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The Effects Of Tarsh Overexpression On Lung Carcinomas, Young Kim Apr 2013

The Effects Of Tarsh Overexpression On Lung Carcinomas, Young Kim

Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer arises from epithelial cells that line the air passages of the lungs. It is the second most common malignancy in the United States; trends suggest that over 228,000 new patients will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2013. Due to the fact that lung cancer is highly aggressive, it has proven difficult to control. The 5-year survival rate has been shown to be only 15.9%, despite the advances made in terms of diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, we are faced with the problem of finding more effective methods that allow for an earlier diagnosis and the improved treatment of …

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Structural And Functional Characterization Of Sortase A, Vishaka Santosh Apr 2013

Structural And Functional Characterization Of Sortase A, Vishaka Santosh

Theses and Dissertations

Sortases have been known to be essential in Gram-positive bacteria for attaching proteins onto the peptidoglycan layer of the bacterium. Sortase A has been found to be useful as a “molecular stapler”, although; in vivo, the enzyme is responsible for attaching proteins to the peptidoglycan layer of Gram-positive bacteria. It accomplishes both of these tasks by joining two proteins together via an LPXTG sorting sequence. The enzyme has been proven to be very useful in attaching any two proteins together without worrying about recombinant techniques to generate the fusion protein. The problem with this enzyme is that the catalytic diad, …

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Water | Desire: Design Of A Responsible Urban Retreat In Georgetown, Washington, Dc, Tanya Zimmerli Apr 2013

Water | Desire: Design Of A Responsible Urban Retreat In Georgetown, Washington, Dc, Tanya Zimmerli

Theses and Dissertations

The design of an urban retreat within an industrial building in Georgetown, DC provides an opportunity to experience water in the built environment. The location of the building between two bodies of water—the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Potomac River—creates an opportunity to connect water and the visitors. Management of the water to ensure responsible resource use was researched and accommodated in the design. Water is further used to shape the space and the moods created by the volumes, materials and finishes. The final project provides a luxurious shower and locker room, a series of pools, and a tea …

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Catherine Opie's Domestic Series, Sara Harney Apr 2013

Catherine Opie's Domestic Series, Sara Harney

Theses and Dissertations

American photographer Catherine Opie combines portraiture and documentary photography in her photographic series titled Domestic. At the center of this series lies the idea of community and the question of how community is constructed, a theme which unites Opie’s seemingly disparate bodies of work. Domestic depicts lesbians from across the United States in scenes of domesticity, living as couples, families, and housemates. Using formal portrait conventions to aestheticize the images, Opie photographed her subjects in and around their actual homes to create images that are documentary in essence. The series works to represent the lesbian community, which Opie felt had …

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Commonwealth Times 2013-04-25 Apr 2013

Commonwealth Times 2013-04-25

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

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Actual Entities: A Control Method For Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Erica Absetz Apr 2013

Actual Entities: A Control Method For Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Erica Absetz

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this thesis is on Actual Entities, a concept created by the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, and how the concept can be applied to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as a behavioral control method. Actual Entities are vector based, atomic units that use a method called prehension to observe their environment and react with various actions. When combining multiple Actual Entities a Colony of Prehending Entities is created; when observing their prehensions an intelligent behavior emerges. By applying the characteristics of Actual Entities to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, specifically in a situation where they are searching for targets, this emergent, intelligent …

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Choosing The Cut Point For A Restricted Mean In Survival Analysis, A Data Driven Method, Emily H. Sheldon Apr 2013

Choosing The Cut Point For A Restricted Mean In Survival Analysis, A Data Driven Method, Emily H. Sheldon

Theses and Dissertations

Survival Analysis generally uses the median survival time as a common summary statistic. While the median possesses the desirable characteristic of being unbiased, there are times when it is not the best statistic to describe the data at hand. Royston and Parmar (2011) provide an argument that the restricted mean survival time should be the summary statistic used when the proportional hazards assumption is in doubt. Work in Restricted Means dates back to 1949 when J.O. Irwin developed a calculation for the standard error of the restricted mean using Greenwood’s formula. Since then the development of the restricted mean has …

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Camk-Ii: An Integral Protein In Cell Migration, Jamie Josephine Avila Mcleod Apr 2013

