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Is Tgf-Β Playing A Role In Ectopic Neuromuscular Junction Formation In The Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans?, Abir A. Rahman

Biology Theses

The neuromuscular junction (nmj) is a commonly studied synapse, used often to investigate reciprocal signaling between a motor neuron and the appropriate target muscle. In Caenorhabditis elegans, ectopic nmjs can be created by eliminating selected embryonic muscle cells that act as guideposts for the migration of post-embryonic muscles. The ectopic muscles are required to induce sprouting from DD motor neurons, indicating the presence of a muscle derived signaling molecule that interacts with the neurons. A TGF-β homolog, unc-129, is reported to be transiently expressed in the dorsal body wall muscles. The timing of the expression of TGF-β coincides …

Adenovirus Death Protein: The Switch Between Lytic And Persistent Infections In Lymphocytes?, Vineeth Kumar Murali

Biology Theses

ABSTRACT

Adenovirus Death Protein (ADP) expression during late stages of a lytic infection releases mature virions to promote viral spread, thus leading to death of the host cell. We sought to investigate ADP expression patterns in persistently infected human lymphocytes cells. We hypothesized that low expression of ADP allows the virus to persist while high expression would promote lytic infection in lymphocytes. Accordingly, we found ADP expressed in low amount in BJAB and KE37 cells, while lytically infected Jurkat cells demonstrated higher ADP expression in both protein and transcript levels. ADP overexpression in persistently infected lymphocytes did not alter the …

Mc3r And Mc4r Knockdown Via Rna Interference, Danielle N. Mankin

Biology Theses

Melanocortins (MCs) play an important role in feeding, metabolism, and energy expenditure. While melanocortin receptor (MCR) mRNA has been found in the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) pathway, the ability of melanocortins to regulate feeding and other behaviors through actions on the mesolimbic DA system have not been examined. Short-hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) were created targeting MC3R and MC4R and were tested via in vitro studies for their ability to knockdown their target receptor. A total of three shRNAs were created targeting each receptor, and each shRNA caused successful knockdown. These shRNAs are tools that can be used for future in vivo studies …

Is The Cytoskeleton Necessary For Viral Replication?, Rachel E. Morgan

Biology Theses

The cytoskeleton plays an important role in trafficking proteins and other macromolecular moieties throughout the cell. Viruses have been thought to depend heavily on the cytoskeleton for their replication cycles. However, studies, including one in our lab, found that some viruses are not inhibited by anti-microtubule drugs. This study was undertaken to evaluate the replication of viruses from several families in the presence of cytoskeleton-inhibiting drugs and to examine the intracellular localization of the proteins of one of these viruses, Sindbis virus, to test the hypothesis that alternate pathways are used if the cytoskeleton is inhibited. We found that Sindbis …

Distribution Of Fabp7 In Neural Tissue Of Socially Defeated Adult Anolis Carolinensis, Carmenada L. Cañete

Biology Theses

Due to its significance in many cellular functions, fatty acid binding protein 7 (FABP7) has become a rising topic of interest for many scientists. Immunocytochemistry was used to map the distribution of FABP7 and test whether the amount of FABP7 immunoreactivity (FABP7-IR) differed in animals that were defeated in a fight, as compared to control animals that did not engage in any social interaction. The male green anole was used as the subject because its natural tendency to establish social classes within its species provides an ideal model to observe for variation in FABP7-IR. The results showed FABP7-IR in cells …

Actions Of Selective Estrogenic Drugs Implanted Into The Medial Amygdala On Male Rat Mating Behavior, Anna I. Dunigan

Biology Theses

Estrogen stimulation of the medial amygdala (MEA) of the brain promotes male rat mating behavior. However, selective stimulation of either of the estrogen receptor subtypes found in the MEA (ERα or ERβ) does not support mating behavior. We tested the hypothesis that dual stimulation of ERα and ERβ is required to activate estrogen-dependant neural circuits in the MEA responsible for mating by local treatment of MEA with a combination of selective estrogenic agonists: propyl pyrazole triol (PPT, an ERα agonist ) and diarylpropionitrile (DPN, an ERβ agonist) administered to castrated, DHT maintained male rats. Estradiol (E₂) or cholesterol …