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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

In Vitro Investigation Of Tumor Selective Piperidones As Therapeutic Agents Against Leukemia Cancer Cells, Lisett Contreras Dec 2021

In Vitro Investigation Of Tumor Selective Piperidones As Therapeutic Agents Against Leukemia Cancer Cells, Lisett Contreras

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Cancer is a continuous global health issue. It is the second leading cause of death behind heart disease. Disparities across the emergence of cancer and resulting fatalities raise the importance of researching the disease. Treatments are available for certain types of cancers. However, these are typically accompanied by residual problems including side effects and the possibility for relapse. Some treatments attack all cells, leading to unwarranted side effects that make the possibility of living a comfortable life nearly impossible. Other treatments are specific to certain genetic alterations, making them only useful for a small percentage of patients. Not one treatment …


Differentiating The Mechanistic Role And Chemotherapeutic Potential Of Src And Podoplanin In Oncogenic Transformation, Edward P. Retzbach Dec 2021

Differentiating The Mechanistic Role And Chemotherapeutic Potential Of Src And Podoplanin In Oncogenic Transformation, Edward P. Retzbach

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

There were an estimated 20 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2020, resulting in nearly 1000 deaths per hour [1]. Oral cancer exemplifies the difficulties of treating cancer patients. The first line for oral cancer treatment is surgery and radiation that can lead to patient disfigurement and decreased quality of life in cancer survivors [2-4]. Though there have been many developments in chemotherapy in the last 30 years, the 50% mortality rate associated with oral cancer has not changed [4, 5]. Longitudinal studies that track survival rates in oral cancer patients demonstrate a 3-fold reduction in patient deaths when patients …


Examination Of Methylation Status And Occupancy Of Dna Methylation Modifying Proteins On Regulatory Regions Of The Dax-1 Gene, Caroline P. Riedstra Aug 2021

Examination Of Methylation Status And Occupancy Of Dna Methylation Modifying Proteins On Regulatory Regions Of The Dax-1 Gene, Caroline P. Riedstra

Master's Theses

Epigenetic modifications influence gene expression and thereby play a pivotal role in development and disease. Misregulation and mutations in the DAX-1 gene, or Dosage-Sensitive Sex Reversal, Adrenal Hypoplasia Congenita, Critical Region on the X chromosome, gene 1, have been implicated in Adrenal Hypoplasia Congenita (AHC) and Dosage Sensitive Sex Reversal (DSS). The orphan nuclear hormone receptor DAX-1 is expressed predominantly in tissues such as the testes, ovaries, breast, adrenal cortex, and lung. Critically, DAX-1 may serve as an indicator of aberrant growth in these tissues. Here we hypothesize that DAX-1 is epigenetically regulated, specifically in cancer cells, thereby reducing its …


A Time-Course Characterization Of Muscle Function And Mitochondrial Markers During Colorectal Cancer-Induced Cachexia In Tumor-Bearing Male Mice, Ana Cabrera Ayuso Jul 2021

A Time-Course Characterization Of Muscle Function And Mitochondrial Markers During Colorectal Cancer-Induced Cachexia In Tumor-Bearing Male Mice, Ana Cabrera Ayuso

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cachexia is a multisystemic and multifactorial syndrome prevalent in cancer patients. It is clinically defined by involuntary loss of >5% weight in a six-month window, despite nutritional interventions. A negative energy balance characterizes cancer cachexia (CC), it is associated with weakness and fatigue in skeletal muscle. Impaired muscle function is associated with lower quality of life in cancer patients. Defects in mitochondrial function are strongly associated with muscle wasting. This study explored muscular contractile function and mitochondrial quality control (MQC) markers in soleus, gastrocnemius, and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles of C26-induced male tumor-bearing mice during a 25-day time course. It …


Evolution Of Targeted Therapy Resistance In Eml4-Alk Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Robert Vander Velde Jun 2021

Evolution Of Targeted Therapy Resistance In Eml4-Alk Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Robert Vander Velde