Camk-Ii: An Integral Protein In Cell Migration, Jamie Josephine Avila Mcleod

Theses and Dissertations

Coordinated inductive and morphogenetic processes of gastrulation establish the zebrafish body plan. Gastrulation includes massive cell rearrangements to generate the three germ layers and shape the embryonic body. Three modes of cell migration must occur during vertebrate gastrulation and include: epiboly, internalization of the presumptive mesendoderm and convergent extension (C&E). C&E movements narrow the germ layers mediolaterally (convergence) and elongate them anteroposteriorly (extension) to define the embryonic axis. The molecular mechanisms regulating coordinated cell migrations remain poorly understand and studying these has become of great interest to researchers. Understanding cell migration during development is highly relevant to a number of …

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The Mechanotransduction Of Primary Cilia In Tumor Progression Of Lung Adenocarcinoma, Sagar Patel Apr 2013

The Mechanotransduction Of Primary Cilia In Tumor Progression Of Lung Adenocarcinoma, Sagar Patel

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to investigate primary cilia and their mechanotransduction role in lung adenocarcinoma tumor progression. The main focus investigated the effect of primary cilia on cell cycle progression, survival, adhesion and migration analysis of these cells and the role of sonic hedgehog signaling pathway in mechanotransduction. Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) adenocarcinoma biopsies contain more primary cilia than non-tumor lung sections. To observe the effects of primary cilia presence in lung cancer cells in-vitro, formation of primary cilia is inhibited using small interfering RNA. A549 cells with intact primary cilia observe less cell cycle progression …

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The Inflammasome In Acute Myocarditis, Harsha Kannan Apr 2013

The Inflammasome In Acute Myocarditis, Harsha Kannan

Theses and Dissertations

Acute myocarditis is an acute inflammatory syndrome characterized by myocardial damage and dysfunction often due to a viral infection followed by a variable development over time. There are currently no specific treatments and standard treatments for heart failure are generally applied. The inflammasome is a recently identified macromolecular structure that occupies a central role in the amplification of the inflammatory response and promotion of cell death during acute and chronic infections. We hypothesized the formation of the inflammasome in acute myocarditis. To investigate, samples of patients were collected from the Cardiomyopathy Registry in Trieste, with 12 cases of biopsy-proven myocarditis …

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Understanding Molecular Interactions: Application Of Hint-Based Tools In The Structural Modeling Of Novel Anticancer And Antiviral Targets, And In Protein-Protein Docking, Hardik Parikh Apr 2013

Understanding Molecular Interactions: Application Of Hint-Based Tools In The Structural Modeling Of Novel Anticancer And Antiviral Targets, And In Protein-Protein Docking, Hardik Parikh

Theses and Dissertations

Computationally driven drug design/discovery efforts generally rely on accurate assessment of the forces that guide the molecular recognition process. HINT (Hydropathic INTeraction) is a natural force field, derived from experimentally determined partition coefficients that quantifies all non-bonded interactions in the biological environment, including hydrogen bonding, electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, and the energy of desolvation. The overall goal of this work is to apply the HINT-based atomic level description of molecular systems to biologically important proteins, to better understand their biochemistry – a key step in exploiting them for therapeutic purposes. This dissertation discusses the results of three diverse projects: i) …

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Defining The Functions Of A Conserved Hydrophobic Domain In The Arf Tumor Suppressor, Aymen Hariz Apr 2013

Defining The Functions Of A Conserved Hydrophobic Domain In The Arf Tumor Suppressor, Aymen Hariz

Theses and Dissertations

The INK4A-ARF locus encodes two tumor suppressors; p16 and p19Arf, both of which restrain cell growth by regulating the functions of Retinoblastoma (Rb) and p53 respectively. Throughout development, p19Arf is kept at minimal levels, but under conditions of oncogenic stress, p19Arf expression is induced and its tumor suppressive activities are mediated through the stabilization of p53 or in a p53-independent manner. Introducing a point mutation (L46D) into the conserved hydrophobic domain (37-51) in p19Arf annulled ARF/CtBP2 interaction and mediated cell survival by rendering cells irresponsive to apoptosis. In vivo analysis on the percentage of lymphoma free survivals in ARFL46D/L46D mice …

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The Activation, Receptor Complexing And Endogenous Regulation Of The Type-I Interferon Response As It Pertains To Innate Immunity, James D. Marion Jr. Apr 2013

The Activation, Receptor Complexing And Endogenous Regulation Of The Type-I Interferon Response As It Pertains To Innate Immunity, James D. Marion Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

