Life Sciences Commons^™

Titus Thesis Figures.Docx, Titus Hou

Titus Hou

No abstract provided.

Titus Thesis.Docx, Titus Hou

Titus Hou

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Turmeric On The Promoter Activity Of The Cyp6a8 Gene Of Drosophila Melanogaster, Alexa Stroh

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Solvation Thermodynamic Mapping In Computer Aided Drug Design, Steven Ramsey

All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The displacement of water from surfaces upon biomolecular recognition and association makes a significant contribution to the free energy changes of these processes. We therefore posit that accurate characterization of local structural and thermodynamic molecular water properties can improve computational model accuracy and predictivity of recognition and association processes. In this thesis, we discuss Solvation Thermodynamic Mapping (STM) methods that we have developed using inhomogeneous fluid solvation theory (IST) to better characterize active site water structural and thermodynamic properties on protein surfaces and the open source tools that we have developed, GIST-CPPTRAJ and SSTMap, which implement these methods which we ...

Inhibition Of Hsv-1 Binding By Egcg-Stearate, Valerie Paschalis

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is the causative agent of oral herpes, and is able to establish lifelong latent infection along with painful, recurring symptoms. Epigallocatechin-3- gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant polyphenol derived from green tea (Camellia sinensis), whose anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, and antiviral properties have been widely studied. Although EGCG is not chemically stable and has poor hydrophobicity, lipophilic derivatives of EGCG have shown increased stability as well as increased antiviral efficacy against HSV. Previous studies have demonstrated that EGCG stearate (EGCG-S), a derivative of EGCG esterified at the 4’ position with stearic acid, is able to ...

The Effects Of Inulin And Galactooligosaccharides On The Production Of Reuterin By Lactobacillus Reuteri, Micah Dwight Forshee

ELAIA

The microbiome is a dynamic community that can positively and negatively influence host health. Lactobacillus reuteri is a probiotic that has received much attention for its ability to inhibit pathogens such as Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, and Clostridium difficile. It does so by its unique ability to metabolize glycerol into the antimicrobial compound 3-HPA, which is commonly referred to as reuterin. The ability to secrete reuterin is dependent not only on glycerol availability but also the concentration of glucose. In fact, there appears to be a “goldilocks” ratio between glucose and glycerol as either too much or too little glucose ...

Virulence Regulation In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Via The Alginate Regulators, Algu And Algr, The Posttranscriptional Regulator, Rsma, And The Two-Component System, Algz/R, Sean Stacey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacillus able to colonize a wide variety of environments. In the human host, P. aeruginosa can establish an acute infection or persist and create a chronic infection. P. aeruginosa is able to establish a niche and persist in human hosts by using a wide array of virulence factors used for: movement, killing host cells, and evading immune cells and antibiotics. Understanding virulence factors and their regulation has proved to be an important means of combating the morbidity and mortality of P. aeruginosa as well as the ever-increasing threat of drug resistance. By targeting virulence factors ...

Role Of P300 Zz Domain In Chromatin Association And Histone Acetylation, Yongming Xue

UT GSBS Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Transcription is strictly regulated by numerous factors including transcription coactivators. The p300 protein and its close paralogue CREB-binding protein (CREBBP, aka CBP) are well-known transcriptional coactivators that have intrinsic lysine acetyltransferase activity. The functions of p300/CBP largely rely on their capabilities to bind to chromatin and to acetylate the histone substrates. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of these processes are not fully understood.

Through combination of various biochemical, biophysical and molecular approaches, we show that the ZZ-type zinc finger (ZZ) domain of p300 functions as a histone reader that specifically binds the N-terminal tail of histone H3 ...

Temperature And Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid’S Effect On Daphnia Magna Reproduction, Mark Albright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Organisms adapt to their environments by adjusting their biochemistry and physiology; such adaptation is limited by resource availability and physiological constraints. The freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna inhabits a wide range of environments and must survive and reproduce within a range of temperatures. One limit to low-temperature adaptation is thought to be the availability of unsaturated fatty acids necessary to maintain proper fluidity of cellular membranes. D. magna maintained at 10 ºC on a diet poor in unsaturated fatty acids have been observed to produce clutches that fail to develop. However, this has not been observed on a diet rich in ...

