Cell Biology Commons^™

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.

Δ-9-Thc Effect On The Dopamine Transporter, Brooke E. Nielsen

Student Theses

Understanding the mechanism behind drugs of abuse is one of the key elements to understanding why addiction is so prevalent in society. The goal of this research was to determine the effect that a popular cannabinoid, Δ -9-tetrahydrocannabinol has on the regulation of dopamine neurotransmitter in the synapses. It was hypothesized that the addictive high users experience from using Δ-9-THC had a direct effect on lowering the dopamine transporter protein on cell surface causing a buildup of dopamine in the synapse. The results of the study show that the higher concentration of Δ-9-THC that the cells were exposed to caused ...

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 ...

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 ...

Evolutionary Conservation Of Midline Repulsion By Robo Family Receptors In Flies And Mice, Allison Loy

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

As the nervous system develops in animal embryos, neuronal axons are guided to their synaptic targets by extra cellular cues that signal through axon guidance receptors expressed on the surface of the axon. In animals with bilateral symmetry, one of the important decisions made by nearly every axon in the embryonic nervous system is whether to stay on its own side of the body, or to cross the midline and connect to cells on the opposite side. The Roundabout (Robo) family is an evolutionarily conserved group of axon guidance receptors that regulate midline crossing in a wide range of animal ...

Multiscale Investigation Of The Behavior Of Heart Valve Interstitial Cells In Response To Pathological Shape And Mechanical Stimulation, Ngoc Thien Lam

Theses and Dissertations

Our works aim to provide an insight into how aortic valve interstitial cells (VICs) respond to pathological shape and mechanical stimulation as well as the potential signaling pathway that mediates these responses, using a multiscale approach. A single cell model was developed to investigate the effect of altered shape on valve cell function as valve cells were reported to significantly deform during the cardiac cycle. Single VICs were controlled to take on features with different width-to-length aspect ratios that corresponded to the steady-state shapes adopted by VICs when stretched to 0%, 10% and 20%, respectively. It appeared that single VIC ...

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 ...

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 ...

Mitochondrial Mrna Translation Is Required For Maintenance Of Oxidative Capacity, David Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Oxidative metabolism is required to produce adequate energy to sustain human life. A primary example of deteriorating oxidative capacity is seen in the cardiac musculature during chronic heart failure. This suggests that by improving oxidative potential, chronic heart disease could be mitigated and one approach to accomplish this may be through targeting the mt-mRNA translation system. Purpose: This investigation’s purpose was to characterize disruptions in mt-mRNA translation machinery in multiple forms of cardiomyopathy and to determine if mitochondrial mRNA translation initiation factor (mtIF2) is necessary to maintain oxidative capacity in cardiomyocytes. Methods Using a combination of animal and cell ...

Roles Of Phospholipases And Ribosomal S6 Kinase In Lipid Remodeling And Growth In Arabidopsis Response To Phosphate Deprivation, Yuan Su

Dissertations

Phosphate (Pi) is one of three macronutrients for plants, which is vital for plant growth and development. Understanding the mechanism by which plants respond and adapt to Pi deficiency not only unveils functions of genes and pathways involved, but also provides potential tools to manipulate crops to better stand Pi stress in low Pi-containing lands. One of the significant metabolic changes in plants under Pi starvation is the membrane lipid remodeling that converts Pi-containing lipids such as phospholipids to Pi-free lipids, such as glycolipids. To elucidate the metabolism and regulation of lipid remodeling, this dissertation characterizes the role of two ...

The Effect Of Alcohol On Pfk1 Gene Expression And Feeding Activity In Tetrahymena Thermophila, Evelyn Sowers, Alex Skoulis

Carroll College Student Undergraduate Research Festival

The purpose of this experiment was to test whether alcohol induces starvation conditions in Tetrahymena thermophila. Prior research has shown that exposure to alcohol results in decreases in both the frequency of feeding and overall growth. For this experiment, it was hypothesized that these effects are due to a lack of energy available in the organism for feeding. This hypothesis was tested by monitoring food vacuole formation and expression of the PFK-1 gene in Tetrahymena that were exposed to alcohol. The PFK-1 gene was chosen because its encoded protein plays an essential role in cellular metabolism. For the experiment, control ...

Constitutive Expression Of Thioglucoside Glucohydrolase 1 (Tgg1) Decreases Intercellular Trafficking In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Alessandro Francesco Sarno

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Plasmodesmata (PD) are pores that traverse plant cell walls, providing a route for intercellular trafficking of essential metabolites, nutrients, and signaling molecules between adjacent plant cells, thereby aiding communication. The increased size exclusion limit 2 (ise2) mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana has an increased abundance of branched PD, as well as a greater flux of intercellular trafficking. A search for proteins that interact with ISE2 identified THIOGLUCOSIDE GLUCOHYDROLASE 2 (a myrosinase). A. thaliana also encodes a second, closely-related myrosinase, TGG1. Myrosinases are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of glucosinolates, a type of secondary metabolite that are amino acid derivatives. The breakdown ...

