Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Endoglin Protein Interactome Profiling Identifies Trim21 And Galectin-3 As New Binding Partners, Eunate Gallardo-Vara, Lidia Ruiz-Llorente, Juan Casado-Vela, María J. Ruiz-Rodríguez, Natalia López-Andrés, Asit K. Pattnaik, Miguel Quintanilla

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Endoglin is a 180-kDa glycoprotein receptor primarily expressed by the vascular endothelium and involved in cardiovascular disease and cancer. Heterozygous mutations in the endoglin gene (ENG) cause herediatry hemorrhagic telangiectasia type 1, a vascular disease that presents with nasal and gastrointestinal bleeding, skin and mucosa telangiectase, and arteriovenous malformations in internal organs. A circulating form of endoglin (alias soluble endoglin, sEng), proteolytically released from the membrane-bound protein, has been observed in several inflammation-related pathological conditions and appears to contribute to endothelial dysfunction and cancer development through unknown mechanisms. Membrane-bound endoglin is an auxiliary component of the TGF-B receptor complex and …

9th Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium, University Of Texas Md Anderson Cancer Center Postdoctoral Association

Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium Abstracts

The mission of the Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium (APSS) is to provide a platform for talented postdoctoral fellows throughout the Texas Medical Center to present their work to a wider audience. The MD Anderson Postdoctoral Association convened its inaugural Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium (APSS) on August 4, 2011.

The APSS provides a professional venue for postdoctoral scientists to develop, clarify, and refine their research as a result of formal reviews and critiques of faculty and other postdoctoral scientists. Additionally, attendees discuss current research on a broad range of subjects while promoting academic interactions and enrichment and developing new collaborations.

Effects Of Ef-24 And Cisplatin On Cancer, Renal, And Auditory Cells, Denis Hodzic

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Cisplatin is a chemotherapy drug effective against several forms of cancer, but can also cause serious side-effects, including nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity. Curcumin, a natural plant compound, can increase cisplatin’s anti-cancer activity and counteract cisplatin’s deleterious effect on the auditory and renal systems. Unfortunately, curcumin exhibits poor bioavailability, which has promoted interest in the development of synthetic curcumin analogs (curcuminoids) that are soluble, target cancer, and do not cause side effects. This study investigated whether the curcuminoid (3E,5E)-3,5-bis[(2-fluorophenyl) methylene]-4-piperidinone (EF-24) increases the anti-cancer effects of cisplatin against a human ovarian cancer cell line (A2780) and its cisplatin-resistant counterpart (A2780cis), while preventing …

Effectiveness And Mechanism Of Action Of Modified Porphyrins For Photodynamic Therapy Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Hannah Brandon

Honors Theses

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer that lacks the three molecules typically targeted for treatment. Standard treatment methods leave much to be desired--the rates of metastasis and recurrence are high and the prognosis for most patients with TNBC is poor. One potential treatment for TNBC is photodynamic therapy (PDT), which uses compounds called photosensitizers that are taken up by all tissues in the body. The tumor is exposed to light, activating the photosensitizer and creating reactive oxygen species that cause cell death. This method is relatively pain-free, effective, and does not harm cells …

Exosomes And Their Role In Asbestos Exposure And Mesothelioma, Phillip Blake Munson

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a locally invasive and highly aggressive cancer arising on the mesothelial surface of organ cavities (mainly pleural) as a direct result of asbestos exposure. The latency period of MM is long (20-50yrs) after initial asbestos exposure, and the prognostic outcomes are dismal with median life expectancy of 6-12 months post-diagnosis. There are no useful biomarkers for early MM diagnosis, no successful therapeutic interventions. These vast voids of knowledge led to our hypotheses that secreted vesicles, termed exosomes, play an important role in MM development and tumorigenic properties. Exosomes are nano-sized particles secreted from all cell types …

Non-Contact Trapping And Stretching Of Biological Cells Using Dual-Beam Optical Stretcher On Microfluidic Platform, Aotuo Dong, Balaadithya Uppalapati, Shariful Islam, Brandon Gibbs, Ganesan Kamatchi, Sacharia Albin, Makarand Deo

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Optical stretcher is a tool in which two counter-propagating, slightly diverging, and identical laser beams are used to trap and axially stretch microparticles in the path of light. In this work, we utilized the dual-beam optical stretcher setup to trap and stretch human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells and mammalian breast cancer (MBC) cells. Experiments were performed by exposing the HEK cells to counter-propagating laser beams for 30 seconds at powers ranging from 100 mW to 561 mW. It was observed that the percentage of cell deformation increased from 16.7% at 100 mW to 40.5% at 561 mW optical power. The …