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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Dynamic Genomic Evolution Via Active Ltr Transposable Elements In Maize, Taylor Isles Jan 2024

Dynamic Genomic Evolution Via Active Ltr Transposable Elements In Maize, Taylor Isles

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Long terminal repeats (LTR) retrotransposons, found across eukaryotes, are transposable elements which can copy and insert themselves into other loci within a genome. These transposable elements are similar to retroviruses in that they rely on reverse transcriptase to “copy and paste” themselves elsewhere in the genome. From the RNA transcript they are able to use reverse transcriptase to make another DNA copy of themselves. This initially gave them the moniker, selfish genes. However, in the decades after the discovery of reverse transcriptase and LTR retrotransposons, it became known that non-genic DNA could have other functions. LTR retrotransposons are sources of …

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Evolution Of Forest Bitis (Macrocerastes) In Africa: Phylogeography, Population Genetics, And Potential As A Model For Batesian Mimicry, Eugene Richard Vaughan Dec 2023

Evolution Of Forest Bitis (Macrocerastes) In Africa: Phylogeography, Population Genetics, And Potential As A Model For Batesian Mimicry, Eugene Richard Vaughan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The major biogeographical patterns characterizing the diversification of widely distributed species in the African rainforest remain poorly understood because of the low number of well-sampled studies that are focused on this region. I examine the phylogeography and population genetics of two broadly sympatric sister lineages of large African forest vipers (genus Bitis, subgenus Macrocerastes), the rhinoceros viper (B. nasicornis) and the Gaboon vipers (B. gabonica and B. rhinoceros). Despite their close relationship, these two lineages have notably different patterns of divergence in time and space. A time-calibrated phylogeny with sequence data from five genes, and population structure and PCA analyses …

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The Modulation Of Lfp Characteristics In The Freely Moving Common Marmoset, William Jm Assis Aug 2023

The Modulation Of Lfp Characteristics In The Freely Moving Common Marmoset, William Jm Assis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The hippocampus is a neural structure critical for navigation. Neurons in this region, along with others, create a functional network which generates large-amplitude modulations known as local field potential (LFP) activity. Prior LFP research has predominantly used rodent animal models, however recent studies have shown that frequencies associated with navigation in other mammals do not correlate to those of the rodent. We hypothesized that LFP characteristics in the common marmoset are modulated by the speed and axis of travel of the animal. Two marmosets were placed in a free moving 3-dimensional environment where movement and neurological activity were recorded. Results …

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Understanding The Environmental And Genetic Influence On Fluctuating Asymmetry And Developmental Instability In Primates, Ashly N. Romero Aug 2023

Understanding The Environmental And Genetic Influence On Fluctuating Asymmetry And Developmental Instability In Primates, Ashly N. Romero

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explored the impact of environmental factors on the development and perpetuation of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and sought to understand the role evolution may play in the FA exhibited in two primate populations: the free-ranging Cayo Santiago rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and the Southwest National Primate Research Center olive baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis). Demographic, ontogenetic, secular, external, and genetic factors were examined. Specifically, this dissertation investigated FA over all ontogenetic stages, across decades, between sexes, in association with ecological catastrophes, and with tooth pathology to try and tease apart factors that may influence FA and developmental instability. This dissertation …

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The Evolution Of Transposable Elements As Cis-Regulatory Elements In Mammals, Alan Y. Du Jul 2023

The Evolution Of Transposable Elements As Cis-Regulatory Elements In Mammals, Alan Y. Du

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genetic elements that make up a large proportion of mammalian genomes. Although TEs are highly prevalent genomic sequences, they have been understudied as they were once labeled as “junk DNA.” Despite their initial status as simple genomic parasites, recent studies have implicated TEs as cis-regulatory elements, supplying promoters, enhancers, and boundary elements. Functional testing of regulatory activity, however, remains a significant bottleneck. Nonetheless, due to their repetitive nature, TEs provide a unique model to examine the evolution of cis-regulatory elements, which has traditionally been difficult to study due to lack of homology at the sequence …

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Alternatives To Antibiotics In Veterinary Medicine: Considerations For The Management Of Johne's Disease, Laura M. O'Connell, Aidan Coffey, Jim O'Mahony Jun 2023

