Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology

Dual Role Of Rin1 In Cancer Cell Behavior: Is Cortactin A New Rin1-Interacting Partner?, Wei Zhang Nov 2019

Dual Role Of Rin1 In Cancer Cell Behavior: Is Cortactin A New Rin1-Interacting Partner?, Wei Zhang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Growth factors play an essential role in abnormalities in both intracellular trafficking and signal transduction pathways responsible in normal and cancer cells. Growth factors, such as epidermal growth factor, represent a main course on the activation of mitogenic signal that contribute to the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway affecting cell proliferation, which is driven by Ras GTPases. However, it also induces a profound morphological change by reorganization actin and other cytoskeleton proteins, which are driven by other GTPases (i.e., Rho and Rac). Ras interference 1 (Rin1) is a key cytosolic protein, that regulates both membrane trafficking and signaling pathways …


The Role Of Inositol Polyphosphate-4-Phosphatase Type Ii B (Inpp4b) In Obese Models And Endocrine Cancers, Manqi Zhang Nov 2019

The Role Of Inositol Polyphosphate-4-Phosphatase Type Ii B (Inpp4b) In Obese Models And Endocrine Cancers, Manqi Zhang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

INPP4B is a dual-specificity phosphatase and a tumor suppressor in prostate and breast cancers. Progression of the prostate and breast cancers depends on the androgen receptor (AR) or estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) signaling, respectively. In this work we demonstrated that INPP4B reprograms ERα transcriptional activity in breast cancer. INPP4B maintains expression and protein levels of progesterone receptor (PR), an ERα direct target gene required for mammary gland development. Consistently we demonstrated that Inpp4b knockout severely impairs lateral branching in the mammary gland of maturing virgin females. In advanced prostate cancer, activation and transcriptional reprogramming of AR frequently coincides with the …


Functionalized Aptamers For Detection Of Small-Molecule Targets, Haixiang Yu Jun 2019

Functionalized Aptamers For Detection Of Small-Molecule Targets, Haixiang Yu

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aptamers have recently gained considerable attention for small-molecule detection in diverse applications such as drug identification, medical diagnostics, and environmental monitoring. However, the performance of aptamer-based sensors has been greatly limited by the low target affinity and responsiveness of small-molecule binding aptamers. This dissertation describes several novel aptamer engineering and isolation strategies to remedy this problem. Specifically, we first develop a generally applicable strategy to engineer split aptamers containing two binding domains termed cooperative-binding split aptamers (CBSAs). CBSAs exhibit higher target binding affinity and are far more responsive in terms of target-induced split aptamer assembly compared to single-domain parent split …


Topoisomerase And Tyrosyl-Dna-Phosphodiesterase Ratio As An Indicator For The Response Of Glioblastoma Cancer To Topoisomerase Targeting Anticancer Drugs, Wenjie Wang Jun 2019

Topoisomerase And Tyrosyl-Dna-Phosphodiesterase Ratio As An Indicator For The Response Of Glioblastoma Cancer To Topoisomerase Targeting Anticancer Drugs, Wenjie Wang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Glioblastoma (GBM) patients have an estimated survival of ~15 months, with the standard of care (surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy) that has only modestly enhanced patient survival. Identifying biomarkers representing vulnerabilities in GBM biology may allow for the selection of effective and safe chemotherapy options. Irinotecan (IRT), a genotoxic compound currently in clinical trials for GBM, targets topoisomerase I (TOP1) by forming an irreversible ternary DNA-TOP1 cleavage complex (TOP1cc) and leads to apoptosis. Tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 (TDP1) is a crucial repair enzyme that rescues TOP1cc and reduces the effectiveness of IRT. In the current study, we evaluate the value of the …