Life Sciences Commons^™

Molecular Modeling Of Proteins And Peptides Related To Cell Attachment In Vivo And In Vitro, Wanhua Zhao

Doctoral Dissertations

Polypeptides constitute half of the dry mass of the cell, they form the bulk of the extracellular matrix (ECM), and they are a common element of extra- and intracellular signaling pathways. There is increasing interest in the development of computational methods in polypeptide and protein engineering on all length scales. This research concerns the development of computational methods for study of polypeptide interactions related to cell attachment in vivo and in vitro.

Polypeptides are inherently biocompatible, and an astronomical range of unique sequences can be designed and realized in massive quantities by modern methods of synthesis and purification. These …

Vitronectin And Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 Form Higher-Order Complexes That Localize To The Extracellular Matrix And Adopt Adhesive Properties, Kenneth H. Minor

Doctoral Dissertations

Vitronectin is a human circulatory protein that is recruited to the extracellular matrix (ECM) during tissue remodeling pathways linked to injury, inflammation, and tumor metastasis. Whereas circulating vitronectin is monomeric, the tissue-associated form is multimeric and contains multivalent binding sites for both cell-surface receptors and components of the extracellular matrix. In addition, matrix-associated vitronectin directly regulates plasmin-regulated matrix proteolysis through the localization and stabilization of the serine protease inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1). As a component of the ECM, vitronectin adopts a pro-adhesive role, providing a unique regulatory link between cell adhesion and pericellular proteolysis. The mechanism by which …

Development Of A High Spatial Selectivity Tri-Polar Concentric Ring Electrode For Laplacian Electroencephalography (Leeg) System, Kanthaiah Koka

Doctoral Dissertations

Brain activity generates electrical potentials that are spatio-temporal in nature. Electroencephalography (EEG) is the least costly and most widely used non-invasive technique for diagnosing many brain problems. It has high temporal resolution but lacks high spatial resolution.

The surface Laplacian will enhance the spatial resolution of EEG as it performs the second spatial derivative of the surface potentials. In an attempt to increase the spatial selectivity, researchers introduced a bipolar electrode configuration using a five point finite difference method (FPM) and others applied a quasi-bipolar (tri-polar with two elements shorted) concentric electrode configuration. To further increase the spatial resolution, the …