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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

Evidence For The Involvement Of Runx1 And Runx2 In Maintenance Of The Breast Cancer Stem Cell Phenotype, Mark Fitzgerald Jan 2018

Evidence For The Involvement Of Runx1 And Runx2 In Maintenance Of The Breast Cancer Stem Cell Phenotype, Mark Fitzgerald

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

In the United States, metastatic breast cancer kills approximately 40,000 women and 400 men annually, and approximately 200,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year. Worldwide, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. Despite advances in the detection and treatment of metastatic breast cancer, mortality rates from this disease remain high because the fact is that once metastatic, it is virtually incurable. It is widely accepted that a major reason breast cancer continues to exhibit recurrence after remission is that current therapies are insufficient for targeting and eliminating therapy-resistant cancer cells. Emerging research has …


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 …


Cargo Transport By Myosin Va Molecular Motors Within Three-Dimensional In Vitro Models Of The Intracellular Actin Cytoskeletal Network, Andrew Thomas Lombardo Jan 2018

Cargo Transport By Myosin Va Molecular Motors Within Three-Dimensional In Vitro Models Of The Intracellular Actin Cytoskeletal Network, Andrew Thomas Lombardo

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Intracellular cargo transport involves the movement of critical cellular components (e.g. vesicles, organelles, mRNA, chromosomes) along cytoskeletal tracks by tiny molecular motors. Myosin Va motors have been demonstrated to play a vital role in the transport of cargos destined for the cell membrane by navigating their cargos through the three-dimensional actin networks of the cell. Transport of cargo through these networks presents many challenges, including directional and physical obstacles which teams of myosin Va-bound to a single cargo must overcome. Specifically, myosin Va motors are presented with numerous actin-actin intersections and dense networks of filaments which can act as a …


Single Molecule Imaging Reveals Tau Structure And Function On The Microtubule Surface, Jamie Stern Jan 2018

Single Molecule Imaging Reveals Tau Structure And Function On The Microtubule Surface, Jamie Stern

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Neurons are among the most highly polarized cells in the human body. This polarization allows the neuron to participate in the transfer of chemical and electrical signals which are crucial to the survival of the organism. As part of polarization, each neuron develops a dendritic arbor and an axon. To ensure the survival of the cell, materials synthesized in the cell body must be trafficked through the axon for delivery throughout ultimately ending at the synaptic termini. The bulk of this cargo transport is microtubule-based fast axonal transport which is molecular motor mediated and tightly regulated though many pathways. Motor …


Detection Of The Lung Environment By Multi-Drug Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Pathogens, Graham Geier Willsey Jan 2018

Detection Of The Lung Environment By Multi-Drug Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Pathogens, Graham Geier Willsey

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Nosocomial lung infections are a growing concern in the United States, with more than 300,000 cases reported annually. More than 30 % of which are caused by the Gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Similarly, Gram-negative bacteria establish chronic infections in individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) that are difficult or impossible to eradicate.P. aeruginosa has historically been one of the most prevalent pathogens of adults with CF. However, as antipseudomonal therapy has improved, more antibiotic resistant species have taken hold, including Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, which now colonizes more than 10 % of individuals with CF. Regardless of …