Molecular Fossils From Phytoplankton Reveal Secular Pco2 Trend Over The Phanerozoic, Caitlyn R. Witkowski, Johan W. H. Weijers, Brian S. Blais, Stefan Schouten, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté

Science and Technology Faculty Journal Articles

Past changes in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (PCO2) have had a major impact on earth system dynamics; yet, reconstructing secular trends of past PCO2 remains a prevalent challenge in paleoclimate studies. The current long-term PCO2reconstructions rely largely on the compilation of many different proxies, often with discrepancies among proxies, particularly for periods older than 100 million years (Ma). Here, we reconstructed Phanerozoic PCO2 from a single proxy: the stable carbon isotopic fractionation associated with photosynthesis (Ɛp) that increases as PCO2 increases. This concept has been widely applied to alkenones, but here, we expand ...

A Crispr Platform For Rapid And Inducible Genome Editing In Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells, Lloyd Bartley

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for about 85% of lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer death in the world. High mortality rate associated with NSCLC is partially attributed to the limited understanding of NSCLC as well as ineffective therapeutic treatments. The initiation and progression of NSCLC involves genetic changes leading to alterations in the control of tissue development and homeostatic maintenance. Better knowledge about these genetic abnormalities is imperative for developing new chemotherapeutic drugs for NSCLC. Recent research demonstrates that the expression of paraoxonase 2 (PON2), a lactonase/arylesterase with anti-oxidant properties, are markedly enhanced in ...

Crystallographic And Computational Characterization Of Methyl Tetrel Bonding In S-Adenosylmethionine-Dependent Methyltransferases, Raymond C. Trievel, Steve Scheiner

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Tetrel bonds represent a category of non-bonding interaction wherein an electronegative atom donates a lone pair of electrons into the sigma antibonding orbital of an atom in the carbon group of the periodic table. Prior computational studies have implicated tetrel bonding in the stabilization of a preliminary state that precedes the transition state in S_N2 reactions, including methyl transfer. Notably, the angles between the tetrel bond donor and acceptor atoms coincide with the prerequisite geometry for the S_N2 reaction. Prompted by these findings, we surveyed crystal structures of methyltransferases in the Protein Data Bank and discovered ...

Predicting Response To Platin Chemotherapy Agents With Biochemically-Inspired Machine Learning, Peter Rogan, Eliseos J. Mucaki, Dan Lizotte

Biochemistry Publications

Selection of effective genes that accurately predict chemotherapy response could improve cancer outcomes. We compare optimized gene signatures for cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin response in the same cell lines, and respectively validate each with cancer patient data. Supervised support vector machine learning was used to derive gene sets whose expression was related to cell line GI₅₀ values by backwards feature selection with cross-validation. Specific genes and functional pathways distinguishing sensitive from resistant cell lines are identified by contrasting signatures obtained at extreme vs. median GI₅₀ thresholds. Ensembles of gene signatures at different thresholds are combined to reduce dependence ...

37 - Degradation Of Cellulose Through Hydrogen Metabolism And Electron Bifurcation, Madison Prchal

Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (GURC)

Cellulose, one of the most abundant polymers on earth, is difficult to break down. Select anaerobic bacteria are capable of metabolizing cellulose into glucose, then splitting the components apart further through glycolysis to produce ATP. During glycolysis, NAD+ is reduced to NADH and cannot continue acting as an electron carrier until NADH returns to an oxidized state. Though a hydrogen producing pathway is the preferred method of electron carrier recycling, an overabundance of hydrogen can impede the cycle. Anerobic organisms in nature have developed efficient pathways to maximize metabolic energy yields when exposed to little hydrogen. Bacteria present in cellulose ...

33 - Identification Of Proteins That Regulate Crispr Dna Uptake Of Pyrococcus Furiosus, Landon Clark

Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (GURC)

The CRISPR-Cas (Clustered Regularly Interspace Short Palindromic Repeats-CRISPR associated) system is a prokaryotic, adaptive immune system used by bacterial and archaeal organism to fight infections by viruses and other harmful invasive DNAs. These prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas immune systems have been exploited as powerful genome editing tools that work many different organisms and cells including humans. The newly developed CRISPR-based technologies are transforming medicine and science and have been used in research applications for developing cures for certain cancers, HIV, hemophilia, etc. The function of the CRISPR-Cas systems follow three basis steps: (1) adaptation (invading DNA is integrated into the host genome ...