To defend against pathogen challenge, multi-cellular organisms mount an immune response that recognizes, sequesters and eradicates invading infectious agents. Critical to this safeguard is the receptor-mediated detection of pathogens. Pathogen recognition then initiates a variety of signaling cascades that lead to the modulation of genes orchestrating an immune response. Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3), a transmembrane receptor found in endosomes, is vital to the innate immune response against viruses. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) stimulation of TLR3 initiates a signaling cascade that leads to the production of type-I interferons and proinflammatory cytokines necessary to trigger the protective defenses of the immune system. Critical …

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Notions Of Spirits As Agents Of Mental Illness Among The Akan Of Ghana: A Cultural-Psychological Exploration, Annabella Opare-Henaku Apr 2013

Notions Of Spirits As Agents Of Mental Illness Among The Akan Of Ghana: A Cultural-Psychological Exploration, Annabella Opare-Henaku

Theses and Dissertations

The study explores lay conceptualizations of mental illness among the Akans of Ghana as influenced by their cultural worldview. Akan, the largest ethnic group in Ghana, is noted for the use of supernatural attributions for various health-related issues. The supernatural attributions are based on Akan ontological belief that the universe is unitary such that there is no clear distinction between physical and spiritual occurrences. This worldview guides Akans in how they deal with a wide range of issues including their mental health. Clinicians and other mental health professionals who rely solely on biomedical approaches to mental health fail to meet …

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Art And Becoming-Animal: Reconceptualizing The Animal Imagery In Dorothea Tanning's Post-1955 Paintings, Samantha Karam Apr 2013

Art And Becoming-Animal: Reconceptualizing The Animal Imagery In Dorothea Tanning's Post-1955 Paintings, Samantha Karam

Theses and Dissertations

In 1955, American artist Dorothea Tanning abandoned her figurative Surrealist renderings of dream-like scenarios in favor of a complexly abstract and fragmented style of painting. With few exceptions, the ways in which Tanning’s later works function independently of her earlier paintings tends to be downplayed in the scholarship on her oeuvre. Equally sparse is the scholarship on Tanning’s dog imagery, which pervades her oeuvre but becomes most apparent in her later phase. This thesis seeks to shift attention toward Tanning’s later abstract paintings; it also seeks to fill the gap in scholarship on Tanning’s dogs. Specifically, through the study of …

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Four Virtues: Interventions For Goodness' Sake, Caroline Lavelock Apr 2013

Four Virtues: Interventions For Goodness' Sake, Caroline Lavelock

Theses and Dissertations

Empirical interest in promoting virtues has dramatically increased over the last decade. The present study will focus primarily on the warmth-based virtues of forgiveness and humility, and the conscientiousness-based virtues of patience and self-control. I introduced participants (N = 135) to a workbook intended to promote one of these four virtues, or to promote general positivity for participants in a workbook control condition. I hypothesized that virtue workbooks would produce higher levels of the target virtue, more so than in both a non-action control condition (n = 33) and in a control condition that completes a workbook that promotes general …

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My World Of Motherhood, Aimee Rop Apr 2013

My World Of Motherhood, Aimee Rop

Theses and Dissertations

Artist Statement In my artwork, I want to relay the emotional ups and downs of being a single mother. Motherhood, its challenges and rewards, is a recurring theme in my mixed media and photographic work. In family life we all experience the cycles of pain, sorrow, happiness, and tranquility. These are the moments that I want to explore and share. In my pieces, I incorporate simple, black outlined figures that contain little to no facial features, text that is hidden and broken up, and repeated drawings of entangled spirals. These outlined figures symbolize me as a woman that is facing …

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Role Clarity And Instructional Technology Support: A Naturalistic Examination Of Various Perceptions Of The Role Of The Itrt Within And Across Three High Schools, Ann Nash Apr 2013

Role Clarity And Instructional Technology Support: A Naturalistic Examination Of Various Perceptions Of The Role Of The Itrt Within And Across Three High Schools, Ann Nash

Theses and Dissertations

Role clarity for any individual leads to more successful implementation of his or her job expectations. In a school, there are many individuals with various roles to fill. The Instructional Technology Resource Teacher (ITRT) has multiple roles within a school including: training teachers, designing integrated curriculum, managing learning resources, modeling instructional strategies, acting as a technology resource, assisting content specialists, and preview and recommending software. This study found that stakeholders in schools consistently recognize the ITRT as both a trainer and designer of integrated lessons. Other instructional support roles are recognized only by some stakeholders in schools. When a greater …

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An Assessment Of The Perceived Instructional Leadership Behaviors Of Assistant Prinicpals, Ronald Atkinson Jr. Apr 2013

