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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Characterization Of Β-2-Microglobulin Pre-Amyloid Oligomers And Their Role In Amyloid Inhibition, Tyler M. Marcinko Oct 2019

Characterization Of Β-2-Microglobulin Pre-Amyloid Oligomers And Their Role In Amyloid Inhibition, Tyler M. Marcinko

Doctoral Dissertations

In dialysis patients, β-2 microglobulin (β2m) can aggregate and eventually form amyloid fibrils in a condition known as dialysis-related amyloidosis, which deleteriously affects joint, bone, and organ function, and eventually causes organ failure. To understand the early stages of the amyloid assembly process, we have employed a series of biophysical tools including chromatography, spectroscopy, and most especially, native electrospray ionization (ESI) together with ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS) to study soluble pre-amyloid oligomeric species. We have also collaborated and integrated computational modeling to help better understand and rationalize the structural basis behind oligomerization. Recently, several small molecules have been identified …


Rna-Seq And Mechanistic Enzymology Confirm Rna Self-Templated Extension By T7 Rna Polymerase And Suggest Novel Approaches Towards Improved In Vitro Rna Synthesis, Yasaman Gholamalipour Oct 2019

Rna-Seq And Mechanistic Enzymology Confirm Rna Self-Templated Extension By T7 Rna Polymerase And Suggest Novel Approaches Towards Improved In Vitro Rna Synthesis, Yasaman Gholamalipour

Doctoral Dissertations

Synthetic RNA is widely used in basic science, nanotechnology and therapeutics research. The vast majority of this RNA is synthesized in vitro by T7 RNA polymerase. However, the desired RNA is generally contaminated with products longer and shorter than the DNA-encoded product. To better understand these undesired byproducts and the processes that generate them, we analyzed in vitro transcription reactions using RNA-Seq as a tool. The results unambiguously confirmed that product RNA rebinds to the polymerase and self-primes (in cis) generation of a hairpin duplex, a process that favorably competes with promoter driven synthesis under high yield reaction conditions. …


The Effects Of Acidosis On Calcium Dependent Binding Of A Single Crossbridge, Matthew Unger Oct 2019

The Effects Of Acidosis On Calcium Dependent Binding Of A Single Crossbridge, Matthew Unger

Masters Theses

Intracellular acidosis is a putative agent of skeletal muscle fatigue, in part, because acidosis depresses the calcium (Ca2+) sensitivity and force production of muscle (18, 50). However, the molecular mechanisms behind this depression in Ca2+ sensitivity and force production are unknown. This gap in knowledge poses a significant challenge in generating a complete understanding of the fatigue process. To close this gap, the ability of myosin to bind to a single actin filament was measured under acidic conditions, in a laser trap assay, with and without regulatory proteins. Decreasing pH from 7.4 to 6.5 reduced the frequency …


Multiscale Simulations Of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins, Xiaorong Liu Jul 2019

Multiscale Simulations Of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins, Xiaorong Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) lack stable secondary and/or tertiary structures under physiological conditions. The have now been recognized to play important roles in numerous biological processes, particularly cellular signaling and regulation. Mutation of IDPs are frequently associated with human diseases, such as cancers and neuron degenerative diseases. Therefore, it is important to understand the structure, dynamics, and interactions of IDPs, so as to establish the mechanistic basis of how intrinsic disorder mediates versatile functions and how such mechanisms may fail in human diseases. However, the heterogeneous structural ensembles of IDPs are not amenable to high resolution characterization solely through experimental …


Bio-Inspired Polymers That Bind And Deliver Protein Cargo, Nicholas D. Posey Mar 2019

Bio-Inspired Polymers That Bind And Deliver Protein Cargo, Nicholas D. Posey

Doctoral Dissertations

Delivering functional proteins and antibodies into cells can allow researchers to probe the intracellular environment, discover new cellular pathways, and pioneer new therapeutics. However, the entry of exogenous, charged molecules, like proteins, into the cell is usually restricted by the membrane, thereby hindering intracellular delivery. Membrane permeable molecules such as cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) and protein transduction domains (PTDs) can be used to bypass the cell membrane and deliver protein into the cell, but these peptides involve iterative and laborious syntheses and are limited in terms of their chemical diversity. This dissertation work overall focuses on the design and synthesis …


Probing Apoptotic Caspase Allostery And Exosite Interactions For Alternative Regulation, Derek J. Macpherson Mar 2019

Probing Apoptotic Caspase Allostery And Exosite Interactions For Alternative Regulation, Derek J. Macpherson

Doctoral Dissertations

Programmed cell death, or apoptosis is a critical homeostatic pathway that monitors the balance of cell life and death. Apoptosis is regulated by a class of enzymes known as the cysteine aspartic proteases, or the caspases. The 12 human caspases that play important roles in the progression and regulation of apoptosis and inflammation. Caspases are tightly regulated by numerous factors including enzymatic activation, post-translational modifications, metal ligand binding, and protein modulation. Aberrant caspase activation and regulation has been implicated in the progression of numerous diseases such as proliferative diseases and neurodegeneration. The deeply entwined nature of caspases and apoptosis makes …


Characterization Of The Motion Of Cellulose Synthase Protein Complexes In The Plant Cell Membrane, Nina Zehfroosh Mar 2019

Characterization Of The Motion Of Cellulose Synthase Protein Complexes In The Plant Cell Membrane, Nina Zehfroosh

Doctoral Dissertations

The polysaccharide cellulose is the main component of plant cell walls, so it is the most abundant polymer on Earth. While it is widely used in industry due to its remarkable properties, such as renewability and biodegradability, its biosynthesis is still not well understood. The large transmembrane protein Cellulose Synthase Complex (CSC) is responsible for synthesizing cellulose by polymerizing UDP glucose into the constituent glucan chains of cellulose. In this project, I used variable angle epi-fluorescence microscopy (VAEM) in combination with single-particle tracking to characterize the motion of GFP labeled CSCs in the hypocotyl of Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana …