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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology
An Investigation Into The Mechanism Of Proteasome Dysfunction In Neurodegenerative Disease And The Biological Impact Of Proteasome Hyperactivation In C. Elegans, Raymond T. Anderson
An Investigation Into The Mechanism Of Proteasome Dysfunction In Neurodegenerative Disease And The Biological Impact Of Proteasome Hyperactivation In C. Elegans, Raymond T. Anderson
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Aging is an inevitable process that occurs as humans grow older. It is characterized by the chronological accumulation of cellular damage over time leading to functional decline as an organism grows older. Several processes are thought to contribute to the aging phenomenon, but one of the most prolific of these is the disruption of protein homeostasis (proteostasis). The collapse of proteostasis can lead to accelerated aging and the development of age-related diseases including devastating neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) like Alzheimer and Parkinson disease. Virtually all NDs are characterized by the buildup of proteins in and around neurons resulting in neuronal death …
Thiol-Based Misfolding: Linking Redox Balance To Cytosolic Proteostasis, Ford Amy
Thiol-Based Misfolding: Linking Redox Balance To Cytosolic Proteostasis, Ford Amy
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
The eukaryotic cytosolic proteome is vulnerable to changes in proteostatic and redox balance caused by temperature, pH, oxidants and xenobiotics. Cysteine-containing proteins are especially at risk as the thiol side chain is subject to oxidation, adduction and chelation by thiol-reactive compounds. All of these thiol-modifiers have been demonstrated to induce the heat shock response and recruit protein chaperones to sites of presumed protein aggregation in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, endogenous targets of thiol stress toxicity responsible for these outcomes are largely unknown. Furthermore, I hypothesize proteins identified as redox-active are prone to misfolding and aggregation by thiol-specific …
Energy Stress Causes Chaperones To Assemble Into Cytoplasmic Complexes, Kimberly J. Cope
Energy Stress Causes Chaperones To Assemble Into Cytoplasmic Complexes, Kimberly J. Cope
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
The majority of proteins require molecular chaperones to assist their folding into tertiary and quaternary structures. Certain stresses can compromise the weak hydrophobic forces responsible for these structures and lead to protein unfolding, misfolding, and aggregation. Aggregates of proteins are hallmarks of devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases. Fortunately, bacteria, plants, and fungi have a potent disaggregase, named Hsp104 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Recently, heat-induced aggregates, termed Q-bodies, were found to contain three molecular chaperones: Hsp70, Hsp104, and Hsp42. Their coalescence from small puncta into larger inclusions required Hsp104. During glucose deprivation, a stress that isn’t known to …
Functional Analysis Of Cytosolic Hsp70 Nucleotide Exchange Factor Networks In Yeast, Jennifer Lynn Abrams
Functional Analysis Of Cytosolic Hsp70 Nucleotide Exchange Factor Networks In Yeast, Jennifer Lynn Abrams
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
The Hsp70 class of molecular chaperones play critical roles in protein homeostasis via an ATP-dependent folding cycle. Cytosolic Hsp70s in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Ssa and Ssb, interact with up to three distinct nucleotide exchange factors (NEFs) homologous to human counterparts; Sse1/Sse2/HSP110, Fes1/HspBP1, and Snl1/Bag1. In an effort to understand the differential functional contributions of the cytosolic NEFs to protein homeostasis (“proteostasis”), I carried out comparative genetic, biochemical and cell biological analyses. For these studies, I developed protocols to monitor protein disaggregation and reactivation in a near real-time coupled assay that revealed the importance of aggregate dynamics in the …