An Assessment Of The Perceived Instructional Leadership Behaviors Of Assistant Prinicpals, Ronald Atkinson Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the extent to which the role of the assistant principal is perceived to include instructional leadership behaviors. Specifically, this study compared the perceptions of instructional leadership practices of elementary, middle, and high school assistant principals from the perspectives of assistant principals, principals, and teachers. A nonexperimental comparative design was used. Quantitative data were collected via a version of the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale that was adapted for application to assistant principals. Analysis of variance, independent-samples t-test, correlation, and nonresponse bias analysis were conducted. Effect size and standard error were calculated. Results indicated that the mean scores …

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Orthogonal Expression Of Metabolic Pathways, George Howard Mcarthur Iv Apr 2013

Orthogonal Expression Of Metabolic Pathways, George Howard Mcarthur Iv

Theses and Dissertations

Microbial metabolism can be tailored to meet human specifications, but the degree to which these living systems can be repurposed is still unknown. Artificial biological control strategies are being developed with the goal of enabling the predictable implementation of novel biological functions (e.g., engineered metabolism). This dissertation project contributes genetic tools useful for modulating gene expression levels (extending promoters with UP elements) and isolating transcription and translation of engineered DNA from the endogenous cellular network (expression by orthogonal cellular machinery), which have been demonstrated in Escherichia coli for the production of lycopene, a 40-carbon tetraterpene carotenoid with antioxidant activity and …

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Detecting And Correcting Batch Effects In High-Throughput Genomic Experiments, Sarah Reese Apr 2013

Detecting And Correcting Batch Effects In High-Throughput Genomic Experiments, Sarah Reese

Theses and Dissertations

Batch effects are due to probe-specific systematic variation between groups of samples (batches) resulting from experimental features that are not of biological interest. Principal components analysis (PCA) is commonly used as a visual tool to determine whether batch effects exist after applying a global normalization method. However, PCA yields linear combinations of the variables that contribute maximum variance and thus will not necessarily detect batch effects if they are not the largest source of variability in the data. We present an extension of principal components analysis to quantify the existence of batch effects, called guided PCA (gPCA). We describe a …

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Guilt, Blame, And Responsibility: The Experiences Of Parents And Clinicians Providing Services To Adolescents With Co-Occurring Mental Health And Substance Abuse Challenges, Katherine Cohen-Filipic Apr 2013

Guilt, Blame, And Responsibility: The Experiences Of Parents And Clinicians Providing Services To Adolescents With Co-Occurring Mental Health And Substance Abuse Challenges, Katherine Cohen-Filipic

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to understand and describe the experiences of parents of, and clinicians who provide services to, adolescents with co-occurring mental health and substance use challenges, particularly as they relate to issues of guilt, blame, and responsibility. The study is based in a theoretical framework derived from Symbolic Interactionism (Blumer, 1969), Attribution Theory (Heider, 1958), and Barrett`s (1995) Theory of Guilt and Shame. The guiding question the study is: What are the experiences of parents of adolescents with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse challenges and clinicians who provide treatment services around issues of blame, guilt, …

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Ethanol Regulation Of Glucocorticoid Responsive Genes, Blair Costin Apr 2013

Ethanol Regulation Of Glucocorticoid Responsive Genes, Blair Costin

Theses and Dissertations

Glucocorticoid hormones modulate acute and chronic behavioral and molecular responses to drugs of abuse including psychostimulants and opioids. Acute ethanol activates the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis causing the release of adrenal glucocorticoid hormones, but following chronic ethanol the HPA axis is dysregulated in both humans and rodents. Thus, there is growing evidence that glucocorticoids might also modulate behavioral and molecular responses to ethanol. Previous microarray studies in the Miles’ laboratory have shown that the well-known glucocorticoid responsive gene, Serum and Glucocorticoid-regulated Kinase 1, Sgk1, is prominently up regulated by acute ethanol (2 g/kg) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of …

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The Art Of Perl: How A Scripting Language (Inter)Activated The World Wide Web, Norberto Gomez Jr. Apr 2013

The Art Of Perl: How A Scripting Language (Inter)Activated The World Wide Web, Norberto Gomez Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

