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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Bacterial Mechanisms Of Toxicity And Resistance To Organoarsenicals, Luis D. Garbinski
Bacterial Mechanisms Of Toxicity And Resistance To Organoarsenicals, Luis D. Garbinski
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Arsenic is a toxic element prevalent in the environment since the origin of life on Earth. Bacteria evolved in an arsenic-rich environment, where they developed ways to both overcome arsenic toxicity and harness it to compete with other organisms. These mechanisms include chemical modifications (e.g. oxidation, methylation), degradation, and efflux. The goal of this dissertation is to better characterize these mechanisms, illuminating the arsenic biogeocycle and allowing us to harness organoarsenical toxicity for novel antibiotics. A goal of my research was to elucidate the antibiotic properties of MAs(III), which is synthesized by bacteria to thrive over other bacteria, by identifying …
Development Of A Dna Methylation Multiplex Assay For Body Fluid Identification And Age Determination, Quentin Gauthier
Development Of A Dna Methylation Multiplex Assay For Body Fluid Identification And Age Determination, Quentin Gauthier
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
For forensic laboratories, the determination of body fluid origin of samples collected at a crime scene are typically presumptive and often destructive. However, given that in certain cases the presence of DNA is not in dispute and rather where the DNA came from is of primary concern, new methodologies are needed. Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, affect gene expression in every cell of every mammal. These DNA methylation patterns typically are observed as the addition of a methyl group on the 5’ carbon of a cytosine followed by guanine (CpG). Methylation patterns have been observed to change in response …
Structure Function Relationship In Hexacoordinate Heme Proteins: Mechanism Of Globin X Interactions With Exogenous Ligands And Ligand Accessiblity In Cytoglobin And Neuroglobin, Ruipeng Lei
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Cytoglobin (Cygb), neuroglobin (Ngb), and globin X (GbX) belongs to recently discovered members of the vertebrate globin family, they carry a heme prosthetic group that can reversibly bind exogenous ligands such as CO, NO and O2. Although the physiological functions of Cygb, Ngb and GbX are still under debate, several possible physiological functions for these proteins were proposed. Cytoglobin was reported to participate in lipid-based signaling and to stabilize the tumor suppressor p53 upon DNA damage, which imply its anti-cancer role. Neuroglobin was shown to interact with α-subunit of the heterotrimeric G protein as well as cytochrome c …
Dna Base Excision Repair Modulates Dna Repeat Instability And Non-B Form Dna Structures, Eduardo E. Laverde
Dna Base Excision Repair Modulates Dna Repeat Instability And Non-B Form Dna Structures, Eduardo E. Laverde
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The human genome is constantly attacked by endogenous and exogenous sources of DNA damage that generates DNA base lesions and strand breaks leading to genome instability, cell death, and diseases. To combat these adverse effects, cells have evolved a robust DNA repair mechanism called “the DNA base excision repair (BER),” which efficiently removes DNA lesions maintaining genome stability. However, its underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In my dissertation research, I explored the molecular mechanism by which BER modulates trinucleotide repeats (TNR) by processing non-B form structures such as hairpins and R-loops through the coordination among BER enzymes and …