Molecular Biology Commons^™

A Rationally Engineered Capsid Variant Of Aav9 For Systemic Cns-Directed And Peripheral Tissue-Detargeted Gene Delivery In Neonates, Dan Wang, Shaoyong Li, Dominic J. Gessler, Jun Xie, Li Zhong, Jia Li, Karen Tran, Kim Van Vliet, Lingzhi Ren, Qin Su, Ran He, Jason E. Goetzmann, Terence R. Flotte, Mavis Agbandje-Mckenna, Guangping Gao

Open Access Articles

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has provided the gene therapy field with the most powerful in vivo gene delivery vector to realize safe, efficacious, and sustainable therapeutic gene expression. Because many clinically relevant properties of AAV-based vectors are governed by the capsid, much research effort has been devoted to the development of AAV capsids for desired features. Here, we combine AAV capsid discovery from nature and rational engineering to report an AAV9 capsid variant, designated as AAV9.HR, which retains AAV9's capability to traverse the blood-brain barrier and transduce neurons. This variant shows reduced transduction in peripheral tissues when delivered through ...

Mapping Molecular Datasets Back To The Brain Regions They Are Extracted From: Remembering The Native Countries Of Hypothalamic Expatriates And Refugees, Arshad M. Khan, Alice H. Grant, Anais Martinez, Gully Apc Burns, Brendan S. Thatcher, Vishwanath T. Anekonda, Benjamin W. Thompson, Zachary S. Roberts, Daniel H. Moralejo, James E. Blevins

Arshad M. Khan, Ph.D.

Mathematical Modeling Of Nutrient Signaling And Growth In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Amogh P. Jalihal, Pavel Kraikivski, T.M. Murali, John J. Tyson

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Palmitoylation Of The Sodium Hydrogen Exchanger Isoform 1 (Nhe1): A Novel Post-Translational Protein Modification And Its Regulation Of Nhe1, Emily Pitsch

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The sodium-hydrogen exchanger isoform 1 (NHE1) is a ubiquitously expressed transmembrane transporter protein involved in regulating intracellular pH and interacts with a variety of proteins involved in cell signaling, proliferation, and cell motility. The protein has an extended cytosolic tail known as the regulatory region. This project investigates the role of palmitoylation, a reversible fatty acid modification on cysteine amino acids, in the function and behavior of NHE1.

Mechanisms Of Age-Related Prostate Growth And Tumorigenesis, Deon O'Bryant

Electronic Theses & Dissertations Collection for Atlanta University & Clark Atlanta University

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy among men, but few genetic factors that drive prostate cancer initiation have been identified. The WD repeat domain 77 (Wdr77) protein is essential for cellular proliferation when it localizes in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells at the early stage of prostate development. In the adult prostate, it is transported into the nucleus and functions as a co-regulator of the androgen receptor to promote cellular differentiation and prostate function. This developmental process is reversed during prostate tumorigenesis i.e., Wdr77 is translocated from the nucleus into the cytoplasm to drive proliferation of prostate ...

Regulation Of The Pi3-Kinase/Pten Signaling Pathway By Tgf-Β In Prostate Cancer Cells, Mawiyah Kimbrough-Allah

Electronic Theses & Dissertations Collection for Atlanta University & Clark Atlanta University

Transforming growth factor -β (TGF-β) plays an important role in the progression of prostate cancer. It acts as a tumor suppressor in normal epithelial cells but as a tumor promoter in advanced prostate cancer cells. The PI3-kinase pathway has been shown to play integral roles in many cellular processes including cell proliferation, survival, and cell migration in many cell types. PI3-kinase pathway mediates TGF-β effects on prostate cancer cell migration and invasion. Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), a tumor suppressor gene, inhibits PI3-kinase pathway and is frequently mutated in prostate cancers. In this present study, we investigated possible roles of ...

Development Of Lc-Ms For The Identification And Characterization Of Non-Adjacent Dna Photoproduct Formation In G-Quadruplex Forming Sequences, Claudia Posadas

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ultraviolet light is well known to induce cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD) and pyrimidine (6–4) pyrimidone photoproducts in duplex DNA, which interfere with DNA replication and transcription. Recently, a new class of DNA photoproducts known as anti cyclobutanepyrimidine dimers have been discovered, which form in G-quadruplex forming sequences in solution. G-quadruplex structures have been proposed to form in human DNA telomeres and certain promoters in vivo but evidence for their existence has been lacking. Since anti-cyclobutante pyrimidine dimers have been shown to form in G-quadruplex forming sequences, their formation in irradiated human cells could be used to confirm the ...