Synthesis And Biological Evaluation Of Phaeosphaeride A Derivatives As Antitumor Agents, Victoria Abzianidze, Petr Beltyukov, Sofya Zakharenkova, Natalia Moiseeva, Jennifer Mejia, Alvin Holder, Yuri Trishin, Alexander Berestetskiy, Victor Kuznetsov

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

New derivatives of phaeosphaeride A (PPA) were synthesized and characterized. Anti-tumor activity studies were carried out on the HCT-116, PC3, MCF-7, A549, К562, NCI-Н929, Jurkat, THP-1, RPMI8228 tumor cell lines, and on the HEF cell line. All of the compounds synthesized were found to have better efficacy than PPA towards the tumor cell lines mentioned. Compound 6 was potent against six cancer cell lines, HCT-116, PC-3, K562, NCI-H929, Jurkat, and RPMI8226, showing a 47, 13.5, 16, 4, 1.5, and 7-fold increase in anticancer activity comparative to those of etoposide, respectively. Compound 1 possessed selectivity toward the NCI-H929 cell ...

Acidity And Antioxidant Activity Of Cold Brew Coffee., Niny Z. Rao, Megan Fuller

College of Life Sciences Faculty Papers

The acidity and antioxidant activity of cold brew coffee were investigated using light roast coffees from Brazil, two regions of Ethiopia, Columbia, Myanmar, and Mexico. The concentrations of three caffeoylquinic acid (CQA) isomers were also determined. Cold brew coffee chemistry was compared to that of hot brew coffee prepared with the same grind-to-coffee ratio. The pH values of the cold and hot brew samples were found to be comparable, ranging from 4.85 to 5.13. The hot brew coffees were found to have higher concentrations of total titratable acids, as well as higher antioxidant activity, than that of their ...

Mouse Genome-Wide Association Studies And Systems Genetics Uncover The Genetic Architecture Associated With Hepatic Pharmacokinetic And Pharmacodynamic Properties Of A Constrained Ethyl Antisense Oligonucleotide Targeting Malat1, Elaine Pirie, Shayoni Ray, Calvin Pan, Wuxia Fu, Andrew F. Powers, Danielle Polikoff, Colton M. Miller, Katrina M. Kudrna, Edward N. Harris, Aldons J. Lusis, Rosanne M. Crooke, Richard G. Lee

Biochemistry -- Faculty Publications

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) have demonstrated variation of efficacy in patient populations. This has prompted our investigation into the contribution of genetic architecture to ASO pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD). Genome wide association (GWA) and transcriptomic analysis in a hybrid mouse diversity panel (HMDP) were used to identify and validate novel genes involved in the uptake and efficacy of a single dose of a Malat1 constrained ethyl (cEt) modified ASO. The GWA of the HMDP identified two significant associations on chromosomes 4 and 10 with hepatic Malat1 ASO concentrations. Stabilin 2 (Stab2) and vesicle associated membrane protein 3 (Vamp3) were identified ...

A Review On Bioconversion Of Agro-Industrial Wastes To Industrially Important Enzymes, Rajeev Ravindran, Shady S. Hassan, Gwilym A. Williams, Amit K, Jaiswal

Articles

Agro-industrial waste is highly nutritious in nature and facilitates microbial growth. Most agricultural wastes are lignocellulosic in nature; a large fraction of it is composed of carbohydrates. Agricultural residues can thus be used for the production of various value-added products, such as industrially important enzymes. Agro-industrial wastes, such as sugar cane bagasse, corn cob and rice bran, have been widely investigated via different fermentation strategies for the production of enzymes. Solid-state fermentation holds much potential compared with submerged fermentation methods for the utilization of agro-based wastes for enzyme production. This is because the physical–chemical nature of many lignocellulosic substrates ...