Alternatives To Antibiotics In Veterinary Medicine: Considerations For The Management Of Johne's Disease, Laura M. O'Connell, Aidan Coffey, Jim O'Mahony

Dept. of Biological Sciences Preprints

Antibiotic resistance has become a major health concern globally, with current predictions expecting deaths related to resistant infections to surpass those of cancer by 2050. Major efforts are being undertaken to develop derivative and novel alternatives to current antibiotic therapies in human medicine. What appears to be lacking however, are similar efforts into researching the application of those alternatives, such as (bacterio)phage therapy, in veterinary contexts. Agriculture is still undoubtedly the most prominent consumer of antibiotics, with up to 70 % of annual antibiotic usage attributed to this sector, despite policies to reduce their use in food animals. This not …

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Bio 013: Writing In The Sciences - Human Origins, Esther Muehlbauer Jun 2023

Bio 013: Writing In The Sciences - Human Origins, Esther Muehlbauer

Open Educational Resources

Bio. 013: Writing in the Sciences - Human Origins is an OER syllabus for a College Writing 2 course that develops student writing for different audiences, following the trajectory of how scientists work: Scientists Writing for themselves (a field journal); Scientists writing for other scientists (a review article); Scientists writing for society (an essay for Natural History Magazine).

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Host-Acquired Virus Genes Support An Ancient Antiviral Role Of The Pirna Pathway In Dipterans, Rebecca Christian May 2023

Host-Acquired Virus Genes Support An Ancient Antiviral Role Of The Pirna Pathway In Dipterans, Rebecca Christian

Theses and Dissertations

Endogenous viral elements (EVEs) have been recently investigated as a source of transgenerational immune memory. These “viral fossils” are abundant in Aedes mosquitoes and partner with the host’s primary antiviral defense system, the RNA interference (RNAi) pathways. This partnership appears unique to mosquitoes, which encode an expansion of the Piwi endoribonucleases. To interrogate EVE-Piwi partnerships and their role in antiviral defense, I performed a comparative small RNA analysis of two naturally occurring EVE-virus pairs – one in the mosquito Aedes albopictus, and one in the midge Chaoborus americanus. Both express an EVE related to the nucleoprotein of their …

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Diversification And Convergence Following The Transition From Saltwater To Freshwater In Stingrays., Autumn D. Magnuson May 2023

Diversification And Convergence Following The Transition From Saltwater To Freshwater In Stingrays., Autumn D. Magnuson

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

One of the most fundamental questions in biology is why some groups of organisms are more diverse than others. Classic hypotheses for explaining differences in diversity consider distinctions in time, place, resources, and competitors as the staging grounds for differential diversification. Freshwater and saltwater environments have similar levels of diversity despite significant differences in size, so studying transitions between the two systems can provide insights into evolutionary processes. Despite the challenges associated with this transition, stingrays have invaded freshwater habitats multiple times across different continents, making them useful for better understanding these systems. In this study, I evaluated the frequency …

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Applying Unsupervised Multi-Omic Learning To Identify Patterns Of Human Genomic Regulatory Regions With An Emphasis In Characterizing Hervh Loci., Corinne Sexton May 2023

Applying Unsupervised Multi-Omic Learning To Identify Patterns Of Human Genomic Regulatory Regions With An Emphasis In Characterizing Hervh Loci., Corinne Sexton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the increase of diverse genomic data types, machine learning provides an opportunity to integrate several omics datasets into one cohesive annotation. In this dissertation, I apply an unsupervised clustering approach to a novel representation of 3D chromosome conformation data and chromatin mark data. Specifically I use this new method to annotate the regulatory function of human endogenous retrovirus H (HERVH). In chapter 1, I propose a synthesized model of HERVH function as an activating lncRNA based on previously published work. As HERVH and transposable elements in general are repetitive due to their methods of retrotransposition, in chapter 2 I …

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Systems Dynamics Of The Anterior Cingulate Cortex And Hippocampus In Behavioral Switching, Spatial Working Memory, And Disease, Ryan Wirt May 2023

