Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Specialized Metabolism In Retina, Retinal Pigmented Epithelium, And Testis, Siyan Zhu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The retina and its neighboring retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) are high energy-demanding and metabolically active tissues with specialized and complementary metabolism. They are metabolically interdependent and impact each other’s viability. Interestingly, many of the metabolic features in the retina and RPE are shared with the testis. For example, testis is also energy costly due to continuous sperm differentiation and it has similar metabolic inter-dependence between different testis cells. Both the retina and testis are vulnerable to mitochondrial metabolic impairments.

We conducted three research projects to understand 1) the nutrient utilization and communication in retina and RPE; 2) The profiling of …

An Investigation Into The Mechanism Of Proteasome Dysfunction In Neurodegenerative Disease And The Biological Impact Of Proteasome Hyperactivation In C. Elegans, Raymond T. Anderson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Aging is an inevitable process that occurs as humans grow older. It is characterized by the chronological accumulation of cellular damage over time leading to functional decline as an organism grows older. Several processes are thought to contribute to the aging phenomenon, but one of the most prolific of these is the disruption of protein homeostasis (proteostasis). The collapse of proteostasis can lead to accelerated aging and the development of age-related diseases including devastating neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) like Alzheimer and Parkinson disease. Virtually all NDs are characterized by the buildup of proteins in and around neurons resulting in neuronal death …