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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

21st Century Approaches To Addressing Childhood Diarrhea In Low And Middle-Income Countries: Zinc As A Cornerstone Of New Prevention Strategies, Elizabeth Ross Colgate Jan 2018

21st Century Approaches To Addressing Childhood Diarrhea In Low And Middle-Income Countries: Zinc As A Cornerstone Of New Prevention Strategies, Elizabeth Ross Colgate

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

During the 20th century, significant strides were made in curtailing the burden of childhood diarrhea, including advances in vaccine research, the advent of antibiotics, improved water and sanitation, and expanded access to health information across the globe. Despite this progress, today diarrhea ranks second only to pneumonia as a leading cause of mortality in children under five years, with a disproportionate burden of 90% of diarrheal deaths in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, substantial morbidity due to diarrhea persists in young children, with more than 45 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to diarrhea in 2015. Long-term consequences …


Epicardial Cell Engraftment And Signaling Promote Cardiac Repair After Myocardial Infarction, Krithika Rao Jan 2016

Epicardial Cell Engraftment And Signaling Promote Cardiac Repair After Myocardial Infarction, Krithika Rao

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The epicardium is a single layer of epithelial (mesothelial) cells that covers the entire heart surface, but whose function in adult mammals is poorly understood. Defining the role of epicardial cells during homeostasis, growth and injury has potential to provide new treatment strategies for human diseases that result in heart failure, due to extensive loss of viable cardiac tissue. We hypothesized that epicardial cells contribute to repair as transplantable progenitor cells for cellular regeneration and as a source of secreted growth factors for cell protection after myocardial infarction.

Adult epicardial cells were prospectively isolated as uncommitted epithelial cells using epithelial-specific …


A Novel Approach For The Identification Of Cytoskeletal And Adhesion A-Kinase Anchoring Proteins, Laura Taylor Director Jan 2014

A Novel Approach For The Identification Of Cytoskeletal And Adhesion A-Kinase Anchoring Proteins, Laura Taylor Director

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) are signaling scaffolds which provide spatial and temporal organization of signaling pathways in discrete subcellular compartments. Through tethering the cyclic-AMP dependent protein kinase A (PKA), AKAPs target PKA activity to distinct regions in the cell, bringing PKA in close proximity to its target proteins. This provides a high level of specificity and regulation of PKA and its role in mediating a number of biological processes, one of which is cell migration. Cell migration is a highly dynamic and fundamental process, when misregulated can lead to a number of pathologies. The process of cell migration requires integration …


Mitochondrial Structure And Function As A Therapeutic Target In Malignant Mesothelioma, Brian Cunniff Jan 2014

Mitochondrial Structure And Function As A Therapeutic Target In Malignant Mesothelioma, Brian Cunniff

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a rare tumor associated with occupational exposure to asbestos with no effective treatment regime. Evaluation of mitochondrial function in human MM cell lines revealed a common tumor phenotype: in comparison to immortalized or primary human mesothelial cells, MM tumor cells displayed a more oxidized mitochondrial environment, increased expression of mitochondrial antioxidant enzymes, and altered mitochondrial metabolism. Earlier work by our laboratory indicated that increases in mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) in MM cell lines supports expression of FOXM1, an oncogenic transcription factor that contributes to increased cell proliferation and chemoresistance. These studies sought to investigate targeting …