Systems Dynamics Of The Anterior Cingulate Cortex And Hippocampus In Behavioral Switching, Spatial Working Memory, And Disease, Ryan Wirt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The electrophysiological properties of the hippocampus (HC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are the central focus of research on learning, memory, and neurological disease. Previous research has shown that HC is essential for forming new memories, spatial navigation, and temporal processing. While the function of ACC, located within the medial prefrontal cortex, remains controversial, it has a role in long-term memory recall, processing pain, monitoring current state, learning, schema updates, and information integrations. Interactions between the ACC and HC occur during social memory, spatial working memory performance, and long-term memory recall. Notably, the HC and ACC are among the first …

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Identification Of Sva-Mediated 3’ And 5’ Transductions In Human Genome Sequences, Emily C. Golba May 2023

Identification Of Sva-Mediated 3’ And 5’ Transductions In Human Genome Sequences, Emily C. Golba

Honors College Theses

Transposable elements (TEs) are sequences of DNA that can move, or transpose, within a genome. Retrotransposons are TEs that propagate via a “copy and paste” mechanism where the elements are transposed to a new genomic location via an RNA intermediate. Short interspersed element (SINE)-VNTR-Alu elements (SVAs) are non-autonomous retrotransposons that use long interspersed element 1 proteins to mobilize. SVAs are currently active in the human genome and often are characterized by the mobilization of sequences adjacent to the 3’ and 5’ ends of insertions, known as transduction events (TDs). TDs were a focus of this study due to their contribution …

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Environmental Drivers Of Stress In Red Pandas (Ailurus Fulgens) : Behavior And Space Use Changes In Response To Redesigned Naturalistic Enclosures, Alexis Michelle Lawson May 2023

Environmental Drivers Of Stress In Red Pandas (Ailurus Fulgens) : Behavior And Space Use Changes In Response To Redesigned Naturalistic Enclosures, Alexis Michelle Lawson

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Animal welfare encompasses the physical and mental state of an animal, as well as how that animal is cared for. Recently, zoological settings have shifted from strictly housing animals to improving the welfare of the animal such that the goal of captivity is for residents to thrive. This is especially crucial as global wildlife numbers and biodiversity continues to decrease due to anthropogenic impacts such as poaching, mining, habitat destruction, fragmentation. Further confounding this issue is climate change, air pollution, invasive species, ocean acidification, and more. In particular, the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is an endangered species whose declined 50% …

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Unveiling The Ancestral Function Of A Neuroendocrine Regulator, Pou-I/Pit1: Insights From Gene Expression Analysis In The Sea Anemone Nematostella Vectensis, Miguel Agostinho Pina Da Silva May 2023

Unveiling The Ancestral Function Of A Neuroendocrine Regulator, Pou-I/Pit1: Insights From Gene Expression Analysis In The Sea Anemone Nematostella Vectensis, Miguel Agostinho Pina Da Silva

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cnidaria (i.e., sea anemones, jellyfish, corals) and Bilateria (i.e., vertebrates, sea stars, fruit flies), are sister groups that diverged around 600 million years ago. Despite the long evolutionary time, many cellular differentiation mechanisms, cell types, tissues and behaviors are conserved. Such as neurons, mechanosensory hair cells, feeding behaviors, peristaltic movements, and sleep. Recent advances in genomics, molecular biology and microscopy have fueled an increased interest in understanding cnidarian nervous and neuroendocrine systems. Understanding the developmental mechanisms and the mode of operation of Cnidarian nervous systems helps to reconstruct the ancestral nervous system of the last common ancestor of Cnidaria and …

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Vibroacoustic Response Of The Tympanic Membrane To Hyoid-Borne Sound Generated During Echolocation In Bats, Chelsie Snipes May 2023

Vibroacoustic Response Of The Tympanic Membrane To Hyoid-Borne Sound Generated During Echolocation In Bats, Chelsie Snipes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The hyoid apparatus in laryngeally echolocating bats forms a mechanical connection between the larynx and auditory bullae and has been hypothesized to transfer the outgoing echolocation call to the middle ear during echolocation call emission. We used µCT data to build models of the hyoid apparatus and middle ear from six species of bats and used finite element modeling (FEM) to measure the vibroacoustic response of the tympanic membrane due to hyoid-borne sound generated during echolocation. We found that hyoid-borne sound in all six species stimulated the eardrum within a range likely heard by bats. Although there were minor differences …

