Life Sciences Commons^™

Identification Of Pneumococcal Membrane Proteins Involved In Colonization/Biofilm Formation And Cognate Host Cellular Receptors, Yoonsung Hu

Theses and Dissertations

Colonization is prerequisite for infection and transmission of Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus. Currently available pneumococcal conjugate and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines can provide protection against a limited number of capsular serotypes. Implementation of vaccines has decreased the frequency of invasive pneumococcal disease and their colonization rates, but only in a serotype-dependent manner. This has led to serotype replacement in pneumococcal ecology and increased invasive disease caused by non-vaccine serotypes. Development of conserved protein-based vaccine that can provide protection against all pneumococcal serotypes is needed. Numerous surface proteins are conserved in all serotypes, and some are known to be involved in …

Selective Gsk3Β Inhibition Mediates An Nrf2-Independent Anti-Inflammatory Microglial Response, Mohamed H. Yousef

Theses and Dissertations

Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 (GSK3) is associated with the proinflammatory phenotype of microglia and has been shown to act in concert with Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). . GSK3 is also a suppressor of Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), the principal regulator of redox homeostasis. Agreeing with the oxidative paradigm of aging, Nrf2 is often deregulated in parainflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we aimed to explore a multimodal disease-modifying utility of GSK3 inhibition, beyond neuronal proteopathologies, Furthermore, we aimed to underscore the difference in therapeutic value between the two GSK3 paralogs by isoform-selective chemical inhibition.

The …

Repurposing Metformin And Antifolates For The Treatment Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Sherouk Mohamed Tawfik

Theses and Dissertations

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most prevalent types of cancers worldwide, continues to maintain high levels of resistance to standard therapy. As clinical data revealed poor response rates, the need for developing new methods has increased to improve the overall wellbeing of patients with HCC. Due to its safety, wide availability and previously reported anti-cancer effects, metformin (MET) serves to be a possible therapeutic agent when combined with other well-known anti-cancer agents. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential anti-cancer effects of MET, an anti-diabetic agent, when combined with two antifolate drugs: trimethoprim (TMP) or methotrexate …

A Predictive Model For Geographical Location Using Microbiome Composition And Covid-19 Based Analysis, Ahmed Adel Aboushanab

Theses and Dissertations

The human microbiome is a main contributor for the health and welfare of the human body. It is affected by many factors like diet and hygiene. These factors differ between different populations. Testing the population-microbiome differences using healthy samples from different countries is the first objective of this study. This data was then used in training and testing machine learning models (Random Forest and L2-logistic Regression Classifiers) for the prediction of the geographical location based on the microbiome data. Random Forest Classifier had the highest accuracy. Feature importance analysis showed that the data for Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes improved the …

Changes In Physical Activity And Relationships To Submaximal Exercise Capacity And Cardiac Function During Breast Cancer Therapy, Moriah P. Bellissimo

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Breast cancer (BC) survivors are at high risk for heart failure due to curative cancer therapies. In non-cancer populations, physical activity is a first line treatment for preventing cardiovascular disease. This study examined whether more physical activity was associated with better submaximal exercise capacity and cardiac function during the first three months of cancer therapy.

Methods: Participants included 223 women with stage I-III BC before therapy and after three months of undergoing treatment and 126 controls. Leisure time physical activity was reported using the Godin Sheppard leisure time exercise questionnaire. Cardiac function was assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance, and …

Human Papillomavirus 16 E2 Regulates Host Cell Pathways Important For Cancer Progression And Treatment Sensitivity Which May Contribute To Cancer Outcomes, Christian Fontan

Theses and Dissertations

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are causative agents in around 5% of all cancers, including cervical and oropharyngeal. A feature of HPV cancers is their better clinical outcome compared with non-HPV anatomical counterparts. In turn, the presence of E2 predicts a better clinical outcome in HPV-positive cancers; the reason(s) for the better outcome of E2-positive patients is not fully understood.

Previously, we demonstrated that HPV16 E2 regulates host gene transcription that is relevant to the HPV16 lifecycle in N/Tert-1 cells. One of the genes repressed by E2 and the entire HPV16 genome in N/Tert-1 cells is TWIST1. In these studies, we demonstrate …