Medical Genetics Commons^™

Breast Cancer Subtyping Of The Cancer Genome Atlas (Tcga) Samples, Spencer E. Yu, Alfred B. Amendolara, Steven T. Tung, Alexander P. Sheppert, Nasif Islam, Mindy Cook, Lena Diprizito, Nicole Lashiker, Roshni Jogin, John A. Kriak, Kyle B. Bills, David W. Sant

Annual Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Modified Linear Peptides Effectively Silence Stat-3 In Breast Cancer And Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines, Dindyal Mandal, Sandeep Lohan, Muhammad Imran Sajid, Abdulelah Alhazza, Rakesh Kumar Tiwari, Keykavous Parang, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

RNA interference (RNAi) has drawn enormous attention as a powerful tool because of its capability to interfere with mRNA and protein production. However, designing a safe and efficient delivery system in RNAi therapeutics remains challenging. Herein, we have designed and synthesized several linear peptides containing tryptophan (W) and arginine (R) residues separated by the β-alanine (βA) spacer and attached to a lipophilic fatty acyl chain, cholesterol, or PEG. The peptide backbone sequences were: Ac-C-βA-βA-W4-βA-βA-R4-CO-NH2 and Ac-K-βA-βA-W4-βA-βA-R4-CO-NH2, with only a difference in N-terminal amino acid. The cysteine side chain in the first sequence was used for the conjugation with PEG2000 and …

Multi-Ancestry Transcriptome-Wide Association Analyses Yield Insights Into Tobacco Use Biology And Drug Repurposing, Fang Cheng, Xingyan Wang, Seon-Kyeong Jang, Bryan C. Quach, J. Dylan Weissenkampen, Chachrit Khunsriraksakul, Lina Yang, John Blangero, Joanne E. Curran, Ravindranath Duggirala, Juan M. Peralta

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Most transcriptome-wide association studies (TWASs) so far focus on European ancestry and lack diversity. To overcome this limitation, we aggregated genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics, whole-genome sequences and expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) data from diverse ancestries. We developed a new approach, TESLA (multi-ancestry integrative study using an optimal linear combination of association statistics), to integrate an eQTL dataset with a multi-ancestry GWAS. By exploiting shared phenotypic effects between ancestries and accommodating potential effect heterogeneities, TESLA improves power over other TWAS methods. When applied to tobacco use phenotypes, TESLA identified 273 new genes, up to 55% more compared with …

Differential Strain-Dependent Ovarian And Metabolic Responses In A Mouse Model Of Pcos, April K. Binder, Danielle L. Peecher, Amanda J. Qvigstad, Silvia D. Gutierrez, Jennifer Magaña, David B. Banks, Kenneth S. Korach

Biology Faculty Scholarship

Several mouse models have been developed to study polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a leading cause of infertility in women. Treatment of mice with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) for 90-days causes ovarian and metabolic phenotypes similar to women with PCOS. We used this 90-day DHT treatment paradigm to investigate the variable incidence and heterogeneity in two inbred mouse strains, NOD/ShiLtJ and 129S1/SvlmJ. NOD mice naturally develop type 1 diabetes, and recent meta-analysis found increased androgen excess and PCOS in women with type 1 diabetes. 129S1 mice are commonly used in genetic manipulations. Both NOD and 129S1 DHT treated mice had early vaginal opening, …

Advancement In Human Face Prediction Using Dna, Aamer Alshehhi, Aliya Almarzooqi, Khadija Alhammadi, Naoufel Werghi, Guan Kwang Tay, Habiba Alsafar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The rapid improvements in identifying the genetic factors contributing to facial morphology have enabled the early identification of craniofacial syndromes. Similarly, this technology can be vital in forensic cases involving human identification from biological traces or human remains, especially when reference samples are not available in the deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) database. This review summarizes the currently used methods for predicting human phenotypes such as age, ancestry, pigmentation, and facial features based on genetic variations. To identify the facial features affected by DNA, various two-dimensional (2D)- and three-dimensional (3D)-scanning techniques and analysis tools are reviewed. A comparison between the scanning …

Determinism V. Free Will & Genetic Evidence Of Addiction In Plea Bargaining And Sentence Mitigation: Conversion Of Incarceration To Probation And Rehabilitation Based On Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (Gars) Test, Kenneth Blum, Paul Mullen, Richard Green

St. Mary's Law Journal

In this Article, Dr. Kenneth Blum and his team present the case of a presently abstinent, thirty-five year old alcoholic (“AG”) who has several convictions for DWI. AG has undergone and continues to be engaged in out-patient substance abuse treatment. He entered treatment before adjudication and was mandated by the court to continue treatment to assist in maintaining sobriety. Treatment included the administration of the Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (“GARS”) Test.