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Molecular Characterization Of The Antiviral Properties Of The Small Herc Family Of Proteins, Ermela Paparisto Mar 2023

Molecular Characterization Of The Antiviral Properties Of The Small Herc Family Of Proteins, Ermela Paparisto

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Although viruses are obligate intracellular parasites, they have their own evolutionary trajectory, their genomes are in a constant battle to overcome the defenses of the host. This thesis investigates the role of the small HERC family of proteins in the battle against two deadly viruses: Human Immunodeficiency Virus -1 (HIV) and Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV). Although their discovery occurred decades ago, little knowledge is available about the small HERC family, their functions, and modes of interactions with other cellular proteins. In the first chapter, the structural evolution of the small HERC family and related functional changes that have occurred over time …

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From Micro To Macro: Examining Potential Microbiome Mediated Influences On Human Growth And Health Outcomes Through Breastfeeding And Antibiotic Exposures, Nicole K. Phillips Jan 2023

From Micro To Macro: Examining Potential Microbiome Mediated Influences On Human Growth And Health Outcomes Through Breastfeeding And Antibiotic Exposures, Nicole K. Phillips

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Human microbiome research has rapidly developed over the past two decades yet absent from most research is the composition and dynamics of microbiomes within human populations. Given the limitations in longitudinal studies which requires decades of repeated microbe taxonomic testing of a population sample, an alternative option is to examine microbiomes and their influences via proxies using pre-existing health datasets. This research demonstrates preliminary associations between presumed disrupted and supportive microbiomes dynamics proxied by antibiotic and breastmilk exposure respectively. Using health record data across the life span from approximately 500,000 U.K. participants, this research demonstrates variable altered growth and health …

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Anteromedial Thalamus Gates The Selection & Stabilization Of Long-Term Memories, Andrew Toader Jan 2023

Anteromedial Thalamus Gates The Selection & Stabilization Of Long-Term Memories, Andrew Toader

Student Theses and Dissertations

The hippocampus is necessary for the initial encoding and recent storage of memories. Under the standard model of systems consolidation, it is thought that the memory trace eventually reorganizes from the hippocampus to a distributed cortical network, with the anterior cingulate cortex playing a central role in remote memory retrieval. However, little is known about the mechanisms responsible for coordinating this process. Additionally, the intermediate memory representations in the brain and the circuits that might gate and select memories for permanent storage remain unknown. To facilitate the longitudinal tracking of memory circuits in the brain, we first developed a novel …

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Rapid Growth In Late Cretaceous Sea Turtles Reveals Life History Strategies Similar To Extant Leatherbacks, Laura E. Wilson Jan 2023

Rapid Growth In Late Cretaceous Sea Turtles Reveals Life History Strategies Similar To Extant Leatherbacks, Laura E. Wilson

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Modern sea turtle long bone osteohistology has been surprisingly well-studied, as it is used to understand sea turtle growth and the timing of life history events, thus informing conservation decisions. Previous histologic studies reveal two distinct bone growth patterns in extant sea turtle taxa, with Dermochelys (leatherbacks) growing faster than the cheloniids (all other living sea turtles). Dermochelys also has a unique life history compared to other sea turtles (large size, elevated metabolism, broad biogeographic distribution, etc.) that is likely linked to bone growth strategies. Despite the abundance of data on modern sea turtle bone growth, extinct sea turtle osteohistology …

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The Development Of A New Pertussis Booster Formulation Via The Implementation Of New Adjuvants And Utilization Of Alternate Routes Of Administration, Megan Ashley Dejong Jan 2023

The Development Of A New Pertussis Booster Formulation Via The Implementation Of New Adjuvants And Utilization Of Alternate Routes Of Administration, Megan Ashley Dejong

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Pertussis (whooping cough) is a respiratory disease caused by airborne transmission of the Gram-negative bacterium, Bordetella pertussis. Prior to the development of the first pertussis vaccines (whole cell (wP) vaccines), the incidence of pertussis was in the hundreds of thousands of cases per year, which led to the death of many children, as the infection is most severe in younger populations. Thankfully, the wP formulation resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of annual pertussis cases, nearly eradicating the disease. However, as wP contained the whole B. pertussis bacterium (and its lipooligosaccharide (LOS)), reactogenicity issues became apparent, leading …

