Life Sciences Commons^™

Mob-Ndr Kinase Signaling Components Are Required For Epithelial Tube Formation In The Drosophila Follicular Epithelium, Juan Carlos Duhart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A major goal of developmental biology is to understand how a single fertilized cell can give rise to the many functional tissues and organs, of specific sizes and shapes, that make up the adult body plan. Over the last 25 years, developmental geneticists have uncovered much concerning the cell-to-cell communication systems that are necessary to build complex tissues and organs. For example, throughout development, cells communicate with their neighbors using specialized signaling molecules. These signals are instructive and provide “signal-receiving” cells with information about space and time. That is, signal-receiving cells “learn” precisely where they are located, and, how far …

Investigating The Role Of The Rough Deal Protein In Spindle Assembly Complex Signaling, Ryan P. Mihealsick

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Regulation Of Epithelial Proliferation And Migration By Apical-Basal Polarity Proteins, Gregory Vincent Schimizzi

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Epithelial cells line all the outside surfaces of the body where they perform essential roles in maintaining homeostasis. In addition, epithelial tissues are implicated in many disease processes and are the most common tissue type to give rise to human cancer. Therefore, a thorough understanding of epithelial development and homeostasis has broad implications for understanding human development, health, and disease. The establishment and maintenance of apical-basal polarity is a defining characteristic and essential feature of functioning epithelia. Proper apical-basal polarity (ABP) is required for epithelial tissues to carry out their functions, which include absorption, secretion, barrier formation, and collective migration. …

Analysis Of Chromatin Interactions Of Beaf-Associated Promoters Using 4c, Shraddha Shrestha

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A high degree of chromosome compaction is needed to fit nearly 2 meters of DNA inside a human nucleus of around 10 µm diameter. Correct chromatin folding is crucial to facilitate important nuclear functions such as transcription, DNA replication and DNA repair. Nuclei contain a variety of proteins, many of which help regulate chromatin structure and function. The mechanisms by which these proteins work are diverse and complicated. Here, we study the chromatin interactions of Boundary Element Associated Factor (BEAF) associated sites to gain insight into eukaryotic genome organization. We used circular chromosome conformation capture (4C) technology to detect genome-wide …

Disruption Of Rna Metabolism By Zika Virus, Maggie Lea Dickerson

Honors Theses

Flaviviruses are positive, single-stranded, enveloped RNA viruses that are a part of the family, Flaviviridae. West Nile virus, Dengue, Zika virus and more are a part of this family. Mosquitoes are the vectors for these viruses. In order for the virus to infect mosquitoes, it must evade the RNA interference (RNAi), which is the major antiviral immune mechanism of insects. One study found the 3’ untranslated region (UTR) of the West Nile virus that inhibited the RNAi (GP et al. 2016). The goal of this study is to investigate if the 3’ and 5’ UTR region of the Zika virus …

Evolutionary Conservation Of Midline Repulsion By Robo Family Receptors In Flies And Mice, Allison Loy

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

As the nervous system develops in animal embryos, neuronal axons are guided to their synaptic targets by extra cellular cues that signal through axon guidance receptors expressed on the surface of the axon. In animals with bilateral symmetry, one of the important decisions made by nearly every axon in the embryonic nervous system is whether to stay on its own side of the body, or to cross the midline and connect to cells on the opposite side. The Roundabout (Robo) family is an evolutionarily conserved group of axon guidance receptors that regulate midline crossing in a wide range of animal …

Investigation For Novel Anti-Apoptotic Factors In The Neurons Of Drosophila Melanogaster, Haylie Rachel Lam

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Comparative Meiotic Cytology Among Drosophila Species, Ahmed Folademi Majekodunmi

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Physical connections established by homologous recombination are normally sufficient to establish proper co-orientation of chromosomes during prometaphase of female meiosis I. Nonexchange chromosomes can still segregate because they are connected by heterochromatic threads, which are thought to connect homologous chromosomes and ensure co-orientation in the absence of a chiasma. In Drosophila, the nonexchange chromosomes (such as the Muller F element, also called the “dot chromosome,” which never undergoes recombination) move out on the spindle during prometaphase I, and can be found positioned between the spindle poles and the exchange chromosomes at the metaphase plate. By metaphase I arrest, these …