A Comprehensive Catalog Of Post-Translational Modifications Of Drosophila Melanogaster Hox Protein, Sex Combs Reduced, Anirban Banerjee

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

During formation of the anterior-posterior axis, Homeotic selector (HOX) proteins determine the identity of Drosophila body segments. HOX proteins are transcription factors that regulate gene expression during development. Besides a highly conserved DNA-binding homeodomain (HD), HOX proteins also contain functionally important, evolutionarily conserved small motifs. These short motifs found in HOX proteins may be Short Linear Motifs (SLiMs). SLiMs are proposed to be sites of phosphorylation and this may regulate the activity of HOX proteins. The primary aim of this work was to develop a comprehensive catalogue of the sites of phosphorylation and other post-translational modifications (PTMs) for Fushi tarazu ...

Proteomic Profiling Of Serum Derived Exosomes From Prostate Cancer Patients, David Turay

David Turay, MD

Touted among the major achievements in the diagnosis and management of Prostate cancer (PCa) in the past few decades has been, the dramatic decline of men with advanced/metastatic PCa at diagnosis coupled with a significant improvement ( >90%) in the five and ten year survival rates of the disease. Non-palpable PCa (potentially clinically treatable disease) now accounts for 70-80% of all newly diagnosed cases of PCa. Preceding these changes by about a decade was the introduction of Prostatic Specific Antigen (PSA) into clinical practice; first as biomarker for monitoring response to therapy and subsequently as a complementary screening tool. It ...

Allosteric Regulation Of Pyruvate Carboxylase, Yumeng Liu

Dissertations (2009 -)

Pyruvate carboxylase (PC; E.C.6.4.1.1) is a multifunctional, biotin-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the MgATP-dependent carboxylation of pyruvate to oxaloacetate. The overall reaction is accomplished by the coupling of two half reactions occurring at two spatially distinct catalytic domains by the translocation of a carrier domain, resulting in a net transfer of CO2 from bicarbonate to pyruvate. PC activity is regulated by multiple allosteric effectors with acetyl CoA serving as an activator in most species and L-aspartate serving as an inhibitor for microbial PC. The kinetic characterization of PC from different species have revealed that PC homologs ...

Interleukin-1 Receptor-Associated Kinase 4 (Irak4) Plays A Dual Role In Myddosome Formation And Toll-Like Receptor Signaling, Dominic De Nardo, Katherine R. Balka, Yamel Cardona Gloria, Vikram R. Rao, Eicke Latz, Seth L. Masters

Open Access Articles

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) form part of the host innate immune system, in which they act as sensors of microbial and endogenous danger signals. Upon TLR activation, the intracellular Toll/interleukin-1 receptor domains of TLR dimers initiate oligomerization of a multiprotein signaling platform comprising myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88) and members of the interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase (IRAK) family. Formation of this myddosome complex initiates signal transduction pathways, leading to the activation of transcription factors and the production of inflammatory cytokines. To date, little is known about the assembly and disassembly of the myddosome and about the mechanisms by which these ...

Angiomotins Stimulate Lats Kinase Autophosphorylation And Act As Scaffolds That Promote Hippo Signaling, Sebastian Mana-Capelli, Dannel Mccollum

Open Access Articles

The Hippo pathway controls cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival by regulating the YAP transcriptional coactivator in response to various stimuli, including the mechanical environment. The major YAP regulators are the LATS1/2 kinases, which phosphorylate and inhibit YAP. LATS1/2 are activated by phosphorylation on a hydrophobic motif (HM) outside the kinase domain by MST1/2 and other kinases. Phosphorylation of the HM motif then triggers autophosphorylation of the kinase in the activation loop (AL) to fully activate the kinase, a process facilitated by MOB1. The angiomotin family of proteins (AMOT, AMOTL1, and AMOTL2) bind LATS1/2 and promote its ...

Induction Of Oil Accumulation By Heat Stress Is Metabolically Distinct From N Stress In The Green Microalgae Coccomyxa Subellipsoidea C169, James W. Allen, Rahul Tevatia, Yaşar Demirel, Concetta C. Dirusso, Paul N. Black

Biochemistry -- Faculty Publications

Algae are often promoted as feedstock organisms to produce a sustainable petroleum fossil fuel alternative. However, to induce lipid accumulation most often requires a severe stress that is difficult to induce in large batch cultures. The objective of this study is to analyze and mathematically model heat stress on growth, chlorophyll content, triacylglyceride, and starch synthesis in algae. We initially screened 30 algal species for the most pronounced induction of lipid droplets from heat stress using confocal microscopy and mass spectroscopy techniques. One species, Coccomyxa subellipsoidea C169, was selected and subjected to further biochemical analyses using a jacketed bioreactor amended ...

