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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Deciphering The Perpetual Fight Between Virus And Host: Utilizing Bioinformatics To Elucidate The Host's Genetic Mechanisms That Influence Jc Polyomavirus Infection, Michael P. Wilczek Aug 2021

Deciphering The Perpetual Fight Between Virus And Host: Utilizing Bioinformatics To Elucidate The Host's Genetic Mechanisms That Influence Jc Polyomavirus Infection, Michael P. Wilczek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) is a human-specific pathogen that infects 50-80% of the population, and can cause a deadly, demyelinating disease, known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). In most of the population, JCPyV persistently infects the kidneys but during immunosuppression, it can reactivate and spread to the central nervous system (CNS), causing PML. In the CNS, JCPyV targets two cell types, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. Due to the hallmark pathology of oligodendrocyte lysis observed in disease, oligodendrocytes were thought to be the main cell type involved during JCPyV infection. However, recent evidence suggests that astrocytes are targeted by the virus and act …


Characterization Of Iron-Sulfur Cluster Biogenesis In Methanogenic Archaea, Thomas Modlin Deere Jul 2021

Characterization Of Iron-Sulfur Cluster Biogenesis In Methanogenic Archaea, Thomas Modlin Deere

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are among the oldest cofactors on the planet, used by proteins in almost all forms of life on Earth to carry out processes ranging from energy transfer to DNA replication. Among the organisms believed to use these Fe-S proteins more extensively than almost any others are the methanogens, an ancient lineage of archaeal microbes that produce methane as a required product of their metabolism. Methane, the primary component of commercial natural gas, is both a potent greenhouse gas and an important fossil fuel. It can also be renewably produced as a biofuel. Biogenic methane is almost entirely …


Circrev1 Expression In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Meagan P. Horton Jun 2021

Circrev1 Expression In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Meagan P. Horton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) comprises only 24% of breast cancer cases, yet is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in women due to its aggressive nature (1). This increase in mortality is due to the lack of receptors for three targetable growth factors (HER2, progesterone, and estrogen receptors). Our previous studies have indicated that these cancers are highly dysregulated in respect to alternative splicing. Hence, we undertook a study aimed at identifying circular RNAs (circRNAs) generated from back-splicing events which were dysregulated in TNBC. We have identified a novel circRNA transcript, circular REV1 (circREV1), which is upregulated in our …


Ciliary Extracellular Vesicles Are Distinct From The Cytosolic Extracellular Vesicles, Ashraf M. Mohieldin, Rajasekharreddy Pala, Richard Beuttler, James J. Moresco, John R. Yates Iii, Surya M. Nauli Apr 2021

Ciliary Extracellular Vesicles Are Distinct From The Cytosolic Extracellular Vesicles, Ashraf M. Mohieldin, Rajasekharreddy Pala, Richard Beuttler, James J. Moresco, John R. Yates Iii, Surya M. Nauli

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell‐derived membrane vesicles that are released into the extracellular space. EVs encapsulate key proteins and mediate intercellular signalling pathways. Recently, primary cilia have been shown to release EVs under fluid‐shear flow, but many proteins encapsulated in these vesicles have never been identified. Primary cilia are ubiquitous mechanosensory organelles that protrude from the apical surface of almost all human cells. Primary cilia also serve as compartments for signalling pathways, and their defects have been associated with a wide range of human genetic diseases called ciliopathies. To better understand the mechanism of ciliopathies, it is imperative to know …


Elucidating The Role Of The Tyrosine Phosphatase, Shp-2, In Regulation Of Pd-L1 Expression In Non-Small Lung Cancer Using Both Biochemical Analyses And Real-World Genomic Information, Keller Toral Jan 2021

Elucidating The Role Of The Tyrosine Phosphatase, Shp-2, In Regulation Of Pd-L1 Expression In Non-Small Lung Cancer Using Both Biochemical Analyses And Real-World Genomic Information, Keller Toral

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), especially those that target programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1), have been shown to provide substantial clinical benefit in many patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). While these therapeutic agents can be highly effective in the correct context, the biological systems that malignant cells draft from normal activities of the cell are poorly characterized. Tumor cell-specific expression of PD-L1 is likely important for clinical benefit from PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors. It is known that PD-L1 is inappropriately expressed in many cancers harboring mutations in the RAS family of genes. …