In Vivo Structure-Function Analysis Of Drosophila Robo1, An Axon Guidance Receptor Critical For Midline Repulsive Signaling In The Embryonic Central Nervous System, Haley Brown

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The repellant ligand Slit and its Roundabout (Robo) family receptors regulate many aspects of axon guidance in bilaterians, including midline crossing of axons during development of the embryonic CNS. Slit proteins are produced by midline cells and signal through Robo receptors expressed on the surface of axonal growth cones to repel axons from the midline. Disruption of Slit-Robo signaling causes ectopic midline crossing phenotypes in the CNS of a broad range of animals, including insects and vertebrates.

Drosophila Robo1 has a conserved ectodomain structure of five immunoglobulin-like (Ig) domains plus three fibronectin (FN) repeats. By utilizing a genomic rescue construct …

Collective Chemotaxis Of Retinal Neural Cells From Drosophila Melanogaster In Controlled Microenvironments, Stephanie Zhang

Dissertations and Theses

More than 172 million people are influenced by a retinal disorder that stems from either age-related or developmental causes. Of those, 1.5 million people endure a developmental retinal disorder. In the developing retina, neural cells undergo a series of highly complicated differentiation and migration process. A main cause of these diseases is abnormal collective migration of neural progenitors hindering the retinogenesis process. However, our grasp of collective migration and signaling molecules, critical to the developing retina, is incompletely understood. Understanding the molecular mechanisms, such as the fibroblast growth factor pathway, that regulate glial and neuronal migration provides decisive insights in …

Jak/Stat Signaling Regulates Gametogenesis And Age-Related Reproductive Maintenance, Michelle Suzanne Giedt

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Cell signaling is central to integration of internal and external cues that regulate development and homeostasis. Most development is thought of as pre-adult, but limited developmental processes occur in adults. Gametogenesis incorporates elements of both these facets, with a distinct developmental plan for gamete synthesis which is regulated by integration of homeostatic inputs such as nutrient status, and environmental cues. Signaling pathways integrate and transduce information from these cues to evoke a response. A decline in homeostasis and subsequent cues occurs over time, in the case of reproductive tissues leading to a progressive loss of fertility. The Janus Kinase and …

Regulated Transcriptional Silencing Promotes Germline Stem Cell Differentiation In Drosophila Melanogaster, Pooja Flora

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Germ cells are the only cell in an organism that have the capacity to give rise to a new organism and are passed from one generation to the next. Therefore, to maintain this unique ability of totipotency and immortality, germ cells execute specific functions, such as, repression of a somatic program and contour a germ line-specific pre- and post-transcriptional gene regulatory landscape. In many sexually reproducing organisms, germ cells are formed during the earliest stages of embryogenesis and undergoes several stages of development to eventually get encapsulated by the somatic cells of the gonad. Once, in the gonad, the germ …

Chromatin-Signaling Axis Orchestrates The Formation Of Germline Stem Cell Differentiation Niche In Drosophila, Maitreyi Upadhyay

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Stem cells have the unique capability of self-renewing into stem cells and differentiating into several terminal cell types. Loss of either of these processes can lead to aging, progression towards degenerative diseases and cancers. Insight into how self-renewal and differentiation are regulated will have tremendous therapeutic impact. Drosophila is an excellent model system for stem cell study due to the availability of various mutants, markers and RNAi technology. In order to study stem cell biology, we use female Drosophila gonads, whose stem cell population – the germline stem cells (GSCs) gives rise to gametes.

Studies Of Norspermidine Uptake In Drosophila Suggest The Existence Of Multiple Polyamine Transport Pathways, Michael Dieffenbach

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Polyamines are a class of essential nutrients involved in many basic cellular processes such as gene expression, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. Without polyamines, cell growth is delayed or halted. Cancerous cells require an abundance of polyamines through a combination of synthesis and transport from the extracellular environment. An FDA-approved drug, D,L-α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), blocks polyamine synthesis but is ineffective at inhibiting cell growth due to polyamine transport. Thus, there is a need to develop drugs that inhibit polyamine transport to use in combination with DFMO. Surprisingly, little is known about the polyamine transport system in humans and other eukaryotes. Understanding the …