Integration Of Local And Regional Regulatory Information In The Human Genome, Hemangi Govind Chaudhari

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gene regulation involves the integration of different sources of information at multiple levels. The action of transcription factors is integrated at cis-regulatory sequences (CRSs). Information from many CRSs is combined to drive spatiotemporally regulated gene expression. Prediction of CRS activity from DNA sequence is challenging because most occurrences of transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) are not functional. I assayed the activity of thousands of genomic sequences with Activator Protein 1 (AP-1) binding sites in K562 cells to identify features in flanking sequences that distinguish functional from non-functional TFBS. I find that sequence features directly adjacent to the AP-1 core motif ...

Investigation Into The Amino Acid Characteristic Of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins, Samantha Patterson

Honors Theses AY 17/18

Caulobacter crescentus, which belongs to the class of Alphaproteobacteria, has a highly organized cytoplasm that includes complex macromolecular structures at the cell poles. These polar complexes are assembled through the activity of a scaffolding protein, known as the Polar Organizing Protein Z (PopZ). PopZ interacts with other proteins via an N-terminal domain that is mostly intrinsically disordered, and contains, an abundance of proline, glutamte, and aspartate (P,E, and D) residues. Surprisingly, scrambling the order of amino acids in the PED region does not affect PopZ function, suggesting that binding affinity and specificity are not dependent on interactions with individual ...

Melatonin-Micronutrients Osteopenia Treatment Study (Mots): A Translational Study Assessing The Effects Of Melatonin, Strontium Citrate, Vitamin D3 And Vitamin K2 On Bone Density, Bone Turnover Markers And Health-Related Quality Of Life In Postmenopausal Osteopenic Women Following A One-Year Double-Blind Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial And On Osteoblast-Osteoclast Co-Cultures, Sifat Maria

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess if a novel combination of melatonin and three other natural bone-aiding micronutrients: strontium citrate, vitamins D₃ and K₂ (MSDK) could improve bone health by modulating the activity of osteoblasts and osteoclasts in favor of balanced bone remodeling and by improving the overall health-related quality of life in postmenopausal osteopenic women.

Methods: The Melatonin-micronutrients Osteopenia Treatment Study (MOTS) is a translational research study that used both clinical and in vitro approaches to assess the efficacy of MSDK on bone health in women and to identify potential mechanisms for its effects ...

All-In-One Adeno-Associated Virus Delivery And Genome Editing By Neisseria Meningitidis Cas9 In Vivo, Raed Ibraheim, Chun-Qing Song, Aamir Mir, Nadia Amrani, Wen Xue, Erik J. Sontheimer

University of Massachusetts Medical School Faculty Publications

Clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) have recently opened a new avenue for gene therapy. Cas9 nuclease guided by a single-guide RNA (sgRNA) has been extensively used for genome editing. Currently, three Cas9 orthologs have been adapted forin vivo genome engineering applications: SpyCas9, SauCas9 and CjeCas9. However, additional in vivo editing platforms are needed, in part to enable a greater range of sequences to be accessed via viral vectors, especially those in which Cas9 and sgRNA are combined into a single vector genome. Here, we present an additional in vivo editing platform using Neisseria ...

Rapid And Sensitive Detection Of Escherichia Coli O157:H7 Using A Qcm Sensor Based On Aptamers Selected By Whole-Bacterium Selex And A Multivalent Aptamer System, Xiaofan Yu

Theses and Dissertations

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is one of the top five pathogens contributing to foodborne diseases, causing an estimated 2,138 cases of hospitalization in the US each year. The extremely low infectious dose demands for more rapid and sensitive methods to detect E. coli O157:H7. The objective of this study is to select aptamers specifically binding to E. coli O157:H7 using whole-bacterium SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment) and to create a multivalent aptamer system by rolling circle amplification (RCA) with the selected aptamer sequence for sensitive detection of E. coli O157:H7 using a quartz ...

Involvement Of The Ino80 Complex In Chromosome Segregation, Jesus Moreno

Theses and Dissertations

Chromatin remodeling complexes are multi-protein complexes that regulate the dynamics of the nucleosomes in the genome. The INO80 chromatin remodeling complex participates in varied biological processes such as: transcription, DNA repair, DNA replication and chromosome integrity. It catalyzes the eviction of the H2A.Z variant histone as well as whole nucleosome eviction. This complex is comprised of 15 subunits and the contribution of each to chromosome segregations remains unknown. To evaluate the contribution of each subunit to chromosome segregation, we tested deletion mutants of the non-essential subunits for DNA content and benomyl sensitivity. Also, we assessed members of the SWR1 ...

