Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Transcriptional Regulation Of Insulin-Like Growth Factor : Binding Protein-4 By Protein Kinase A And Protein Kinase C Signal Transduction Pathways In Human Bone Cells, Kuk-Wha Lee

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF) system is an important local regulator of osteoblast proliferation, the primary determinant of bone formation. Six IGF Binding Proteins (IGFBPs) either inhibit or enhance IGF actions. Previous studies have shown that IGFBP-4 is an important negative regulator of osteoblast cell proliferation and that agents such as PTH which increase intracellular cAMP significantly increase expression of IGFBP-4 at the protein and mRNA levels. The underlying molecular mechanism which accounted for IGFBP-4 expression had not been determined and was the focus of my dissertation. Agents which increase intracellular cAMP rapidly increased IGFBP-4 mRNA levels. Nuclear run-off experiments …

Effects Of Furosemide And Oleic Acid On Thyroxine Binding To Isolated Pairs Of Thyroxine Binding Serum Proteins, Deborah Hustead

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Dosage dependent binding inhibition and redistribution of thyroxine (T₄) between three pairs of thyroxine binding serum proteins, TBG-TTR, TBG-albumin and TTR-albumin, by furosemide (0.0 to 1.0 mol/L) and oleic acid (0.0 to 0.10 mol/L) were studied using equilibrium dialysis with purified binding proteins at concentrations 1/200 of levels in normal human sera, separated across the dialysis membrane and competing for T₄.

Furosemide (1.0 mol/L) reduced TBG bound T₄ in both the TBG-TTR system and TBG-albumin system (>90% decrease) and inhibited T₄ binding to TTR in the TTR-albumin system (68% decrease) and to albumin …

The Production And Characterization Of A Monoclonal Antibody To A Naturally Occurring Aminomalonic Acid Epitope And A Comparison With An Antibody To A Synthetically Derived Aminomalonic Acid Epitope, James L. Gulley

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The goal for this project is to undertake the first step in the study of blocking metastasis by a monoclonal antibody. The long range goal of this line of research is to study a novel mechanism for the blocking of tumor metastasis in general and prostatic cancer metastasis in particular. The problem that this addresses is the growing number of cases of prostatic cancer in the increasingly aging male population. This cancer is not lethal unless it metastasizes, yet there is no cure for the metastatic disease. The inherent specificity of a monoclonal antibody combined with the uniqueness of the …

Cerebral Microcirculatory Effects Of Maturation, Scott R. Elliott

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The present studies demonstrate that in the second (2B) and fourth (4B) branches of newborn and adult sheep middle cerebral arteries, 5-HT2 serotonergic receptors mediate contractile responses to serotonin and that alpha-1 adrenergic receptors mediate contractile responses to norepinephrine. In addition, tissue sensitivity to 5-HT and NE decreases significantly with maturation, but does not vary with branch order. These age-related changes were associated with a decrease in affinity and maximum response in 2B and 4B segments of 5-HT and NE contracted arteries, respectively. Norepinephrine and 5-HT occupancy at the pD₂ rose significantly in 2B segments, but did not change …

Signal Transduction In Bacterial Chemotaxis, Edward Heath Rowsell

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study investigated the site of ATP utilization in the signal transduction pathway of bacterial chemotaxis and localized the point of convergence of a methylation-independent system of chemotaxis with the methylation-dependent system. The identity of the signal originating from the phosphotransferase system was investigated by substituting the fructose-inducible HPr-like protein FPr for HPr in transport and chemotaxis. In addition, a novel chemoattractant, glycerol, was identified for Salmonella typhimurium. Histidine-auxotrophic S. typhimurium strains ST23 (hisF) and ST171 (hisF cheB) were depleted for ATP. The times required for the bacteria to adapt to a step increase in serine, …

A Physical Map Of The Klebsiella Pneumoniae M5a1 Genome, Alexandrine Randriamahefa

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an enteric opportunistic pathogen which commonly causes pulmonary, urinary tract and kidney infections. It has also been widely used for the study of nitrogen fixation. In this study, a macrorestriction map of K. pneumoniae M5a1 chromosomal DNA was constructed using pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and Southern hybridization techniques. The genome DNA was digested with two rare cutting restriction enzymes (XbaI and BlnI) and the genome size was estimated from the sum of the fragment sizes as 5,121 Kb (+2.8%). A tentative order of fragments was deduced using Southern hybridization with purified restriction fragments. …