Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Nanoplasmonic Colorimetric Sensors For Detection Of Ammonia From Water And Urine, Zuriel Caribe
Nanoplasmonic Colorimetric Sensors For Detection Of Ammonia From Water And Urine, Zuriel Caribe
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Motivated by the need for inexpensive, simple, and portable devices for aqueous chemical analysis, we developed a nanoplasmonic colorimetric sensor capable of direct detection of wide range of chemicals. This novel sensor exploits the plasmonic resonance of metallic nanostructures with natural light to transduce changes in the chemical environment to changes in color, thus offering a simple route for real-time, in-situ, and low-cost analysis of aqueous chemical species. Due to its environmental and medical relevance, we chose aqueous ammonia to analyze and determine the efficacy and limit of detection of this sensing platform. For the metallic nanostructures we selected aluminium …
Impact Of Crowder Size On Actin Filament Assembly Kinetics, Bryan Demosthene
Impact Of Crowder Size On Actin Filament Assembly Kinetics, Bryan Demosthene
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Actin is an abundant and essential cytoskeletal protein that plays a central role in eukaryotic cell structure and motility. The intracellular environment where actin assembly occurs is crowded with various organelles, proteins, and macromolecules that limit the accessible volume for biomolecular reactions. Macromolecular crowding induces excluded volume effects influencing the activity of biological molecules as well as the shape and conformation of proteins. Crowding agents, such as polysaccharides or inert polymeric molecules, are used to mimic the conditions present in intracellular spaces and provide a better understanding of interactions inside the cell. Macromolecular crowding has been shown to affect actin …
Modulation Of Actin Filament Severing And Mechanics By Gelsolin In Varying Ph Conditions, Claire Toland
Modulation Of Actin Filament Severing And Mechanics By Gelsolin In Varying Ph Conditions, Claire Toland
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Actin is an essential cytoskeletal protein that plays a critical role in cell mechanics, structure and organization with the help of actin binding proteins (ABPs). Gelsolin is a calcium-dependent ABP that severs actin filaments and caps them at their barbed end, regulating cell motility and signaling through dynamic actin cytoskeleton remodeling. A recent study has indicated that low pH stabilizes the active conformations of gelsolin. Additionally, the binding of gelsolin to the barbed end of an actin filament induces a conformational change that propagates along the actin filament. However, it has not been well understood how the complex intracellular environments …