Medical Specialties Commons^™

Understanding The Role Of Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase And Its Function As A Driving Force Behind The Er Stress Response In Fibrostenotic Crohn’S Disease-Affected Ileal Smooth Muscle Cells, Prashant Yadav

Theses and Dissertations

Crohn’s disease (CD) affects about 780,000 people in the United States alone, and it is estimated that 6-15 per 100,000 persons will receive a diagnosis of this disease each year. There currently is no cure for Crohn’s disease, and available medical therapies simply serve to alleviate the inflammation. This does not help treat fibrostenosis that Crohn’s disease patients may develop, which can only be treated surgically. Finding alternatives to treat CD requires an understanding of mechanisms at the biochemical level. In this thesis, we attempted to gain a better understanding of certain pathways found to be active in Crohn’s disease-affected …

Tumor-Specific Cell Death Induction By Noxa Overexpression For Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (Hnscc) Treatment, Nicolas T. Maxim Mr.

Theses and Dissertations

The primary focus of this research is the mechanisms of cell death in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treatment. These cancers typically originate in squamous cells that line the moist mucosal surfaces of head and neck. HNSCC is commonly treated with a platinum based agent, cisplatin. While the drug does offer strong antitumor effects, its prolonged use often results in tumor-acquired resistance, which limits treatment effectiveness. We have shown that cisplatin treatment induces the expression of a pro-apoptotic BCL-2 family member Noxa, which then initiates caspase- dependent apoptosis through its binding and sequestration of pro-survival protein MCL-1 for …

The Role Of Noxa/Mcl-1 In Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (Hnscc) Treatment, June Young Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Head and neck cancer is the sixth leading type of cancer with 90 percent of head and neck cancer arising from squamous cell lining on the epithelium of the oral and nasal cavity, pharynx, and salivary gland. Even with tremendous achievements on chemotherapeutic drugs and therapies, the long-term prognosis of patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has shown little improvement over the last three decades. Cisplatin is one of widely used chemotherapeutic drugs for multiple

cancers, including head and neck cancer, but the prolonged use of this drug is limited by its toxicity and by the …