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Targeted therapies have emerged as potent treatments that lead to the remission of many tumors. However, they rarely cure cancers in advanced, metastatic settings. This is due to the evolution of resistance, which in turn can be ascribed to the survival of small subpopulations of tolerant and/or resistant cells. Here we investigated the evolution of resistance to EML4-ALK inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and demonstrated that resistance evolves gradually, from unique pre-treatment sub-populations, as multiple resistance mechanisms accumulate in a Darwinian fashion. Despite accumulating multiple changes, cells evolved, in parallel, toward similar inhibitor specific phenotypes. Evolving cells have …


Understanding The Role Of Ano1 In Oral Cancer, Mallary Forrest May 2021

Understanding The Role Of Ano1 In Oral Cancer, Mallary Forrest

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 2008, the gene ANO1 was discovered to encode a calcium activated chloride channel. This gene is located on the 11q13 locus, a locus that is commonly amplified in many cancers including cancer of the head and neck. ANO1 is situated in close proximity to genes associated with growth and apoptosis. As rapid proliferation and lack of apoptosis are hallmark characteristics of cancer, growth factors and apoptosis mediators are expected to be altered in cancer. But what does a calcium activated chloride channel have to contribute to cancer’s pathogenesis? Is it an active gene in cancer progression or is it …


The Effect Of Cadmium On Ovarian Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines: An Investigation Of The Possible Mechanism Of Action, Haley Todd Apr 2021

The Effect Of Cadmium On Ovarian Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines: An Investigation Of The Possible Mechanism Of Action, Haley Todd

Undergraduate Theses

Cadmium, a heavy metal and carcinogen, is an environmental and workplace contaminate. As a known endocrine disruptor, it can mimic the proliferative effects of estrogen and is classified as a metalloestrogen. While the proliferative effect of estrogen on cancerous cell growth has been well established, the effects of cadmium have not been fully examined. To determine if cadmium stimulates growth in two human ovarian adenocarcinoma cell lines, OVCAR3 and SKOV3, cells were treated for 48 hours with varying concentrations of cadmium, 0.001 µM – 10 µM, and growth was measured using a cell proliferation assay. Both cell lines showed a …


Biophysical Characterization Of The Par-4 Tumor Suppressor: Evidence Of Structure Outside The Coiled Coil Domain And Interactions With Platinum Chemotherapeutics, Andrea Megan Clark Apr 2021

Biophysical Characterization Of The Par-4 Tumor Suppressor: Evidence Of Structure Outside The Coiled Coil Domain And Interactions With Platinum Chemotherapeutics, Andrea Megan Clark

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) is an apoptosis-inducing tumor suppressor protein. Full-length Par-4 has previously been shown to be a predominantly intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) under neutral conditions, with significant regular secondary structure evident only within the C-terminal coiled coil domain. However, IDPs can gain ordered structure through the process of induced folding, which often occurs under non-neutral conditions. Previous work has shown that the Par-4 leucine zipper, which is a subset of the C-terminal coiled coil domain, is disordered under neutral conditions, but forms a dimeric coiled coil at acidic pH. Increase in ionic strength was also shown to increase …


Understanding The Epigenetic Role Of 8-Oxoguanine And Ogg1 In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Kyrellos Ibrahim Jan 2021

Understanding The Epigenetic Role Of 8-Oxoguanine And Ogg1 In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Kyrellos Ibrahim

CMC Senior Theses

Oxidative damage to the genome can form 8-oxoguanine (oxoG), a premutagenic lesion suggested to play an epigenetic role in the regulation of various cellular pathways. Alongside oxoG in this regulation is the 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1), which primarily functions to repair oxoG damage via base excision repair, but is also implicated in recruiting NFκB and impacting gene expression associated with cancer growth. This proposal aims to build genome-wide maps of oxoG occupancy, and indirectly OGG1 localization, in healthy lung cells and in non-small cell lung cancer adenocarcinoma cells in order to identify regulatory regions in the genome at which oxoG …