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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Effect Of Rapamycin As An Inhibitor Of The Mtor Cell Cycle Entry Complex On The Selective Lysis Of Human Leukemia Cells Lines In Vitro Using 20 Khz Pulsed Low-Frequency Ultrasound, Yasmine Hemida Jun 2016

Effect Of Rapamycin As An Inhibitor Of The Mtor Cell Cycle Entry Complex On The Selective Lysis Of Human Leukemia Cells Lines In Vitro Using 20 Khz Pulsed Low-Frequency Ultrasound, Yasmine Hemida

Honors Capstone Projects - All

It has been shown that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, which regulates cell growth and proliferation, is aberrant in many hematological malignancies. Rapamycin inhibits mTOR signaling which regulates cell growth and cell cycle progression. This study sought to determine the effects of mTOR inhibitors on the cell sizes of normal and neoplastic cells and to determine ultrasonic sensitivity of normal and neoplastic cells treated with mTOR inhibitors. The effects of rapamycin (rapa), an extensively studied natural product that affects cell cycle entry by inhibiting mTORC1, and its analogs temsirolimus (tems) and everolimus (eve), were examined on leukemic cell …


Lactate As A Memory-Enhancing Metabolite Across The Lifespan In Male Fischer 344 Rats, Brooke Hamling May 2016

Lactate As A Memory-Enhancing Metabolite Across The Lifespan In Male Fischer 344 Rats, Brooke Hamling

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Aging is often associated with cognitive decline, including problems with working memory and difficulties forming new memories. These deficits can be directly linked to the hippocampus, an area of the temporal lobe of the brain that is engaged during spatial working memory. Age-related declines may be influenced by changes in important modulatory pathways that impact hippocampal function, including regulation of the metabolite lactate. When astrocytic stores of glycogen are hydrolyzed, lactate is released into the extracellular space where it can be taken up by neurons and used as fuel during moments of activation. We previously found that the extracellular concentration …


The Role Of Intermediate Filament Proteins In Retinal Degeneration And Regeneration, Alexandria Aruck May 2016

The Role Of Intermediate Filament Proteins In Retinal Degeneration And Regeneration, Alexandria Aruck

Honors Capstone Projects - All

More than 30 million Americans are blind or visually impaired due to injury or disease. Retinitis pigmentosa is a genetic disease that initially causes death of rod photoreceptor cells and is followed by the progressive degeneration of the retina, the light sensing tissue of the eye, ultimately leading to blindness. Retinitis pigmentosa leads toretinal gliosis, a process in which a specialized neuroglial cell that is specific to the retina, known as Müller glia, undergoes hypertrophy and migration as a reaction to retinal stress or damage. I am investigating the mechanisms that are responsible for this type of degeneration in the …


Estrogens Regulate Metabolic Substrate Concentrations In Brains Of Young Adult Female Rats: A Multiple Memory Systems Approach, Ella D'Amico May 2016

Estrogens Regulate Metabolic Substrate Concentrations In Brains Of Young Adult Female Rats: A Multiple Memory Systems Approach, Ella D'Amico

Honors Capstone Projects - All

As the most potent circulating form of estrogen in most young adult female mammals, estradiol has extensive effects on physiological functioning. Estradiol effects are especially notable with the drop in the hormone observed when a woman transitions into menopause, with accompanying changes not only in overall physiology but also in brain functions. Recent research reveals the complex effects estradiol has on regulating learning and memory that vary by type of cognitive task among other variables. In particular, increased estradiol levels improve performance on hippocampus-dependent tasks, but impair performance on striatum-dependent tasks through direct actions on these different memory systems. Estradiol’s …


Improving The Nutrient Content Of Agriculture Crops Through Community Ecology, Margo Malone May 2016

Improving The Nutrient Content Of Agriculture Crops Through Community Ecology, Margo Malone

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Agriculturists continually look for ways to improve the nutrient content of crops without decreasing yield or economic benefits. Mutualistic relationships have the potential to enhance the nutrient content without sacrificing the production needs of the farmer. Mutualisms occur when two or more species interact and both members of the association benefit. An exceedingly important and often overlooked mutualism is the one formed between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plants. This interaction has been shown to be a critical component of most ecosystems, yet our understanding of these relationships is still limited. We know that in exchange for photosynthetically derived carbon, …