Life Sciences Commons^™

Physical Activity And Exercise During Adolescence And Young Adulthood Can Act As Preventative Measures Against The Development Of Osteoporosis In Elderly People, Christine C. Center

Honors College Theses

Osteoporosis, “the silent killer,” is responsible for 8.9 million annual fractures. Although not bound to these factors, osteoporosis typically targets females that are post-menopausal and have a family history of the disease. Osteoporosis is caused by a decrease in bone mass density. Physical activity and exercise and often spoken about when the topic of osteoporosis is discussed because of the impact they have on maintaining bone mass density in an effort to delay osteoporosis. This paper first provides an overview of osteoporosis, explanation of methods of diagnosing osteoporosis, risk factors, complications and treatment for osteoporosis. Topics covered include, bone mass …

Characterization Of High-Voltage-Activated Calcium Channels In Retinal Bipolar Cells, Qi Lu

Wayne State University Dissertations

Retinal bipolar cells, conveying visual information from photoreceptors to ganglion cells, segregate visual information into multiple parallel pathways through their diversified cell types and physiological properties. Voltage-gated Ca²⁺ channels could be particularly important underlying the diversified physiological properties of different BCs. In this dissertation, I investigated the high-voltage-activated (HVA) calcium current in retinal bipolar cells in mice. In the first part of my dissertation, I characterized multiple bipolar cell-expressing GFP and/or Cre transgenic mouse lines. In the second part of my dissertation, by performing whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, I examined the electrophysiological properties of HVA calcium currents among CBCs and …

Impact Of Cryoablation On Tumor Immunity, Jesse Veenstra

Wayne State University Dissertations

Background and Objectives: Percutaneous cryoablation is a minimally invasive procedure for tumor debulking, which has the potential to initiate or amplify tumor immunity through the release of tumor-associated antigens and endogenous danger signals. However, enhanced immunity is rarely observed in treated patients, suggesting the need for mechanistic analysis. The goal is to determine how cryoablation affects tumor specific immunity and if the response can be improved through exogenous TLR9 stimulation.

Methodology: We evaluated anti-Her2/neu immunity following cryoablation in wt BALB/c and tolerant NeuT mice inoculated with neu or Her2 expressing mammary tumors TUBO and D2F2/E2 respectively. Mice were treated with …

Expression And Regulation Of Map Kinase Phosphatases 1 And 2 In Breast Cancer Tamoxifen Sensitivity, Kelly Haagenson

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EXPRESSION AND REGULATION OF MAP KINASE PHOSPHATASES 1 and 2 IN BREAST CANCER TAMOXIFEN SENSITIVITY

by

KELLY K. HAAGENSON

May 2013

Advisor: Dr. Malathy Shekhar

Co-Advisor: Dr. Gen Sheng Wu

Major: Cancer Biology

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The deregulation of cell signaling is a very important component in the development and progression of cancer. One group of signaling molecules that has been implicated in these processes is the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) family which consists of three major branches in mammalian cells: ERK, JNK and p38. The activity of these kinases has wide-ranging effects within the cell and must …

Linking Environmental Toxicant Exposure To Diabetes Susceptibility, Jannifer Beth Tyrrell

Wayne State University Dissertations

An important and unresolved question in the environmental health field is whether exposure to common environmental toxicants, such as dioxin and heavy metals like Pb, increase the risk of developing diabetes, especially in combination with other common metabolic stressors such as obesity.

Previous studies suggested that dioxin exposure increased peripheral insulin resistance but did not appear to cause fasting hyperglycemia or elevated hepatic glucose output. In concordance with those findings we observed that dioxin treatment caused a strong suppression of the expression of the key hepatic gluconeogenic genes PEPCK and G6Pase. However, this suppression was not solely mediated by the …