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

Mutations In Several Auxin Biosynthesis Genes And Their Effects On Plant Phenotypes In Arabidopsis, Gabriela Hernandez, Lauren Huebner, Bethany Karlin Zolman Sep 2021

Mutations In Several Auxin Biosynthesis Genes And Their Effects On Plant Phenotypes In Arabidopsis, Gabriela Hernandez, Lauren Huebner, Bethany Karlin Zolman

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Auxins are important hormones in plants that regulate growth and development. Disruptions in the auxin biosynthesis pathway result in morphological changes in phenotypes in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, including differences in root and leaf formation. Mutations in the Tryptophan Aminotransferase of Arabidopsis (TAA1) and YUCCA (YUC4) genes interfere with the plant's ability to synthesize Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), the primary auxin involved in plant development. IBR1 and IBR3 act in the multistep conversion of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) to IAA. ILL2, IAR3, and ILR1 hydrolyze IAA-amino acid conjugates into free IAA. The goal of …


Complexation Of Glycoalkaloid Α- Tomatine With Sterols And Its Potential Application As An Anti-Cancer Drug, Bishal Nepal Jul 2021

Complexation Of Glycoalkaloid Α- Tomatine With Sterols And Its Potential Application As An Anti-Cancer Drug, Bishal Nepal

Dissertations

Glycoalkaloids (GAs) are secondary metabolites found mostly in higher plant species and some marine invertebrates. They are known to form complexes with 3β-hydroxy sterols such as cholesterol causing membrane disruption. So far the visual evidence showcasing the complexes formed between glycoalkaloids and sterols has been mainly restricted to some earlier studies using Brewster angle microscopy. This study aimed to develop a method for topographic and morphological analysis of sterol-glycoalkaloid complexes. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) transfer of monolayers comprising of glycoalkaloid tomatine, sterols, and lipids in varying molar ratios onto mica followed by AFM examination was performed. The AFM method used required minimal …


Inhibition Of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Secretion By Dimethyl Sulfoxide And Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate In Human Monocytes, Darcy Denner, Maria Udan-Johns, Michael Nichols Jan 2021

Inhibition Of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Secretion By Dimethyl Sulfoxide And Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate In Human Monocytes, Darcy Denner, Maria Udan-Johns, Michael Nichols

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), including MMP-9, are an integral part of the immune response and are upregulated in response to a variety of stimuli. New details continue to emerge concerning the mechanistic and regulatory pathways that mediate MMP-9 secretion. There is significant evidence for regulation of inflammation by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), thus investigation of how these two molecules may regulate both MMP-9 and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) secretion by human monocytes was of high interest. The hypothesis tested in this study was that DMSO and cAMP regulate MMP-9 and TNFα secretion by distinct mechanisms. …


Methods To Generate Structurally Hierarchical Architectures In Nanoporous Coinage Metals, Palak Sondhi, Keith Stine Jan 2021

Methods To Generate Structurally Hierarchical Architectures In Nanoporous Coinage Metals, Palak Sondhi, Keith Stine

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

The fundamental essence of material design towards creating functional materials lies in bringing together the competing aspects of a large specific surface area and rapid transport pathways. The generation of structural hierarchy on distinct and well-defined length scales has successfully solved many problems in porous materials. Important applications of these hierarchical materials in the fields of catalysis and electrochemistry are briefly discussed. This review summarizes the recent advances in the strategies to create a hierarchical bicontinuous morphology in porous metals, focusing mainly on the hierarchical architectures in nanoporous gold. Starting from the traditional dealloying method and subsequently moving to other …


Special Issue “Materials Processing For Production Of Nanostructured Thin Films”, Keith Stine Jan 2021

Special Issue “Materials Processing For Production Of Nanostructured Thin Films”, Keith Stine

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

In lieu of an abstract, this is an excerpt from the first page. The field of thin film technology [1] dates back many decades and has led to applications in areas such as display technology, the development of surfaces with desirable optical reflectance properties, coatings of medical devices for biocompatibility, corrosion protection, semiconductor device fabrication, polymer coatings for tuning wettability, coatings for providing hardness or protection, piezoelectric transducers, photovoltaic films for solar panels, chemical and biological sensors, and other areas. Many of the techniques for production of thin films, typically in the microns range in thickness, were developed …


Ferrocenium Complex Aided O -Glycosylation Of Glycosyl Halides, Deva Talasila, Eike Bauer Jan 2021

Ferrocenium Complex Aided O -Glycosylation Of Glycosyl Halides, Deva Talasila, Eike Bauer

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

A new strategy for the activation of glycosyl halide donors to be utilized in glycosylation reactions is presented, utilizing the ferrocenium (Fc) complexes [FcB(OH)2]SbF6 and FcBF4 as promoters. The scope of the new system has been investigated using glycosyl chloride and glycosyl fluoride donors in combination with common glycosyl acceptors, such as protected glucose. The corresponding glycosylation products were formed in 95 to 10% isolated yields with α/β ratios ranging from 1/1 to β only (2 to 14 h reaction time at room temperature, 40 to 100% ferrocenium promoter load).


Nanoporous Gold Monolith For High Loading Of Unmodified Doxorubicin And Sustained Co-Release Of Doxorubicin-Rapamycin, Jay Bhattarai, Dharmendra Neupane, Bishal Nepal, Alexei Demchenko, Keith Stine Jan 2021

Nanoporous Gold Monolith For High Loading Of Unmodified Doxorubicin And Sustained Co-Release Of Doxorubicin-Rapamycin, Jay Bhattarai, Dharmendra Neupane, Bishal Nepal, Alexei Demchenko, Keith Stine

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

Nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely explored for delivering doxorubicin (DOX), an anticancer drug, to minimize cardiotoxicity. However, their efficiency is marred by a necessity to chemically modify DOX, NPs, or both and low deposition of the administered NPs on tumors. Therefore, alternative strategies should be developed to improve therapeutic efficacy and decrease toxicity. Here we report the possibility of employing a monolithic nanoporous gold (np-Au) rod as an implant for delivering DOX. The np-Au has very high DOX encapsulation efficiency (>98%) with maximum loading of 93.4 mg cm−3 without any chemical modification required of DOX or np-Au. We provide …


Qualitative Prediction Of Ligand Dissociation Kinetics From Focal Adhesion Kinase Using Steered Molecular Dynamics, Justin Spiriti, Chung Wong Jan 2021

Qualitative Prediction Of Ligand Dissociation Kinetics From Focal Adhesion Kinase Using Steered Molecular Dynamics, Justin Spiriti, Chung Wong

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

Most early-stage drug discovery projects focus on equilibrium binding affinity to the target alongside selectivity and other pharmaceutical properties. Since many approved drugs have nonequilibrium binding characteristics, there has been increasing interest in optimizing binding kinetics early in the drug discovery process. As focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is an important drug target, we examine whether steered molecular dynamics (SMD) can be useful for identifying drug candidates with the desired drug-binding kinetics. In simulating the dissociation of 14 ligands from FAK, we find an empirical power–law relationship between the simulated time needed for ligand unbinding and the experimental rate constant for …