Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Bioengineering The Expression Of Active Recombinant Human Cathepsin G, Enteropeptidase, Neutrophil Elastase, And C-Reactive Protein In Yeast, Eliot T. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The yeasts Pichia pastoris and Kluyveromyces lactis were used to express several recombinant human proteins for further biochemical characterization. Two substitution variants of recombinant human enteropeptidase light chain (rhEPL) were engineered to modify the extended substrate specificity of this serine protease. Both were secreted as active enzymes in excess of 1.7 mg/L in P. pastoris fermentation broth. The substitution variant rhEPL R96Q showed significantly reduced specificities for the preferred substrate sequences DDDDK and DDDDR; however, the rhEPL Y174R variant displayed improved specificities for these substrate sequences relative to all other reported variants of this enzyme. The neutrophil serine proteases human …

Regulating Rsma Expression In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Sean D. Stacey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative bacillus, commonly infects immunocompromised individuals and uses a variety of virulence factors to persist in these hosts. The posttranscriptional regulator, RsmA, plays a role in the expression of many virulence factors in P. aeruginosa. RsmA up regulates virulence factors used in colonizing hosts. However, regulation of rsmA is not well elucidated. Transposon mutagenesis was performed on P. aeruginosa containing a transcriptional rsmA-lacZ fusion to answer this question. Mutants were screened via β-galactosidase assay and transposon insertions identified via arbitrary PCR. A probable MFS transporter, we named mtpX, was one significant transposon mutant identified. …

Exercise Participation During Weight Loss On A High Protein – Low Carbohydrate Diet Plan In Females Aged 15-25 Years, Margaret Mobley-Meulman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Obese adults have an increased risk for serious health conditions including high blood pressure and cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, and certain cancers (National Cancer Institute, 2012). Participation in exercise can help control weight, strengthen muscles and bones, and reduce the incidence of cardiac events, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, colon and breast cancers, osteoporotic fractures, gallbladder disease, obesity, depression, anxiety, and delay mortality …

Preventing Skin Cancer In Adolescent Girls Through Intervention With Their Mothers, Mary K. Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Indoor tanning (IT) before the age of 35 increases one’s risk for melanoma by 75%, and epidemiological data show a 6.1% annual increase in the incidence of melanomas in white women younger than age 44 in the US. Population-based studies reveal that 15% of adolescents and 8% to 14% of their primary caregivers have engaged in IT in the past year.

The compelling case for IT being a significant risk factor for melanoma, together with the high rates of IT in teen girls and their mothers, provided a strong rationale for conducting an antitanning intervention directed at mother-daughter dyads. This …

Locus Coeruleus And Hippocampal Tyrosine Hydroxylase Levels In A Pressure-Overload Model Of Heart Disease, Luke A. Johnson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Studies have indicated that approximately 30% of people with heart disease experience major depressive disorder (MDD). Despite strong clinical evidence of a link between the two diseases, the neurobiological processes involved in the relationship are poorly understood. A growing number of studies are revealing similar neuroanatomical and neurochemical abnormalities resulting from both depression and heart disease. The locus coeruleus (LC) is a group of neurons in the pons that synthesize and release norepinephrine, and that is known to play a significant role in depression pathobiology. For example, there is evidence that tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is elevated in the LC in …