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Investigating Mirna Regulation Of The Human Apobec3 Enzymes, William Dietrich Jan 2023

Investigating Mirna Regulation Of The Human Apobec3 Enzymes, William Dietrich

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The human apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide 3 (APOBEC3, A3) are a family of proteins consisting of seven enzymes, A3A, B, C, D, F, G and H, which function as cytosine deaminases. The enzymes’ purpose in the cell is to mutate viral DNA during infection hindering or stopping replication of viruses such as human papillomavirus, herpes simplex virus, and HIV-1. Several of the A3 enzymes have also been implicated in contributing to cancers such as head and neck and breast cancers by mutating cellular genomic DNA, making the ability to control A3 expression an attractive target for cancer …

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The Neuroscience Of Art: An Examination Of Uniqueness, Risa Davis Jan 2023

The Neuroscience Of Art: An Examination Of Uniqueness, Risa Davis

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The field of Neuroaesthetics has an overwhelming potential for helping us to understand the world and human behavior through consideration of both neuroscience and art. Looking at the production of art across human history, it is clear we have evolved with art as every culture has developed some style and desire for art without influence of other peoples. The intriguing and undeniable psychological phenomenon of pareidolia raises the question of why the visual system might be set up in a way that leads to illusions and visual suggestions. The amygdala is also involved as the nuclei’s reaction to perceived or …

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Managing Death In Termites, Jizhe Shi Jan 2023

Managing Death In Termites, Jizhe Shi

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Death of individuals from the same species represents potential risks from disease, predation or competition for animals. Diverse responses associated with death have evolved ranging from simply avoiding or being attracted to the corpses in solitary animals to complicated undertaking behavioral repertoire in eusocial insects. A systematic review in chapter 1 suggested cannibalism is an ancestral and widespread death-related behavior in all non-human animals. Termites are suggested to switch their undertaking behavioral responses from cannibalism to burial based on interactions between chemicals associated with death to balance risks and benefits associated with decomposition. In eusocial animals like termites with caste …

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Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 23: The Jersey Devil, And Friends, Charles H. Smith Dec 2022

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 23: The Jersey Devil, And Friends, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

For nearly three hundred years reports have surfaced of a purported cryptid form known as the ‘Jersey devil.’ In this work an interpretation of the goals of biogeography is given, and how this field can be related to such alleged phenomena, as well as to some of the ideas of Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) that seem to find their origin in the writings of Benedict de Spinoza (1632-1677).

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Population Demography, Spatial Ecology, And Habitat Use Of The Florida Box Turtle (Terrapene Bauri) On A Barrier Island, Michael D. Mills Nov 2022

Population Demography, Spatial Ecology, And Habitat Use Of The Florida Box Turtle (Terrapene Bauri) On A Barrier Island, Michael D. Mills

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Turtles are one the most threatened vertebrate groups in the world due to anthropogenic threats such as habitat loss and overexploitation. In addition to occupying a range that has been vulnerable to major habitat loss, the Florida box turtle (Terrapene bauri) is particularly at risk of overexploitation due to its popularity in the pet trade. Sanibel Island is a barrier island in southwest Florida that has experienced major habitat loss and is the site of a recent poaching event. In response to these threats, studies of both the population demography and spatial ecology were conducted on Sanibel’s Florida box turtle …

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Promoting Validation And Cross-Phylogenetic Integration In Model Organism Research., Keith C Cheng, Rebecca D Burdine, Mary E Dickinson, Stephen C Ekker, Alex Y Lin, K C Kent Lloyd, Cathleen Lutz, Calum A Macrae, John H Morrison, David H O'Connor, John H Postlethwait, Crystal D Rogers, Susan Sanchez, Julie H Simpson, William S Talbot, Douglas C Wallace, Jill M Weimer, Hugo J Bellen Sep 2022