Optimizing Genetic Manipulation Of Methanogens Through Faster Cloning Techniques, Merrisa Jennings

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Methanogenesis is the biological production of methane. Only anaerobic archaea known as methanogens are capable of such a metabolic feat. They have strict living conditions and substrate sources which determine their rate of metabolism. This is of particular importance from a greenhouse gas reduction perspective or biogas capturing perspective. One of the best ways to optimize methanogen methane production is via genetic manipulation. The current procedures are timely though, therefore a faster cloning processes should be developed. The objective of this study was to optimize a premade genetic transformation kit known as the Gibson Kit. The Gibson Kit was supposed ...

Functional Studies Of The E. Coli Proc And A Putative Ortholog Mrub_1345, Mourin Azar, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation –Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of Escherichia coli and Meiothermus ruber proC genes using the complementation assay. In this research project, mutants of varying severity to the functional state of the protein were developed. The results showed that two or more amino acid deletions reduced or eliminated ProC function. Amino acid substitutions, on the other hand, were not severe enough to impact ProC function. Double and triple mutants ...

Microbiome Of Commercial Broilers Through Evisceration And Immersion Chilling, John A. Handley

Theses and Dissertations

The United States poultry industry generated 38.6 billion pounds (17,500 metric ton) of meat in 2014 which averaged to 121 pounds (55 kg) per individual of the U.S that same year. Of that meat generated by the poultry industry, an estimated 1 million cases of Salmonellosis will occur. Out of the 1 million cases approximately 40, 000 to 50,000 will be confirmed cases by the CDC. Recently, the USDA has requested changes in the inspection process and are currently allowing processors more freedom to utilize innovation to drive the increase in safer and more desirable foods ...

Investigation Of Bradyzoite Differentiation Initiation In Toxoplasma Gondii, Harim I. Won, Paul H. Davis Ph.D.

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Like other eukaryotic organisms, Toxoplasma gondii promoters feature both constitutive and life-stage regulated cis-elements. Using a transcriptomic microarray approach, a cluster of transcripts upregulated early during bradyzoite differentiation was identified. Computational analysis of the promoter regions of these “up-early” transcripts identified a shared upstream consensus motif, a putative transcription factor binding site. Using a dual luciferase assay adapted for recombinational cloning and reporter gene quantification by qPCR, we demonstrate developmental stage-specific expression of the luciferase reporter gene inserted downstream of the transcription factor binding site. The shared consensus motif was found to be an autonomous cis-element by conversion ...

Ketone Bodies And Signaling In Pancreatic Cancer Cell Lines, Kyla B. Buettner, Pankaj K. Singh, Surendra K. Shukla

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and 95% of these cases are caused by PDAC (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma). Ketone bodies have previously been shown to decrease cell proliferation and cancer-induced cachexia. The molecular mechanism of ketone body-mediated growth inhibition of pancreatic cancer cells is not well understood. Research conducted thus far has not explored which molecular pathways are affected by ketone body treatment in pancreatic cancer cells. In the current study, the effect of the ketone body sodium hydroxybutyrate on the JAK-STAT and mTOR pathways and cell migration was explored. A decrease ...

Determining The Effect Of The R1 Peptide On Lhx1a Dimerization, Wafaa A. Aljagthmi

Theses and Dissertations (All)

Kidney disease is a major health problem and current treatments for kidney failure are expensive and have severe limitations. Therefore, an alternative therapy such as stem cells/regeneration is needed. Unlike human, zebrafish can regenerate their damaged kidney. Their kidney stem cells express the lhx1a gene, which is essential for kidney development and regeneration. We found that lhx1a dimerizes with itself in a genetic assay and hypothesize that dimerization is important for its activation as a transcription factor. A genetic screen was carried out and the R1 peptide was found to bind to lhx1a. The goal of this project was ...

A Microtubule-Dynein Tethering Complex Regulates The Axonemal Inner Dynein F (I1), Tomohiro Kubo, Yuqing Hou, Deborah A. Cochran, George B. Witman, Toshiyuki Oda

Radiology Publications and Presentations

Motility of cilia/flagella is generated by a coordinated activity of thousands of dyneins. Inner dynein arms (IDAs) are particularly important for the formation of ciliary/flagellar waveforms, but the molecular mechanism of IDA regulation is poorly understood. Here, we show using cryo-electron tomography and biochemical analyses of Chlamydomonas flagella that a conserved protein FAP44 forms a complex that tethers IDA f (I1 dynein) head domains to the A-tubule of the axonemal outer doublet microtubule. In wild-type flagella, IDA f showed little nucleotide-dependent movement except for a tilt in the fbeta head perpendicular to the microtubule-sliding direction. In the absence ...