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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology
Characterization Of Ghrelin O-Acyltransferase Active Site, Leslie Patton
Characterization Of Ghrelin O-Acyltransferase Active Site, Leslie Patton
Honors Capstone Projects - All
Ghrelin, first discovered in 1999, is a 28-amino acid peptide hormone involved in the regulation of appetite, insulin secretion and sensitivity, and many neurological effects such as learning, memory, and depression.1-6 Ghrelin has been identified to have a unique posttranslational octanoylation carried out by the enzyme ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT). This distinctive modification is a point of interest in studying GOAT whereby blocking the acylation of the ghrelin could potentially halt the activity of the peptide hormone and provide a means of treating obesity, diabetes, and other diseases affected by ghrelin levels. The duration of my project involved working …
Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Neonatal Oocyte Survival And Primordial Follicle Formation In The Mouse Ovary, Robin L. Jones
Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Neonatal Oocyte Survival And Primordial Follicle Formation In The Mouse Ovary, Robin L. Jones
Biology - Dissertations
In mammals, formation of the primordial follicle is a complex process involving the breakdown of germ cell cysts, where oocytes must separate from each other and subsequently become surrounded by somatic cells. As cysts separate, a large number of germ cells are lost by apoptosis, however the mechanisms by which cyst breakdown and germ cell death occur are not well understood. We first hypothesized that two anti-apoptotic regulators from the BCL2 family of proteins, BCL2 and MCL1, may be responsible for regulating neonatal oocyte survival. To elucidate the effects of BCL2 in the neonatal ovary, we examined ovaries of both …