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Biology

Missouri University of Science and Technology

2015

Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Delivery Of Nucleic Acids And Nanomaterials By Cell-Penetrating Peptides: Opportunities And Challenges, Yue-Wern Huang, Han-Jung Lee, Larry Tolliver, Robert Aronstam Sep 2015

Delivery Of Nucleic Acids And Nanomaterials By Cell-Penetrating Peptides: Opportunities And Challenges, Yue-Wern Huang, Han-Jung Lee, Larry Tolliver, Robert Aronstam

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Many viral and nonviral systems have been developed to aid delivery of biologically active molecules into cells. Among these, cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) have received increasing attention in the past two decades for biomedical applications. In this review, we focus on opportunities and challenges associated with CPP delivery of nucleic acids and nanomaterials. We first describe the nature of versatile CPPs and their interactions with various types of cargoes. We then discuss in vivo and in vitro delivery of nucleic acids and nanomaterials by CPPs. Studies on the mechanisms of cellular entry and limitations in the methods used are detailed.

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Microbial Diversity: A Journey Through Carl Woese's Tree Of Life, David J. Westenberg May 2015

Microbial Diversity: A Journey Through Carl Woese's Tree Of Life, David J. Westenberg

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Review of: Microbial Diversity; James W. Brown; (2015). American Society for Microbiology Press, Washington, DC. 416 pages.

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The Loss Of Hh Responsiveness By A Non-Ciliary Gli2 Variant, Jinling Liu, Huiqing Zeng, Aimin Liu Mar 2015

The Loss Of Hh Responsiveness By A Non-Ciliary Gli2 Variant, Jinling Liu, Huiqing Zeng, Aimin Liu

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Hedgehog signaling is crucial for vertebrate development and physiology. Gli2, the primary effector of Hedgehog signaling, localizes to the tip of the primary cilium, but the importance of its ciliary localization remains unclear. We address the roles of Gli2 ciliary localization by replacing endogenous Gli2 with Gli2ΔCLR, a Gli2 variant not localizing to the cilium. The resulting Gli2ΔCLRKI and Gli2ΔCLRKI;Gli3 double mutants resemble Gli2-null and Gli2;Gli3 double mutants, respectively, suggesting the lack of Gli2ΔCLR activation in development. Significantly, Gli2ΔCLR cannot be activated either by pharmacochemical activation of Smo in vitro or by loss …

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Dephosphorylation Of Iqg1 By Cdc14 Regulates Cytokinesis In Budding Yeast, Daniel P. Miller, Hana Kenton Hall, Ryan Chaparian, Madison Mara, Alison Mueller, Mark C. Hall, Katie Shannon Jan 2015

Dephosphorylation Of Iqg1 By Cdc14 Regulates Cytokinesis In Budding Yeast, Daniel P. Miller, Hana Kenton Hall, Ryan Chaparian, Madison Mara, Alison Mueller, Mark C. Hall, Katie Shannon

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Cytokinesis separates cells by contraction of a ring composed of filamentous actin (F-actin) and type II myosin. Iqg1, an IQGAP family member, is an essential protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae required for assembly and contraction of the actomyosin ring. Localization of F-actin to the ring occurs only after anaphase and is mediated by the calponin homology domain (CHD) of Iqg1, but the regulatory mechanisms that temporally restrict actin ring assembly are not well defined. We tested the hypothesis that dephosphorylation of four perfect cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) sites flanking the CHD promotes actin ring formation, using site-specific alanine mutants. Cells expressing the …

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Excessive Daytime Sleepiness Is Associated With Changes In Salivary Inflammatory Genes Transcripts, Matthew S. Thimgan, Cristina Toedebusch, Jennifer Mcleland, Stephen P. Duntley, Paul J. Shaw Jan 2015

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness Is Associated With Changes In Salivary Inflammatory Genes Transcripts, Matthew S. Thimgan, Cristina Toedebusch, Jennifer Mcleland, Stephen P. Duntley, Paul J. Shaw

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a ubiquitous problem that affects public health and safety. A test that can reliably identify individuals that suffer from EDS is needed. In contrast to other methods, salivary biomarkers are an objective, inexpensive, and noninvasive method to identify individuals with inadequate sleep. Although we have previously shown that inflammatory genes are elevated in saliva samples taken from sleep deprived individuals, it is unclear if inflammatory genes will be elevated in clinical populations with EDS. In this study, salivary samples from individuals with sleep apnea were evaluated using the Taqman low density inflammation array. Transcript levels …

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Angiogenic Effect Of Bioactive Borate Glass Microfibers And Beads In The Hairless Mouse, Richard J. Watters, Roger F. Brown, D. E. Day Jan 2015

