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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

On The Anti-Adipogenic Function Of Collagen Triple Helix Repeat-Containing Protein 1, Matthew E. Siviski Dec 2023

On The Anti-Adipogenic Function Of Collagen Triple Helix Repeat-Containing Protein 1, Matthew E. Siviski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adipogenesis is regulated by the coordinated activity of adipogenic transcription factors, including PPAR-gamma (PPARG) and C/EBP alpha (CEBPA). Thus, dysregulated adipogenesis predisposes adipose tissues to adipocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia. We have previously reported that mice possessing a homozygous null gene mutation in collagen triple helix repeat-containing protein 1 (CTHRC1) have increased adiposity compared to wildtype mice, supporting the concept that CTHRC1 regulates body composition. Herein, we investigated the anti-adipogenic activity of CTHRC1. Using 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, we showed significantly reduced adipogenic differentiation in the presence of CTHRC1 commensurate to marked suppression of Cebpa and Pparg gene expression. In addition, CTHRC1 increased …


Deciphering The Perpetual Fight Between Virus And Host: Utilizing Bioinformatics To Elucidate The Host's Genetic Mechanisms That Influence Jc Polyomavirus Infection, Michael P. Wilczek Aug 2021

Deciphering The Perpetual Fight Between Virus And Host: Utilizing Bioinformatics To Elucidate The Host's Genetic Mechanisms That Influence Jc Polyomavirus Infection, Michael P. Wilczek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) is a human-specific pathogen that infects 50-80% of the population, and can cause a deadly, demyelinating disease, known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). In most of the population, JCPyV persistently infects the kidneys but during immunosuppression, it can reactivate and spread to the central nervous system (CNS), causing PML. In the CNS, JCPyV targets two cell types, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. Due to the hallmark pathology of oligodendrocyte lysis observed in disease, oligodendrocytes were thought to be the main cell type involved during JCPyV infection. However, recent evidence suggests that astrocytes are targeted by the virus and act …


Identifying The Link Between Non-Coding Regulatory Rnas And Phenotypic Severity In A Zebrafish Model Of Gmppb Dystroglycanopathy, Grace Smith May 2020

Identifying The Link Between Non-Coding Regulatory Rnas And Phenotypic Severity In A Zebrafish Model Of Gmppb Dystroglycanopathy, Grace Smith

Honors College

Muscular Dystrophy (MD) is characterized by varying severity and time-of-onset by individuals afflicted with the same forms of MD, a phenomenon that is not well understood. MD affects 250,000 individuals in the United States and is characterized by mutations in the dystroglycan complex. gmppb encodes an enzyme that glycosylates dystroglycan, making it functionally active; thus, mutations in gmppb cause dystroglycanopathic MD1 . The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a powerful vertebrate model for musculoskeletal development and disease. Like human patients, gmppb mutant zebrafish present both mild and severe phenotypes. In order to understand the molecular mechanisms involved, we performed high-throughput RNA …


Dynamic Host-Pathogen Interactions Result In Fungal Epitope Unmasking, Alex Hopke Aug 2016

Dynamic Host-Pathogen Interactions Result In Fungal Epitope Unmasking, Alex Hopke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Molecular camouflage is used by a diverse set of pathogens to disguise their identity and avoid recognition by protective host receptors. The opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans is a good example, as it masks the inflammatory component β-glucan in its cell wall to evade detection by the immune receptor Dectin-1. Interestingly, it has been seen that β-glucan becomes unmasked during infection in vivo, though the underlying mechanisms remained unclear. Exposure levels of this epitope may be important, as Dectin-1 mediates protection from some strains of C. albicans and alterations in the organization and composition of the Candida cell wall …


A Biochemical Approach To Define The Interactome For Calpain2 In Endothelial Cells, Dorothy E. Croall Phd, Jordan R. Hoffman Ms, Calvin Ph Vary Phd, Sharon L. Ashworth Phd, Billy R. Chase, Jay Beaudoin Ii Jul 2016

A Biochemical Approach To Define The Interactome For Calpain2 In Endothelial Cells, Dorothy E. Croall Phd, Jordan R. Hoffman Ms, Calvin Ph Vary Phd, Sharon L. Ashworth Phd, Billy R. Chase, Jay Beaudoin Ii

Molecular & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Current repositories for protein-protein interactions and high throughput screening methods focus on individual gene products and do not consider the significance of calcium induced conformational changes. These limitations suggest the need for alternative strategies to better define the calpain2 interactome. Affinity capture coupled with LC-MS/MS and proteomic analysis of the recovered proteins provides a powerful approach to identify protein-protein interactions for the heterodimeric calpain2. CAPN2 (rat) was modified to be catalytically incompetent (C105A) and fused with a C-terminal 15 residue peptide optimized for biotinylation by the biotin protein ligase, BirA. The resulting CAPN2*, heterodimerized with truncated CAPNS1, was purified from …


Biophotonics: Electrochemiluminescence At Microelectrodes During Pcr Amplification Of Dna, Rosemary L. Smith, Scott Collins Aug 2006

Biophotonics: Electrochemiluminescence At Microelectrodes During Pcr Amplification Of Dna, Rosemary L. Smith, Scott Collins

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This project investigates a new technique for in situ quantification of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification products using electrochemiluminescence (ECL). The technique implements the highly sensitive, ECL detection and quantification of tris(2,2'bipyridyl) ruthenium (II) labeled DNA. This method is expected to yield significant improvement in speed, cost and performance over existing quantitative PCR methods, by reducing the number and quantity of reagents, reducing the number of sample preparation steps, increasing sensitivity, and shortening analysis time.