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Full-Text Articles in Physics
Inquiry Of Lipid Membranes Interacting With Functional Peptides And Polyphenol Drug Molecules, Chian Sing Ho
Inquiry Of Lipid Membranes Interacting With Functional Peptides And Polyphenol Drug Molecules, Chian Sing Ho
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Cellular membranes are important targets for many membrane-active peptides and drug compounds. Here we are interested in deciphering how lipid membranes are perturbed by several membrane-active molecules, including the transmembrane domain of the influenza M2 protein (M2TM), aggregates formed by a synthetic polyglutamine peptide, and three polyphenol compounds (i.e., tamoxifen, genistein, and verapamil). We employ phase-separated ternary lipid model membranes in the form of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) to simulate raft-like structures that have been proposed to govern many important processes in plasma membranes (e.g., intracellular singling and trafficking). Specifically, we use fluorescent microscopy to interrogate how those membrane additives …
Biophysical Investigation Of Amyloid Formation And Their Prion-Like Self-Replication, Mentor Mulaj
Biophysical Investigation Of Amyloid Formation And Their Prion-Like Self-Replication, Mentor Mulaj
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Growth and deposition of amyloid fibrils, polymers of proteins with a cross beta-sheet structure, are associated with a significant number of human pathologies including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, prion diseases, type II diabetes, and senile systematic or dialysis-related amyloidoses. The broader objective of my research is to identify the basic mechanisms regulating nucleation and growth of amyloid fibrils. There is increasing evidence that amyloid formation may proceed along at least two distinct assembly pathways for the formation of rigid fibrils. One pathway involves the nucleated polymerization of the characteristic rigid fibrils from partially denatured monomers and the other proceeds via …