell fate and a tool to separate a subset of neural cells were developed and evaluated. In the first study, a digital PCR technology, called polonies, was applied to measure mRNA from several key stem cell genes in small numbers of ES cells. Due to its properties, we hypothesized that polonies would be uniquely poised to profile stem cells. Polonies were counted for Oct3 in a sample of 10 …
Calling Cards For Dna-Binding Proteins, Haoyi Wang
Calling Cards For Dna-Binding Proteins, Haoyi Wang
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Organisms respond to their environment by altering patterns of gene expression. This process is orchestrated by transcription factors, which bind to specific DNA sequences near genes. In order to understand the regulatory networks that control transcription, the genomic targets of all transcription factors under various conditions and in different cell types must be identified. This remains a distant goal, mainly due to the lack of a high-throughput, in vivo method to study protein-DNA interactions. To fill this gap, I developed transposon "Calling Cards" for DNA-binding proteins. I endowed DNA binding proteins with the ability to direct the insertion of a …
Subunit Compositions Of Arabidopsis Dna-Dependent Rna Polymerases And The Roles Of The Plant-Specific Rna Polymerases Iv And V In Gene Silencing, Thomas Ream
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
In addition to RNA polymerases I, II and III, the essential RNA polymerases present in all eukaryotes, plants have two additional nuclear RNA polymerases, abbreviated as Pol IV and Pol V, that play non-redundant roles in siRNA-directed DNA methylation and gene silencing. Using a combination of affinity purification and protein identification by mass spectrometry, my studies show that Arabidopsis Pol IV and Pol V are composed of subunits that are paralogous or identical to the twelve subunits of Pol II. Four subunits of Pol IV are distinct from their Pol II paralogs, six subunits of Pol V are distinct from …