Mapping Netrin Signaling In Tetrahymena Thermophila, Katelyn R. Malik, Bethany C. Khol, Stephanie J. Hermann, Kenneth W. Ward, Daniele T. Modderman, Heather G. Kuruvilla

Heather G. Kuruvilla, Ph.D.

The netrin family of proteins, found throughout the animal kingdom, are well known for their roles in developmental signaling. Netrin-1, the best-studied member of this family, signals through four receptor types in vertebrates: the UNC-5 family, DCC, neogenin, and DSCAM. We have previously characterized a netrin-1-like protein in the ciliated protozoan, Tetrahymena thermophila. This protein is secreted from Tetrahymena, and functions as a chemorepellent. Since a netrin-like protein is produced by this organism, we hypothesized that some components of the vertebrate netrin signaling pathway might also be present in Tetrahymena. Through immunolocalization on the plasma membrane of the cell, we ...

Netrin-3 Signals Through Serine Phosphorylation In Tetrahymena Thermophila, Cayla C. Eckley, Rebecca N. Haught, Kyle J. Hooper, Jared E. Matz, Joshua L. Wilson, Bethany C. Khol, Katelyn R. Malik, Heather G. Kuruvilla

Heather G. Kuruvilla, Ph.D.

The netrin family of proteins are structurally related to laminin and, while first discovered in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, are now known to be present in species throughout the animal kingdom, including humans. These proteins also have a wide variety of roles that include inhibition of apoptosis, chemorepulsion, and axonal guidance. Due to the results of previous studies involving netrin-1 in vertebrate systems, the current prevailing assumption is that netrins, when acting as chemorepellents, signal using tyrosine kinases. However, data that we gathered through phosphoserine-targeting ELISA assays and immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrates that the netrin-3 peptides signal Tetrahymena thermophila through serine ...

Restoration Of Phage Growth On A Non-Permissive Host By Bypassing Transcription Termination Signals, Millicent Ronkainen

Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

RNA polymerase is the central enzyme in all gene expression. The rpoCY75N mutation in the zinc-binding domain of the β’ subunit of E. coli RNA polymerase blocks a unique RNA-based mechanism of transcription antitermination utilized by bacteriophage HK022 and its relatives. Here, we describe the characterization of mutant phage, orc0368, which overcomes the rpoCY75N mutation. The orc0368 genome varies from the wild type phage genome by 4 single base pair mutations. Three of these mutations were not characterized because they occur in intergenic regions but the fourth was chosen for study because of its location between a series ...

Netrin-3: Tracking The Elusive Antimitotic Signal On The Western Frontier, Michael David Jolley, Kirsten P. Kelley, Jared E. Matz, Natalie S. Phillips, Emma Wessels, Heather G. Kuruvilla

The Research and Scholarship Symposium

Netrin-3 is a guidance protein expressed throughout the animal kingdom, and involved in the development of branched structures such as the nervous system, lung, and mammary gland. We have previously shown that peptides derived from this protein serve as chemorepellents and mitotic inhibitors in Tetrahymena thermophila. Our previous work shows that Tetrahymena synthesize and secrete a netrin-3-like protein, as detected by ELISA. In this study, we find that a netrin-3-like protein is present in whole cell extract and secreted protein, as detected by Western blotting. A protein of approximately 48 kD is consistently detected in our Western blots. In addition ...

Netrin-3 Signals Through Serine Phosphorylation In Tetrahymena Thermophila, Cayla C. Eckley, Rebecca N. Haught, Kyle J. Hooper, Jared E. Matz, Joshua L. Wilson, Bethany C. Khol, Katelyn R. Malik, Heather G. Kuruvilla

The Research and Scholarship Symposium

The netrin family of proteins are structurally related to laminin and, while first discovered in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, are now known to be present in species throughout the animal kingdom, including humans. These proteins also have a wide variety of roles that include inhibition of apoptosis, chemorepulsion, and axonal guidance. Due to the results of previous studies involving netrin-1 in vertebrate systems, the current prevailing assumption is that netrins, when acting as chemorepellents, signal using tyrosine kinases. However, data that we gathered through phosphoserine-targeting ELISA assays and immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrates that the netrin-3 peptides signal Tetrahymena thermophila through serine ...

Mapping Netrin Signaling In Tetrahymena Thermophila, Katelyn R. Malik, Bethany C. Khol, Stephanie J. Hermann, Kenneth W. Ward, Daniele T. Modderman, Heather G. Kuruvilla

The Research and Scholarship Symposium

The netrin family of proteins, found throughout the animal kingdom, are well known for their roles in developmental signaling. Netrin-1, the best-studied member of this family, signals through four receptor types in vertebrates: the UNC-5 family, DCC, neogenin, and DSCAM. We have previously characterized a netrin-1-like protein in the ciliated protozoan, Tetrahymena thermophila. This protein is secreted from Tetrahymena, and functions as a chemorepellent. Since a netrin-like protein is produced by this organism, we hypothesized that some components of the vertebrate netrin signaling pathway might also be present in Tetrahymena. Through immunolocalization on the plasma membrane of the cell, we ...