AG was facing a probable five-year sentence for his fifth DWI conviction in Bexar County, Texas. However, because AG’s genetic risk results indicated a genetically induced dopamine dysfunction, hypodopaminergia, …

Role Of Parp1 And Nad+ Bioavailability In Base Excision And Single-Strand Break Repair, Kate M. Saville

Theses and Dissertations

High-grade gliomas (HGGs) are malignant, highly metabolically active brain tumors. HGGs are associated with poor patient outcome, attributed to resistance to current therapies, with a survival rate between 12 to 15 months. Gliomas are highly complex tumors, making targeted therapy difficult, highlighting the need for novel approaches and new treatment options. In addition, a large percentage of HGGs are comprised of glioma stem cells (GSCs) that further contribute to therapeutic resistance. Notable characteristics of GSCs are a heightened DNA damage response (DDR) and elevated replication stress that could provide opportunities for therapeutic targeting. A notable feature of many glioma tumors …

A Cloning-Free Recyclable System For Crispr-Cas9 Mediated Mutant And Reversion Construction In Candida Albicans Clinical Isolates, Amanda K. Vogel

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Candida albicans is a ubiquitous opportunistic fungal pathogen and one of the most prevalent causes of fungal diseases worldwide. The reference isolate SC5314 is one of the most widely used strains for both experimental and genetic studies, but it is becoming increasingly evident that genetic diversity in clinical isolates plays an important role in antifungal resistance, virulence, and pathogenicity. These recent discoveries highlight the need for genetic tools that are capable of investigating genes in multiple strain backgrounds. Here we build on the SAT1-flipper method and combine it with CRISPR-Cas9 technology to achieve cloning-free homozygous deletion in a single transformation …

Identifying And Minimizing Underspecification In Breast Cancer Subtyping, Jonathan Cheuk-Kiu Tang

Master's Theses

In the realm of biomedical technology, both accuracy and consistency are crucial to the development and deployment of these tools. While accuracy is easy to measure, consistency metrics are not so simple to measure, especially in the scope of biomedicine where prediction consistency can be difficult to achieve. Typically, biomedical datasets contain a significantly larger amount of features compared to the amount of samples, which goes against ordinary data mining practices. As a result, predictive models may fail to find valid pathways for prediction during training on such datasets. This concept is known as underspecification.

Underspecification has been more accepted …

Should Health Systems Share Genetic Findings With At-Risk Relatives When The Proband Is Deceased? Interviews With Individuals Diagnosed With Lynch Syndrome, Jessica Ezzell Hunter, Jennifer L. Schneider, Alison J. Firemark, James V. Davis, Sara Gille, Pamala A. Pawloski, Su-Ying Liang, Victoria Schlieder, Alanna Kulchak Rahm

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Genetic information has health implications for patients and their biological relatives. Death of a patient before sharing a genetic diagnosis with at-risk relatives is a missed opportunity to provide important information that could guide interventions to minimize cancer-related morbidity and mortality in relatives.

Methods: We performed semi-structured interviews with individuals diagnosed with Lynch syndrome at 1 of 4 health systems to explore their perspectives on whether health systems should share genetic risk information with relatives following a patient’s death. An inductive, open-coding approach was used to analyze audio-recorded content, with software-generated code reports undergoing iterative comparative analysis by a …

The Fecal Position: Tracking Progressive Dna Repeat Expansion Via Stool Dna Extraction, Margaret Conrad, Hayley Ulloa, Ed Grabczyk

Medical Research Day

Friedreich Ataxia is a progressive DNA repeat expansion disease. Examining DNA repeat expansion in mouse models require sacrificing the mouse and taking samples of organs. The obvious non-lethal targets, such as ears, tails, and blood do not have levels of repeat expansion comparable to internal organs. However, recent publications suggest that stool may be a suitable non-lethal candidate for tracking repeat expansion over time. Stool DNA may allow researchers to monitor the effect of interventions aimed at slowing DNA repeat expansion over time without harming the mouse. A commercial kit was first used to extract DNA from feces without success. …

