Molecular Biology Commons^™

A Combined Computational Strategy Of Sequence And Structural Analysis Predicts The Existence Of A Functional Eicosanoid Pathway In Drosophila Melanogaster, Michael Scarpati

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With increased understanding of their roles in signal transduction and metabolism, eicosanoids have emerged as important players in human health and disease. Mammalian prostanoids and related lipid mediators perform varied functions in different tissues and organs. Synthesized through the oxygenation of C20 polyunsaturated fatty acids, mammalian eicosanoids are both pro- and anti-inflammatory. The physiological contexts in which eicosanoid family members act at the cellular level are not well understood. In this study, we examined whether the genome of Drosophila melanogaster, a powerful model for innate immunity and inflammation, codes for the enzymes required for eicosanoid biosynthesis. We report the …

Study Of The Structure And Function Of Cxc Chemokine Receptor 2, Hae Ryong Kwon

Masters Theses

It has been shown that the amino terminus and second extracellular loop (EC2) of CXCR2 are crucial for ligand binding and receptor activation. The lack of an ionic lock motif in the third intracellular loop of CXCR2 focuses an investigation of the mechanism by which these two extracellular regions contribute to receptor recognition and activation.

The first objective of this investigation was to predict the structure of CXCR2 based on known structures of crystallized GPCRs. Rhodopsin, β2-adrenergic receptor, CXCR4 were used for homology modeling of CXCR2 structure. Highly conserved motifs found in sequence alignments of the template GPCRs were helpful …