Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Regulation Of Actin Assembly, Mechanics, And Structure By Intracellular Environmental Factors, Nicholas Castaneda
Regulation Of Actin Assembly, Mechanics, And Structure By Intracellular Environmental Factors, Nicholas Castaneda
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
The assembly, mechanics, and structure of actin cytoskeleton are critical for eukaryotic cellular processes such as structural support, cellular motility, and intracellular transport. Actin assembly occurs in crowded intracellular environments containing many ions and macromolecules. While the individual roles of cation and crowding on actin assembly and mechanics are well established, how the combined cation and crowding effects modulate the formation, mechanics and structural transitioning of actin filaments and bundles are not fully understood. Here, we investigate the impacts of various cation and crowded environments on the bending stiffness, length, organization, secondary structure, and kinetics of actin filaments and bundles. …
Transcriptomic Analyses Reveal Distinct Responses Of Differentiated And Poorly-Differentiated Intestinal Epithelial Cells To Lipid Peroxides, Nisreen Faizo
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Lipid peroxides (LOOHs) abound in processed food and have been implicated in the pathology of diverse diseases including gut, cardiovascular, and cancer diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms by which LOOHs contribute to disease have not been fully characterized. Caco-2 cells have been widely used to model human intestinal epithelium in metabolic studies. As differentiated (Diff) and poorly-differentiated (PDiff) Caco-2 cells represent good models of human enterocytes and intestinal tumor cells, respectively, we investigated the cellular response of Diff and PDiff Caco-2 cells to the most common dietary LOOH, 13-hydroperoxyoctadecadienoic acid (13-HPODE), in terms of differential gene expression, gene ontology and …
Association Between Plasma Genistein And Health-Related Quality Of Life In Breast Cancer Survivors, Tran Pham
Association Between Plasma Genistein And Health-Related Quality Of Life In Breast Cancer Survivors, Tran Pham
Honors Undergraduate Theses
According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer death in American women. Breast cancer screenings and improvement in treatments have resulted in the rising number of survivors in the recent decade. This urged the need for post-diagnosis lifestyle changes to improve breast cancer patients' quality of life. Many studies found soy food, the primary dietary source of phytoestrogens, has a protective effect against breast cancer recurrence and mortality. Dietary phytoestrogens can be classified into two groups: isoflavones and lignans. Daidzein and genistein were identified as the …
The Motuporamines Act Through Rho1 And Rac To Control Actin Dynamics In Drosophila, Corey Seavey
The Motuporamines Act Through Rho1 And Rac To Control Actin Dynamics In Drosophila, Corey Seavey
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Given that most cancer patients die from metastatic disease, there is an urgent need to develop drugs that inhibit the spread of tumors. Studies show that the motuporamines activate the small GTPase RhoA to prevent cancer cell migration, but little is known about the mechanism of action of dihydromotuporamine C (Motu33) and its synthetic derivative Motu-(CH2)-33. In the present study, I investigated the biomolecular processes of these compounds in Drosophila by reducing the gene dose of positive and negative regulators of actin dynamics. Consistent with previous findings, reduced gene dose of Rho1 (the Drosophila RhoA ortholog) attenuates motuporamine activity confirming …
Bacterial Association Networks From Healthy And Cancer-Associated Gut Microbiomes, Mark Loftus
Bacterial Association Networks From Healthy And Cancer-Associated Gut Microbiomes, Mark Loftus
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
The human gastrointestinal tract is colonized by a diverse community of symbiotic microorganisms, mainly bacteria, that are known to play essential roles in maintaining the health of their human host. Disruption of this bacterial community has been associated with numerous diseases, including Colorectal Cancer (CRC). CRC is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. As such, focus has been placed on the modulation of the bacterial community within the cancer-associated gut microbiome as the next step in possible CRC treatment and prevention strategies. To use the bacterial community for these purposes, a better understanding of the associations that …
Development Of Adjunctive Agents For Difluoromethylornithine Anti-Cancer Therapy, Aiste Dobrovolskaite
Development Of Adjunctive Agents For Difluoromethylornithine Anti-Cancer Therapy, Aiste Dobrovolskaite
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
The native polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine are small positively-charged molecules that can interact with negatively-charged macromolecules like DNA, RNA and proteins. These interactions aid in nucleic acid and protein conformational stability, thereby, making polyamines essential building blocks for cells. Polyamines are involved in various cellular functions including gene regulation, protein synthesis, and cell proliferation. Rapidly-proliferating cells, such as cancer cells, utilize high polyamine levels for cell growth. Targeting the polyamine addiction of cancers is a validated anti-cancer strategy. To achieve the maximal reduction of polyamine levels, polyamine blocking therapy (PBT) employs several compounds in combination. First, one can inhibit …