Development Of Genetic Strategies To Treat Vision Loss In Usher Syndrome Type 1c (Ush1c), Dongjoon (Jason) Kim, Inga Kristaponyte, Bhagwat Alapure, Katelyn Robillard, Wadih Zein, Robert Koenekoop, Maria Reinoso, Jennifer J. Lentz

Medical Research Day

Background: Usher Syndrome (Usher) is the most common genetic cause of deaf-blindness, characterized by the loss of hearing, vestibular function, and vision. Three clinical types (USH1- 3) and 10 genes are associated with the disease. USH1 is the most severe with congenital severeprofound sensorineural hearing loss and vestibular areflexia, and childhood onset of retinitis pigmentosa. Mutations in the USH1C gene account for 6-15% USH1, however USH1C c.216G>A (216A) accounts for nearly all USH1 cases in the Acadian populations in U.S. and Canada. The 216A splicing mutation results in a truncated harmonin protein, and photoreceptor and cochlear hair cell dysfunction. …

Mismatch In Mice And Men, Ryan Schroeder, Hayley Ulloa, Alan Williams, Ed Grabczyk

Medical Research Day

Friedreich ataxia is a progressive degenerative neuromuscular disease that is caused by the expansion of a repetitive region of DNA, composed of three nucleotide repeats (GAA•TTC). Expansion of the DNA occurs throughout the lifespan of the patient and has been linked to the activity of specific DNA mismatch repair proteins. Disease onset occurs when the expansion increases in size beyond a certain threshold, silencing the gene and causing progressive ataxia, diabetes mellitus, and cardiomyopathy. These symptoms are linked to an increased repeat number observed within the heart, pancreas, and brain relative to other tissues within an individual. Friedreich ataxia is …

In-Depth Analysis Of Next-Generation Sequencing (Ngs) And Bioinformatics Results In Pediatric Adgrv1 Compound Heterozygotes, Sloane Clay, Adele Evans, Chindo Hicks, David Otohinoyi

Medical Research Day

Genetic diagnosis of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) using NGS proves challenging when encountering multigenic, multiallelic variants of uncertain significance (VUS). These VUS make it difficult to provide anticipatory guidance regarding progressive disorders such as Type II Usher syndrome (SNHL at birth and retinitis pigmentosa in the second decade of life). With genetic testing companies are identifying, reporting, and reclassifying VUS at a rapid pace; there is a need for in depth-analysis and interpretation. For example, VUS in ADGRV1, a gene implicated in Type II Usher Syndrome, may be inherited in a compound heterozygous manner and misinterpreted as benign, when in …

Association Of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Rs1801133 Genetic Variants With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus And Diabetic Nephropathy, Aysegul Bayramoglu, Gokhan Bayramoglu, Halil Ibrahım Guler, Nezaket Coban, Mustafa Çagatay Korkmaz

Makara Journal of Health Research

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex metabolic disease with a genetic predisposition. Methylenetetrahydrofolatereductase (MTHFR) gene is one of the candidate genes associated with T2DM and diabetic nephropathy (DN). This research was carried out to determine the frequency of the C677T polymorphism (rs1801133) of the MTHFR gene and examine the role of rs1801133 polymorphism in T2DM and DN development.

Methods: DNA was obtained from peripheral blood samples (273 samples) using a DNA isolation kit. MTHFR rs1801133 polymorphism was determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and electrophoresis. PCR products were cut by …

The Genetic Contribution To Solving The Cocktail-Party Problem, Samuel R. Mathias, Emma Knowles, Josephine Mollon, Amanda Rodrigue, Mary K. Woolsey, Rene L. Olvera, Juan M. Peralta, Satish Kumar, Harald H. H. Goring, Ravi Duggirala, Joanne E. Curran, John Blangero, David C. Glahn

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Communicating in everyday situations requires solving the cocktail-party problem, or segregating the acoustic mixture into its constituent sounds and attending to those of most interest. Humans show dramatic variation in this ability, leading some to experience real-world problems irrespective of whether they meet criteria for clinical hearing loss. Here, we estimated the genetic contribution to cocktail-party listening by measuring speech-reception thresholds (SRTs) in 425 people from large families and ranging in age from 18 to 91 years. Roughly half the variance of SRTs was explained by genes (h 2 = 0.567). The genetic correlation between SRTs and hearing thresholds …

Metabolomics In Pulmonary Medicine: Extracting The Most From Your Data, Stacey N. Reinke, Romanas Chaleckis, Craig E. Wheelock

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The metabolome enables unprecedented insight into biochemistry, providing an integrated signature of the genome, transcriptome, proteome and exposome. Measurement requires rigorous protocols combined with specialised data analysis to achieve its promise.

