Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Metabolic Remodeling And Mitochondrial Dysfunction In Maladaptive Right Ventricular Hypertrophy Secondary To Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Jose Gomez-Arroyo

Theses and Dissertations

Right ventricular dysfunction is the most frequent cause of death in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Although abnormal energy substrate use has been implicated in the development of chronic left heart failure, data describing such metabolic remodeling in failing right ventricular tissue remain incomplete. In the present dissertation we sought to characterize metabolic gene expression changes and mitochondrial dysfunction in functional and dysfunctional RV hypertrophy. Two different rat models of RV hypertrophy were studied. The model of right ventricular failure (SU5416/hypoxia) exhibited a significantly decreased gene expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor- coactivator-1α, peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor-α and estrogen-related receptor-α. The …

Modulation Of Bax/Bak Dependent Apoptosis By Sirtuin 3 And Mitochondrial Permeability Transition By Sirtuin 4, Manish Verma

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that regulate a myriad of cellular functions, including energy production and metabolic regulation. Mitochondria are also a critical regulator of cell death signaling cascades modulating both apoptotic and necrotic cell death. However, what determines which cell death pathway is activated is still unclear. The mitochondrial/intrinsic pathway of apoptosis is dependent on the activation of pro-apoptotic proteins, Bax and Bak, which induce mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP). Once the integrity of outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) is compromised, pro-apoptotic intermembrane space proteins like cytochrome c, Smac/Diablo, Omi/HtrA2 and AIF are released into the cytoplasm, which activates the post-mitochondrial …

An Investigation Of Alternative Oxidase Presence, Expression, And Regulation In The Moss Physcomitrella Patens, Karina I. Neimanis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Alternative oxidase (AOX) is an inner mitochondrial membrane protein that introduces a branch point at ubiquinone within the respiratory electron transport system (ETS). The AOX protein bypasses two sites of proton translocation within the ETS and as a result the yield of ATP per oxygen consumed is significantly reduced. Although AOX appears to be energetically wasteful, recent studies have revealed that AOX has a wide taxonomic distribution. AOX multigene families, transcripts, protein levels, and enzymatic activity have been most thoroughly characterized in many angiosperm (flowering) plants. Given the data available for angiosperm AOXs, evidence of non-angiosperm AOXs in the primary …

Biochemical Aspects Of The Thermal Sensitivity And Energy Balance Of Polar, Tropical And Subtropical Teleosts, Eloy Martinez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The maintenance of a functional energy balance in ectothermic fauna could be challenging in a thermally disparate environment. Biochemical adaptations at the enzyme and membrane levels allows for a set compensatory mechanism that allow the individual to maintain an energetic surplus, thus allocating energy for growth and reproduction. The present work describes how the energetic machinery in the cell, particularly the mitochondrion, could be affected by temperature changes. More specifically, this work aimed to determine how environmental temperature affects the mitochondria energetic performance of fishes from disparate thermal regimes.

Mitochondrial ATP production efficiency was evaluated in fishes from polar, tropical …