Angiogenic Effect Of Bioactive Borate Glass Microfibers And Beads In The Hairless Mouse, Richard J. Watters, Roger F. Brown, D. E. Day

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

The purpose of this project was to investigate the angiogenic mechanism of bioactive borate glass for soft tissue repair in a 'hairless' SKH1 mouse model. Subcutaneous microvascular responses to bioactive glass microfibers (45S5, 13-93B3, and 13-93B3Cu) and bioactive glass beads (13-93, 13-93B3, and 13-93B3Cu) were assessed via: noninvasive imaging of skin microvasculature; histomorphometry of microvascular densities; and quantitative PCR measurements of mRNA expression of VEGF and FGF-2 cytokines. Live imaging via dorsal skin windows showed the formation at two weeks of a halo-like structure infused with microvessels surrounding implanted borate-based 13-93B3 and 13-93B3Cu glass beads, a response not observed with …

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Sensitivity Of Cellular Oxidative Damage To Biosynthetic Rate And Metabolic Rate, Palihawadana Walauwe Kamalika Kaushalya Amunugama Jan 2015

Sensitivity Of Cellular Oxidative Damage To Biosynthetic Rate And Metabolic Rate, Palihawadana Walauwe Kamalika Kaushalya Amunugama

Masters Theses

"The relationship between energy expenditure and longevity is a long standing question in aging studies. The empirical results have contradictory effects on the existing theories. A theoretical model and an experimental test of it were presented, revealing the detailed tradeoffs between metabolic rate, biosynthetic rate and cellular damage level. The dissipative mechanisms of oxidative metabolism cause various forms of cellular damages. To counteract the accumulation of damage, organisms have evolved highly efficient maintenance mechanisms. If there is no other energy demand possess, then most of the cellular damage would be repaired, regardless of how metabolic rate varies. However, the repairing …

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Constitutive Activity In Orphan G Protein Coupled Receptors, Adam Lee Martin Jan 2015

Constitutive Activity In Orphan G Protein Coupled Receptors, Adam Lee Martin

Doctoral Dissertations

"The goal of this research was to use a distal signaling pathway analysis to evaluate the extent of agonist independent constitutive signaling among orphan class-A G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). These receptors translate extracellular signals via conformational change into intracellular activation of different G proteins and subsequent second messenger synthesis. These small molecules regulate cellular biochemistry, eventually leading to nuclear signaling that results in changes in gene expression. Some GPCRs are capable of signaling in the absence of an activating ligand, a phenomenon called constitutive activity that is inhibited via an "inverse-agonist". The use of cAMP dependent Luciferase expression is …

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Ph Dependent Antibiotic Resistance Of An Alkaliphilic, Halotolerant Bacterium Isolated From Soap Lake, Washington, Tiffany Charlynn Edwards Jan 2015

Ph Dependent Antibiotic Resistance Of An Alkaliphilic, Halotolerant Bacterium Isolated From Soap Lake, Washington, Tiffany Charlynn Edwards

Masters Theses

"Soap Lake, located in Washington State, is a meromictic, soda lake. Many bacterial isolates retrieved from Soap Lake have been noted to possess resistance to multiple antibiotics. A likely explanation for the wide range of antibacterial resistance exhibited by these strains is due to the impact of high alkalinity on the antibiotics themselves and not due to the presence of antibiotic resistance genes. The aim of our study was to determine if select antibiotics are effective against Halomonas eurialkalitoleranis, a bacterium capable of growth over a wide range of neutral to alkaline pH values, to investigate the influence of alkalinity …

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Healing Of Bone Defects In A Rodent Calvarial Defect Model Using Strong Porous Bioactive Glass (13-93) Scaffolds, Yinan Lin Jan 2015

Healing Of Bone Defects In A Rodent Calvarial Defect Model Using Strong Porous Bioactive Glass (13-93) Scaffolds, Yinan Lin

Masters Theses

"The main objective of this project was to evaluate the capacity of strong porous silicate (13-93) bioactive glass scaffolds prepared by a robocasting technique to regenerate bone and stimulate angiogenesis in a rat calvarial defect model. The scaffolds were created with the same grid-like microstructure but in a variety of formulations: (i) as-fabricated, (ii) pretreated in an aqueous phosphate solution to convert the glass surface to hydroxyapatite, (iii) loaded with bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2) (1 µg per scaffold), and (iv) doped with copper (0.4-2.0 wt. % CuO). When compared to the as-fabricated scaffolds, the pretreated scaffolds enhanced bone regeneration at …

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