Mistranslating Trnas Alter The Heat Shock Activation By Hsf1, Rebecca Dib

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Translation, or the production of protein from an mRNA blueprint, is among the most fundamental processes to life as we know it. tRNAs are essential to accurate translation, as they decode the codons of mRNA and recruit corresponding amino acids. Variant tRNAs with anticodon mutations can decrease translational fidelity by recruiting the incorrect amino acid, an aberrant process known as mistranslation. When proteins are produced with incorrect amino acid sequences, they may misfold. The heat shock response functions to alleviate cellular stress caused by misfolded proteins, either by refolding or targeting misfolded proteins for degradation. Hsf1 acts as a transcriptional …

Prenatal Care Providers’ Experience With Pre-Test Counselling For Nipt In Ontario: Counselling Challenges And Support Required, Leichelle A. Little

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is a prenatal test that has experienced unprecedented commercial development and transformed prenatal care. The Ontario Ministry of Health presently funds NIPT as a first-tier prenatal screening option for high-risk singleton pregnancies and all twin pregnancies. Individuals who do not qualify for public funding or would like to screen for additional conditions can pay for NIPT privately, starting at approximately $495-$550 (CA) for baseline panels. Prenatal care providers such as family physicians, maternal-fetal-medicine specialists, obstetrician-gynaecologists, residents, midwives and registered nurses have an increasingly important role in offering NIPT in Ontario. Although these healthcare professionals do not …

Genetics And Genomics Education Among Physician Assistants, Wesley Patterson

All Dissertations

This dissertation comprises five chapters to describe genetics and genomics education among physician assistant/associate (PA) students and practicing PAs. Chapter I introduces the gap in supply and demand of genetic services, the need for non-genetics healthcare providers to fill the gap, and the PA profession as a solution.

Chapter II is a rapid literature review that summarizes the available literature regarding genetics and genomics education for PAs. A paucity of literature exists to describe the current state of PA genetics-genomics education. The few studies retrieved describe content being taught in PA programs, the number of genetics-genomics contact hours PA students …

Structural Basis For The Simultaneous Recognition Of Nemo And Acceptor Ubiquitin By The Hoip Nzf1 Domain, Simin Rahighi, Mamta Iyer, Hamid Oveisi, Sammy Nasser, Vincent Duong

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Ubiquitination of NEMO by the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC) is essential for activating the canonical NF-κB signaling pathway. While the NZF1 domain of the HOIP subunit of LUBAC recognizes the NEMO substrate, it is unclear how it cooperates with the catalytic domains in the ubiquitination process. Here, we report a crystal structure of NEMO in complex with HOIP NZF1 and linear diubiquitin chains, in which the two proteins bind to distinct sites on NEMO. Moreover, the NZF1 domain simultaneously interacts with NEMO and Ile44 surface of a proximal ubiquitin from a linear diubiquitin chain, where the C-term tail …

Identification Of Healthspan-Promoting Genes In Caenorhabditis Elegans Based On A Human Gwas Study, Nadine Saul, Ineke Dhondt, Mikko Kuokkanen, Markus Perola, Clara Verschuuren, Brecht Wouters, Henrik Von Chrzanowski, Winnok H. De Vos, Liesbet Temmerman, Walter Luyten

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

To find drivers of healthy ageing, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed in healthy and unhealthy older individuals. Healthy individuals were defined as free from cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart failure, major adverse cardiovascular event, diabetes, dementia, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, rheumatism, Crohn’s disease, malabsorption or kidney disease. Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with unknown function associated with ten human genes were identified as candidate healthspan markers. Thirteen homologous or closely related genes were selected in the model organism C. elegans for evaluating healthspan after targeted RNAi-mediated knockdown using pathogen resistance, muscle integrity, chemotaxis index and the …

