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

Negative Regulation Of The Kinase Lin-45 By The E3/E4 Ubiquitin Ligase Ufd-2, Augustin Deniaud Aug 2021

Negative Regulation Of The Kinase Lin-45 By The E3/E4 Ubiquitin Ligase Ufd-2, Augustin Deniaud

Theses and Dissertations

The serine/threonine kinase BRAF is a key part of the Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK pathway, an inducer of cell growth, differentiation, and survival. In humans, activating mutations, most commonly BRAF(V600E), have been detected in several cancers, including melanoma and thyroid cancer. In the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog LIN-45, the equivalent mutation LIN-45(V627E) results in elevated Raf-MEK-ERK signaling. We performed an unbiased genetic screen to identify negative regulators of LIN-45(V627E). Here, we report the identification of the E3/E4 ubiquitin ligase UFD-2, and show it is a negative regulator of LIN-45 protein activity and levels. Loss of UFD-2 leads to accumulation of wild-type LIN-45 protein as …


Divergent Regulatory Roles Of Nurd Chromatin Remodeling Complex Subunits Gatad2 And Chd4 In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Nicole Lynn Golden Jul 2021

Divergent Regulatory Roles Of Nurd Chromatin Remodeling Complex Subunits Gatad2 And Chd4 In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Nicole Lynn Golden

Theses and Dissertations

During stress, a protective cellular network known as the heat shock response (HSR) is induced to maintain protein-folding homeostasis, or proteostasis. While the HSR is essential for stress resistance, its misregulation is associated with neurodegenerative disease and cancer. Using the nematode model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, we have identified the chromatin remodeling complex NuRD (nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase) as a novel regulator of the HSR. Here, we begin with a brief introduction of the HSR and chromatin remodeling complexes in C. elegans, prior to presenting our findings in a series of two chapters. In chapter one, we outline a set of …


Distinct Spatiotemporal Regulation Of The Cytoprotective Heat Shock Response In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Rosemary Nadine Plagens Jul 2021

Distinct Spatiotemporal Regulation Of The Cytoprotective Heat Shock Response In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Rosemary Nadine Plagens

Theses and Dissertations

Every organism studied to-date utilizes the heat shock response (HSR) to maintain protein-folding homeostasis (proteostasis) during temperature or other protein-folding stress. The HSR has been well characterized using acute heat stress (HS) in single-celled models, but less is known about how distinct cell types and tissues respond to HS. Furthermore, how metazoans respond to prolonged HS at the molecular level remains relatively unexplored. The model organism C. elegans, with its genetic tractability and distinct tissues and behaviors, has been used extensively in the field to characterize the acute HSR, but with considerable variability across labs regarding HS temperature and duration. …


Reducing Seed Coat Fiber Content And Pod Shatter, And Engineering Medium Chain Fatty Acids-Containing Oil, In The Oilseed Crop Pennycress ( Thlaspi Arvense L. ), Maliheh Esfahanian Mar 2021

Reducing Seed Coat Fiber Content And Pod Shatter, And Engineering Medium Chain Fatty Acids-Containing Oil, In The Oilseed Crop Pennycress ( Thlaspi Arvense L. ), Maliheh Esfahanian

Theses and Dissertations

The overall goal of this thesis was to genetically improve agronomic traits of pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.; Field Pennycress) and demonstrate the production of value-added designer seed oils to domesticate pennycress and enable its establishment as a new winter annual oilseed/meal/cover crop to be grown in temperate regions of the world. In the U.S. Midwest, pennycress can be double cropped on existing farmland during the time between corn harvest and subsequent planting of soybeans the following spring. Pennycress has the potential to produce 2,000 lbs/acre seeds, which at 33% by weight oil content and 20% protein, would yield 85 gallons/acre …


A Mechanism Behind The Mechanotransduction Of Surface Characteristics In Osteoblasts, Otto J. Juhl Iv Jan 2021

A Mechanism Behind The Mechanotransduction Of Surface Characteristics In Osteoblasts, Otto J. Juhl Iv

Theses and Dissertations

Biomaterials for use in bone regeneration and healing range from metal and metal alloy implants to hydrogel-based solutions. These materials can be optimized to increase bone healing and integration by improving the mechanical and biological properties. Regardless of the material itself, the cell-substrate interaction is key to the success of the biomaterial once implanted. Substrate surface characteristics such as roughness, wettability, and particle density are well-known contributors to a substrate’s overall osteogenic potential, and therefore the substrate's overall success. Unfortunately, it is still unknown how these substrate surface characteristics are transduced into intracellular signals by cells, preventing specific tailoring of …