Promoting Validation And Cross-Phylogenetic Integration In Model Organism Research., Keith C Cheng, Rebecca D Burdine, Mary E Dickinson, Stephen C Ekker, Alex Y Lin, K C Kent Lloyd, Cathleen Lutz, Calum A Macrae, John H Morrison, David H O'Connor, John H Postlethwait, Crystal D Rogers, Susan Sanchez, Julie H Simpson, William S Talbot, Douglas C Wallace, Jill M Weimer, Hugo J Bellen

Faculty Research 2022

Model organism (MO) research provides a basic understanding of biology and disease due to the evolutionary conservation of the molecular and cellular language of life. MOs have been used to identify and understand the function of orthologous genes, proteins, cells and tissues involved in biological processes, to develop and evaluate techniques and methods, and to perform whole-organism-based chemical screens to test drug efficacy and toxicity. However, a growing richness of datasets and the rising power of computation raise an important question: How do we maximize the value of MOs? In-depth discussions in over 50 virtual presentations organized by the National …

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Epigenetic Influences Of Mobile Genetic Elements On Ciliate Genome Architecture And Evolution, Caitlin M. Timmons, Shahed U.A. Shazib, Laura A. Katz Sep 2022

Epigenetic Influences Of Mobile Genetic Elements On Ciliate Genome Architecture And Evolution, Caitlin M. Timmons, Shahed U.A. Shazib, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) are transient genetic material that can move either within a single organism's genome or between individuals or species. While historically considered “junk” DNA (i.e., deleterious or at best neutral), more recent studies reveal the potential adaptive advantages MGEs provide in lineages across the tree of life. Ciliates, a group of single-celled microbial eukaryotes characterized by nuclear dimorphism, exemplify how epigenetic influences from MGEs shape genome architecture and patterns of molecular evolution. Ciliate nuclear dimorphism may have evolved as a response to transposon invasion and ciliates have since co-opted transposons to carry out programmed DNA deletion. Another …

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A Tale Of Two Genomes: The Complex Interplay Between The Mitochondrial And The Nuclear Genomes, Abhilesh S. Dhawanjewar Jul 2022

A Tale Of Two Genomes: The Complex Interplay Between The Mitochondrial And The Nuclear Genomes, Abhilesh S. Dhawanjewar

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mitochondria, the product of an ancient endosymbiotic event are pivotal to eukaryotic cells by synthesizing the majority of the cell’s ATP output. However, modern- day mitochondria are completely dependent on more than one thousand nuclear-encoded products for their function and the maintenance of their genomes. The fundamentally different ways in which the mitochondrial (mtDNA) and the nuclear (nucDNA) genomes are replicated and inherited lead to captivating coevolutionary dynamics between them. The aims of this dissertation are to investigate the coevolutionary dynamics between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes at three distinct biological scales. At the organismal level, we use a Drosophila …

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China In Global Landscape Of Life Sciences, Xian-En Zhang May 2022

China In Global Landscape Of Life Sciences, Xian-En Zhang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The development of life science for over 150 years can be summarized into three stages:classical genetics, molecular genetics and molecular biology, life omics and systems biology. The contemporary life science is unprecedentedly prosperous, showing several new characteristics:original discoveries emerge in endlessly, promoting massive bottom-level innovations; the convergence of multiple disciplines promotes biological sciences from qualitative description to dynamic, precise and quantitative interpretation; scientific data sharing has become a common rule in the life science community; and the rise of synthetic biology and artificial intelligence (AI) provides a new paradigm for life science research. These characteristics enable the knowledge about life …

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Understanding The Role Of Involucrin In Skin Inflammation, Alina Schmidt May 2022

Understanding The Role Of Involucrin In Skin Inflammation, Alina Schmidt

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Terminally differentiated keratinocytes are essential for skin barrier function and are surrounded by an involucrin (IVL)-rich cornified envelope. Increased IVL expression in the epidermis is associated with recent positive selection in European populations, yet the functional significance of this finding is unclear. An upstream enhancer of IVL, the 923 enhancer, regulates IVL expression, and the impact of IVL enhancer variants on involucrin expression in modifying the penetrance of filaggrin (FLG) loss-of-function variants associated with atopic dermatitis (AD) has not been explored. I hypothesize involucrin to modulate the environmentally sensitive Vitamin D receptor (Vdr) activity in the epidermis and involucrin enhancer …

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