Palmitoylation As A Regulator Of Maguk Proteins Postsynaptic Localization, Santiago Balderas, Rozena Shirvani-Arani, Xiaoqian Fang, Yonghong Zhang

MEDI 8127 Scholarly Activities Pre-Clerkship

Synaptic plasticity is the ability of the brain to make changes and the changes occur at synapses. To achieve the complicated functions, a good number of proteins are present at synapse and are called synaptic proteins. To stabilize these proteins at synapses, proteins are modified through posttranslational modifications (PTMs). The most studied PTMs include phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitination, glycosylation, palmitoylation, etc. Palmitoylation is a type of lipid modification and has received more attention recently for its contribution to protein trafficking, localization, and interaction in various synaptic plasticity. The membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) family includes PSD-95, PSD-93 (also known as chapsyn-110), SAP102, …

Channelopathy Of Small- And Intermediate-Conductance Ca2+-Activated K+ Channels, Young-Woo Nam, Myles Downey, Mohammad Asikur Rahman, Meng Cui, Miao Zhang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Small- and intermediate-conductance Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ (K_Ca2.x/K_Ca3.1 also called SK/IK) channels are gated exclusively by intracellular Ca²⁺. The Ca²⁺ binding protein calmodulin confers sub-micromolar Ca²⁺ sensitivity to the channel-calmodulin complex. The calmodulin C-lobe is constitutively associated with the proximal C-terminus of the channel. Interactions between calmodulin N-lobe and the channel S4-S5 linker are Ca²⁺-dependent, which subsequently trigger conformational changes in the channel pore and open the gate. KCNN genes encode four subtypes, including KCNN1 for K_Ca2.1 (SK1), KCNN2 for K_Ca2.2 (SK2), KCNN3 for K …

Genomic Features Underlie The Co-Option Of Sva Transposons As Cis-Regulatory Elements In Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, Samantha M Barnada, Andrew Isopi, Daniela Tejada-Martinez, Clément Goubert, Sruti Patoori, Luca Pagliaroli, Mason Tracewell, Marco Trizzino

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Domestication of transposable elements (TEs) into functional cis-regulatory elements is a widespread phenomenon. However, the mechanisms behind why some TEs are co-opted as functional enhancers while others are not are underappreciated. SINE-VNTR-Alus (SVAs) are the youngest group of transposons in the human genome, where ~3,700 copies are annotated, nearly half of which are human-specific. Many studies indicate that SVAs are among the most frequently co-opted TEs in human gene regulation, but the mechanisms underlying such processes have not yet been thoroughly investigated. Here, we leveraged CRISPR-interference (CRISPRi), computational and functional genomics to elucidate the genomic features that underlie SVA domestication …

Epigenetic Mechanisms Influencing Therapeutic Response In Breast Cancer., Amaia Arruabarrena-Aristorena, Eneda Toska

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

The majority of breast cancers are estrogen receptor (ER)+ and agents targeting the ER signaling pathway have markedly increased survival for women with breast cancer for decades. However, therapeutic resistance eventually emerges, especially in the metastatic setting. In the past decade disrupted epigenetic regulatory processes have emerged as major contributors to carcinogenesis in many cancer types. Aberrations in chromatin modifiers and transcription factors have also been recognized as mediators of breast cancer development and therapeutic outcome, and new epigenetic-based therapies in combination with targeted therapies have been proposed. Here we will discuss recent progress in our understanding of the chromatin-based …