Phenotypic Screening Identifies Brefeldin A/Ascotoxin As An Inducer Of Lipid Storage In The Algae Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Nishikant Wase, Boqiang Tu, Paul N. Black, Concetta C. Dirusso

Nishikant Wase

The use of microalgae as a biofuel feedstock is highly desired, but current methods to induce lipid accumulation cause severe stress responses that limit biomass and, thus oil yield. To address these issues, a high throughput screening (HTS) method was devised to identify chemical inducers of growth and lipid accumulation. Optimization was performed to determine the most effective cell density, DMSO and Nile Red (NR) concentrations to monitor growth and lipid accumulation. The method was tested using 1717 compounds from National Cancer Institute (NCI) Diversity Set III and Natural Products Set II in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Cells were inoculated at low ...

T Cell Epitope Engineering: An Avian H7n9 Influenza Vaccine Strategy For Pandemic Preparedness And Response, Leonard Moise, Bethany M. Biron, Christine M. Boyle, Nese Kurt Yilmaz, Hyesun Jang, Celia A. Schiffer, Ted M. Ross, William D. Martin, Anne S. De Groot

Schiffer Lab Publications

The delayed availability of vaccine during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic created a sense of urgency to better prepare for the next influenza pandemic. Advancements in manufacturing technology, speed and capacity have been achieved but vaccine effectiveness remains a significant challenge. Here, we describe a novel vaccine design strategy called immune engineering in the context of H7N9 influenza vaccine development. The approach combines immunoinformatic and structure modeling methods to promote protective antibody responses against H7N9 hemagglutinin (HA) by engineering whole antigens to carry seasonal influenza HA memory CD4(+) T cell epitopes - without perturbing native antigen structure - by galvanizing HA-specific memory ...

Men’S Health In Industries: Plastic Plant Pollution And Prevalence Of Pre-Diabetes And Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Sultan Ayoub Meo, Faris Jamal Almutairi, Majed Mohammed Alasbali, Turki Badr Alqahtani, Saad Saeed Almutairi, Rakan Abdulaziz Albuhayjan, Fawziah Al Rouq, Naseer Ahmed

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Plastic production is prominently increasing and its pollution is an emerging environmental global health concern. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among nonsmoking plastic industry workers. Three hundred and forty volunteers male plastic industry workers were interviewed after medical history and examination; finally, 278 nonsmoking plastic industry workers were selected. The mean age for the participants was 38.03 ± 10.86 years and body mass index was 25.52 ± 3.15 (kg/m)². The plastic industry workers had been exposed to plastic plant pollution for 8 hr daily, 6 days ...

Small Noncoding Rna Profiles Along Alternative Developmental Trajectories In An Annual Killifish, Amie L. Romney, Jason E. Podrabsky

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Embryonic development of Austrofundulus limnaeus can occur along two phenotypic trajectories that are physiologically and biochemically distinct. Phenotype appears to be influenced by maternal provisioning based on the observation that young females produce predominately non-diapausing embryos and older females produce mostly diapausing embryos. Embryonic incubation temperature can override this pattern and alter trajectory. We hypothesized that temperature-induced phenotypic plasticity may be regulated by post-transcriptional modification via noncoding RNAs. As a first step to exploring this possibility, RNA-seq was used to generate transcriptomic profiles of small noncoding RNAs in embryos developing along the two alternative trajectories. We find distinct profiles of ...

A Novel Exo-Proteomic Approach To The Study Of Traumatic Brain Injury, Ron B. Moyron

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Concussions and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) are significant health concerns and affect a wide cross section of society. Current diagnostic criteria and modalities, such as brain imaging and subjective measures of consciousness such as the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, are insufficient to properly diagnose the full spectrum of head injuries. Assessment of injury severity and outcome are further complicated by the vast array of symptoms, many of which mimic those displayed by other disorders. It is important to possess a better diagnostic tool for head injury triage and outcome prediction. One current line of inquiry seeks to discover a ...