Microbiology Commons^™

Empirical Analysis Of The Str Profiles Resulting From Conceptual Mixtures, David R. Paoletti, Travis E. Doom, Carissa M. Krane, Michael L. Raymer, Dan E. Krane

Biology Faculty Publications

Samples containing DNA from two or more individuals can be difficult to interpret. Even ascertaining the number of contributors can be challenging and associated uncertainties can have dramatic effects on the interpretation of testing results. Using an FBI genotypes dataset, containing complete genotype information from the 13 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) loci for 959 individuals, all possible mixtures of three individuals were exhaustively and empirically computed. Allele sharing between pairs of individuals in the original dataset, a randomized dataset and datasets of generated cousins and siblings was evaluated as were the number of loci that were necessary to reliably …

Atypical Pkciota Contributes To Poor Prognosis Through Loss Of Apical-Basal Polarity And Cyclin E Overexpression In Ovarian Cancer, Astrid M. Eder, Xiaomei Sui, Daniel G. Rosen, Laura K. Nolden, Kwai Wa Cheng, John P. Lahad, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Karen H. Lu, Carla L. Warneke, Edward N. Atkinson, Isabelle Bedrosian, Khandan Keyomarsi, Wen-Lin Kuo, Joe W. Gray, Jerry C. P. Yin, Jinsong Liu, Georg Halder, Gordon B. Mills

Biology Faculty Publications

We show that atypical PKCι, which plays a critical role in the establishment and maintenance of epithelial cell polarity, is genomically amplified and overexpressed in serous epithelial ovarian cancers. Furthermore, PKCι protein is markedly increased or mislocalized in all serous ovarian cancers. An increased PKCι DNA copy number is associated with decreased progression-free survival in serous epithelial ovarian cancers. In a Drosophila in vivo epithelial tissue model, overexpression of persistently active atypical PKC results in defects in apical-basal polarity, increased Cyclin E protein expression, and increased proliferation. Similar to the Drosophila model, increased PKCι proteins levels are associated with …

Group 13 Hox Proteins Interact With The Mh2 Domain Of R-Smads And Modulate Smad Transcriptional Activation Functions Independent Of Hox Dna Binding Capability, Thomas M. Williams, Melissa E. Williams, Joanne H. Heaton, Thomas D. Gelehrter, Jeffrey W. Innis

Biology Faculty Publications

Interactions with co-factors provide a means by which HOX proteins exert specificity. To identify candidate protein interactors of HOXA13, we created and screened an E11.5–E12.5, distal limb bud yeast two-hybrid prey library. Among the interactors, we isolated the BMP-signaling effector Smad5, which interacted with the paralogous HOXD13 but not with HOXA11 or HOXA9, revealing unique interaction capabilities of the AbdB-like HOX proteins. Using deletion mutants, we determined that the MH2 domain of Smad5 is necessary for HOXA13 interaction.

This is the first report demonstrating an interaction between HOX proteins and the MH2 domain of Smad proteins. HOXA13 and HOXD13 …

Mechanisms Of Virulence Regulation In Porphyromonas Gingivalis W83, Elaine Ann-Marie Vanterpool

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The expression of extracellular proteolytic activities is highly regulated in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. This regulation can occur at multiple levels including expression of the protease genes, secretion, processing of an inactive secreted precursor to its active form and/or the posttranslational glycosylation of the proteins. These regulatory mechanisms are vital to ensure that expression is tightly controlled. Porphyromonas gingivalis has been associated with adult periodontitis and in the development of many systematic diseases. The major virulence factors of P. gingivalis, the gingipains, are responsible for pathogenesis including degradation of complement and immunoglobulin, inactivation of cytokines and their receptors, …

Oxygen Sensing By The Aer And Tsr Receptors Of Escherichia Coli, Jessica Claire Edwards

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Escherichia coli senses the oxygen concentration of its environment via the Aer and Tsr receptors, and swims to an oxygen concentration that provides optimal energy generation. Aer and Tsr do not sense oxygen per se but, sense the internal energy state via the electron transport system (ETS) in a previously unidentified mechanism. Proton motive force (PMF) and electron flow were proposed as possible sensory signals but, distinguishing between the two was not possible, previously, in live, motile cells. I differentiated PMF from electron flow by creating a series of ETS mutant strains that express ternary combinations of i) aerotaxis receptors, …