Genomic Answers For Children: Dynamic Analyses Of >1000 Pediatric Rare Disease Genomes., Ana S A Cohen, Emily G. Farrow, Ahmed Abdelmoity, Joseph Alaimo, Shivarajan Manickavasagam Amudhavalli, John Anderson, Lalit R. Bansal, Lauren E. Bartik, Primo Baybayan, Bradley Belden, Courtney D. Berrios, Rebecca L. Biswell, Pawel Buczkowicz, Orion Buske, Shreyasee Chakraborty, Warren A. Cheung, Keith A. Coffman, Ashley M. Cooper, Laura A. Cross, Tom Curran, Thuy Tien T. Dang, Mary M. Elfrink, Kendra Engleman, Erin Day Fecske, Cynthia Fieser, Keely M. Fitzgerald, Emily Fleming, Randi N. Gadea, Jennifer L. Gannon, Rose N. Gelineau-Morel, Margaret Gibson, Jeffrey Goldstein, Elin Grundberg, Kelsee Halpin, Brian S. Harvey, Bryce Heese, Wendy Hein, Suzanne M. Herd, Susan Starling Hughes, Mohammed Ilyas, Jill Jacobson, Janda L. Jenkins, Shao Jiang, Jeffrey J. Johnston, Kathryn Keeler, Jonas Korlach, Jennifer Kussman, Christine Lambert, Caitlin E. Lawson, Jean-Baptist Lepichon, J Steven Leeder, Vicki C. Little, Daniel A. Louiselle, Michael Lypka, Brittany D. Mcdonald, Neil Miller, Ann Modrcin, Annapoorna Nair, Shelby H. Neal, Christopher M. Oermann, Donna M. Pacicca, Kailash Pawar, Nyshele L. Posey, Nigel Price, Laura M B Puckett, Julio Quezada, Nikita Raje, William J. Rowell, Eric T. Rush, Venkatesh Sampath, Carol J. Saunders, Caitlin Schwager, Richard M. Schwend, Elizabeth Shaffer, Craig Smail, Sarah E. Soden, Meghan Strenk, Bonnie Sullivan, Brooke Sweeney, Jade B. Tam-Williams, Adam Walter, Holly Welsh, Aaron M. Wenger, Laurel K. Willig, Yun Yan, Scott T. Younger, Dihong Zhou, Tricia N. Zion, Isabelle Thiffault, Tomi Pastinen

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

PURPOSE: This study aimed to provide comprehensive diagnostic and candidate analyses in a pediatric rare disease cohort through the Genomic Answers for Kids program.

METHODS: Extensive analyses of 960 families with suspected genetic disorders included short-read exome sequencing and short-read genome sequencing (srGS); PacBio HiFi long-read genome sequencing (HiFi-GS); variant calling for single nucleotide variants (SNV), structural variant (SV), and repeat variants; and machine-learning variant prioritization. Structured phenotypes, prioritized variants, and pedigrees were stored in PhenoTips database, with data sharing through controlled access the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes.

RESULTS: Diagnostic rates ranged from 11% in patients with prior negative …

Genetic Origins Of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (Pcos): An Analysis Of The Genetic Correlation Between Pcos And Insulin Receptor Mutations, Lauren Henry

Undergraduate Theses

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) remains an extremely common, yet understudied syndrome experienced by 6-12% of females of reproductive age. Not only does it cause painful side effects manifesting both physically and mentally, but it also poses a threat to the fertility of those affected. For this reason, a more in-depth analysis to better understand how to detect this condition early and prevent fertility complications later is certainly warranted. PCOS is suspected to be primarily genetic due to correlations among immediate female family members. Based on previous research, a good starting point for analysis is the INSR gene. Various mutations within …

The Use Of Embark In Teaching About Genetic Relatedness, Anna Bonvillain, Tori Trammel

Honors Theses

Because of the increasing importance of precision medicine, it is vital that future healthcare providers master concepts related to genetic variation taught during their undergraduate classes. However, studies have shown that physicians often lack an adequate understanding of genetics, which serves as a hindrance to effectively caring for their patients. To address this issue, we created a collaborative active-learning protocol to improve pre-health students' comprehension of key concepts such as genetic relatedness and the source of genetic variation between siblings. Our worksheet guides students to compare the genetic profiles of two canine siblings using the Embark DNA genotyping platform. Embark …

Stat3 Dysregulation Of Xrcc1 Results On Altered Base Excision Repair, Griffin Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Base Excision Repair (BER) is a critical DNA repair pathway, repairing base damage, the spontaneous decay of bases, abasic sites, and single-strand DNA breaks. BER requires the sequential action of multiple proteins, including poly(ADP ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1), X-ray cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1), and DNA polymerase beta (POL 𝛽). Expression changes and polymorphisms in BER proteins alter the response of cancer cells to multiple DNA damaging chemotherapeutics, with overexpression of XRCC1 increasing chemoresistance in gastric, gallbladder, and ovarian cancer. However, the transcriptional regulation of XRCC1 remains largely understudied. Here, we identify the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 …