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

3d Picture Of The Syk-Vav1 Protein Complex: Tracking The B-Cell Signal One Complex At A Time, Dan I. Piraner Jul 2011

3d Picture Of The Syk-Vav1 Protein Complex: Tracking The B-Cell Signal One Complex At A Time, Dan I. Piraner

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Protein signaling is the key method by which cells recognize a stimulus from their environment and convert it into a response. Signaling occurs in many forms: hormones, growth factors, and even proteins may act as signals from the environment. The response to their detection must be carried from the cell surface, where the signal is detected, to the nucleus, where the cell alters its DNA expression. This study analyzes one component in the signaling pathway of Spleen Tyrosine Kinase (Syk). The Syk protein receives a signal from B-cell receptors and amplifies it, resulting in an adaptive immune response and the …


Combating Bioterrorism: Purification And Structural Analysis Of The E3 Proteins Of The Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus And The Chikungunya Virus, Tyshia Gwin Jul 2011

Combating Bioterrorism: Purification And Structural Analysis Of The E3 Proteins Of The Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus And The Chikungunya Virus, Tyshia Gwin

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Outbreaks of the Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus (VEEV) and the Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV) continue to emerge in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia, but there are currently no vaccines or anti-virals for these viruses. Given their ease of transmission, debilitating symptoms, and genetic alterability, VEEV and CHIKV have great potential for development into biological weapons. Therefore, there is an urgent need to determine possible methods of treatment or prevention. One possibility of prevention lies in determining the structure and biological function of the E3 protein that plays a key role in the infectivity of the viruses. In this research, …