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

Exploration Of The Association Between Muscle Volume And Bone Geometry Reveals Surprising Relationship At The Genetic Level, Prakrit Subba Dec 2020

Exploration Of The Association Between Muscle Volume And Bone Geometry Reveals Surprising Relationship At The Genetic Level, Prakrit Subba

Masters Theses

The evolution of jaws in cichlid fishes of the East African Great Lakes is a textbook example of adaptive radiation in vertebrates. Karl Liem postulated that this adaptive radiation has been possible due to the functional decoupling of two cichlid functional units – the pharyngeal jaw (PJ) and the oral jaw (OJ). This functional decoupling of the jaws has enabled the OJ to be relieved of its dual role of prey capturing and processing and has allowed the PJ to take on the role of prey processing. As a result, African cichlids have adapted the morphology of their functional units …


Micro-Physiological Models To Mimic Mucosal Barrier Complexity Of The Human Intestine In Vitro, Abhinav Sharma Dec 2020

Micro-Physiological Models To Mimic Mucosal Barrier Complexity Of The Human Intestine In Vitro, Abhinav Sharma

Doctoral Dissertations

The mucosal barrier in the intestine is vital to maintain selective absorption of nutrients while protecting internal tissues and maintaining symbiotic relationship with luminal microbiota. This bio-barrier consists of a cellular epithelial barrier and an acellular mucus barrier. Secreted mucus regulates barrier function via in situ biochemical and biophysical interaction with luminal content that continually evolves during digestion and absorption. Increasing evidence suggests that a mucus barrier is indispensable to maintain homeostasis in the gastrointestinal tract. However, the importance of mucus barrier is largely underrated for in vitro mucosal tissue modeling. The major gap is the lack of experimental material …


Engineering Mesothelin-Binding Proteins As Targeted Cancer Diagnostics And Therapeutics, Allison Rita Sirois Dec 2020

Engineering Mesothelin-Binding Proteins As Targeted Cancer Diagnostics And Therapeutics, Allison Rita Sirois

Doctoral Dissertations

Cancer is a significant global health concern; and traditional therapies, including chemotherapeutics, are often simultaneously toxic yet ineffective. There is a critical need to develop targeted cancer therapeutics which specifically inhibit molecules or molecular pathways essential for tumor growth and maintenance. Furthermore, a targeted therapy is only effective when a patient's tumor expresses the molecular target; therefore, companion diagnostics, including molecular imaging agents, are a necessary counterpart of targeted therapies. Mesothelin (MSLN) is a cell surface protein overexpressed in numerous cancers, including triple-negative breast, pancreatic, ovarian, liver, and lung, with limited expression in normal tissues. Aberrant MSLN expression promotes tumor …


Involvement Of Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinases And Phosphatases In Sperm Capacitation-Associated Events, Bidur Paudel Jul 2020

Involvement Of Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinases And Phosphatases In Sperm Capacitation-Associated Events, Bidur Paudel

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT To acquire fertilizing ability, mammalian sperm undergo a series of biochemical and physiological changes collectively known as capacitation1,2. At the molecular level, capacitation is associated with a fast bicarbonate (HCO3-)-dependent activation of a unique type of soluble adenyl cyclase (sAC) and a consequent increase in cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels and PKA activation3. Activation of a cAMP/PKA pathway results in the phosphorylation of PKA substrates, which in turn initiates activation of several signaling cascades ultimately leading to an increase in phosphorylation on tyrosine residues (P-Tyr) of sperm axonemal proteins4,5. Increase in …


Tpr-Containing Proteins Control Protein Organization And Homeostasis For The Endoplasmic Reticulum, Jill Bradley-Graham Mar 2020

Tpr-Containing Proteins Control Protein Organization And Homeostasis For The Endoplasmic Reticulum, Jill Bradley-Graham

Doctoral Dissertations

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a complex, multifunctional organelle comprised of a continuous membrane and lumen that is organized into several functional regions. It plays various roles including protein translocation, folding, quality control, secretion, calcium signaling, and lipid biogenesis. Cellular protein homeostasis is maintained by a complicated chaperone network, and the largest functional family within this network consists of proteins containing tetratricopeptide repeats (TPRs). TPRs are well-studied structural motifs that mediate intermolecular protein-protein interactions, supporting interactions with a wide range of ligands or substrates. Nine TPR-containing proteins have been shown to localize to the ER and control protein organization and …