In 1987, computer programmer and linguist Larry Wall authored the general-purpose, high-level, interpreted, dynamic Unix scripting language, Perl. Borrowing features from C and awk, Perl was originally intended as a scripting language for text-processing. However, with the rising popularity of the Internet and the advent of Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web (Web), in the 1990s, Perl soon became the glue-language for the Internet, due in large part to its relationship to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the Common Gateway Interface (CGI). Perl was the go-to language for on the fly program writing and coding, gaining accolades from the likes …

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Systematic Analysis Of Abc Transporters In Streptococcus Sanguinis, Sawsan Atia Apr 2013

Systematic Analysis Of Abc Transporters In Streptococcus Sanguinis, Sawsan Atia

Theses and Dissertations

The bacterium Streptococcus sanguinis is a primary member of the human oral microflora and also has been recognized as a key player in the bacterial colonization of the mouth. It is considered the most common viridians streptococcal species implicated in infective endocarditis. In all kingdoms of life, ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters are essential to many cellular functions. Sequencing of the SK36 genome provided the opportunity to study ABC transporter mutants and their relationship with acidity of the oral environment. Despite numerous studies that have focused on carbohydrate uptake systems in closely related streptococcal species such as S. mutans, S. …

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Children Who Have Experienced Trauma: An Examination Of The Role Of Race, Ethnicity, And Cultural Factors In Presenting Symptoms And At Three Month (Or First Recorded) Follow Up, Stephanie Susanne Genser Wolf Apr 2013

Children Who Have Experienced Trauma: An Examination Of The Role Of Race, Ethnicity, And Cultural Factors In Presenting Symptoms And At Three Month (Or First Recorded) Follow Up, Stephanie Susanne Genser Wolf

Theses and Dissertations

Child traumatic stress is a pervasive problem that affects the well-being and healthy development of children from all races, ethnicities, and cultures. Major factors known to affect trauma symptoms include type of trauma, level or severity of trauma exposure, and age and gender of children. Utilizing Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, this study measured the additional influence of children’s race, ethnicity, and cultural factors on symptoms after trauma. A dataset of children in treatment after experiencing trauma (0-21 years, N = 10,115) from The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), a federally funded initiative that collected longitudinal data across 56 research and …

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Characterization Of The Neurotrophic Factor Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (Bdnf) In Intestinal Smooth Muscle Cells, Mohammad Alqudah Apr 2013

Characterization Of The Neurotrophic Factor Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (Bdnf) In Intestinal Smooth Muscle Cells, Mohammad Alqudah

Theses and Dissertations

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) belongs to the neurotrophin family of secreted proteins, which include in addition to BDNF, nerve growth factor (NGF) and neurotrophin 3-6 (NT-3-6). BDNF mediates its functions by activating two cell surface receptors, pan-neurotrophin receptor (P75NTR) and tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB) and their downstream intracellular cascades. BDNF is best known for its role in neuronal survival, regulation of neuronal differentiation, migration and activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. However, BDNF is widely expressed in non-neuronal tissues as well. The localization and the function of BDNF in intestinal smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are not well defined. Thus, the main purpose of …

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Racial/Ethnic Differences In Fatality Rates From Motor Vehicle Crashes: An Analysis From A Behavioral And Cultural Perspective, Huda Hamdan Apr 2013

Racial/Ethnic Differences In Fatality Rates From Motor Vehicle Crashes: An Analysis From A Behavioral And Cultural Perspective, Huda Hamdan

Theses and Dissertations

Ethnic/racial minorities in the United States are overrepresented in fatalities from motor vehicle crashes (MVC). Growing evidence indicates that there are differences among racial/ethnic groups in risk of involvement in fatal crashes. Based on previous research, numerous factors may be involved in high racial/ethnic fatality rates from MVCs, including failure to use safety equipment, driving while under the influence of alcohol/drug, red light running, and speeding. Using data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) and the FR300P Police Crash Report, this project explores differences in variables associated with traffic safety behavior and traffic law obedience between non-White …

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Regulation Of Gastrointestinal Smooth Muscle Function By Hydrogen Sulfide, Ancy Nalli Apr 2013

Regulation Of Gastrointestinal Smooth Muscle Function By Hydrogen Sulfide, Ancy Nalli

Theses and Dissertations

Inhibitory neurotransmitters, chiefly nitric oxide and vasoactive intestinal peptide, cause MLC20 dephosphorylation and muscle relaxation via inhibition of myosin light chain (MLC) kinase and activation of MLC phosphatase. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) produced as a byproduct by luminal sulfate-reducing commensal bacteria or as an endogenous signaling molecule synthesized from L-cysteine via cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE) and cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) regulates muscle contraction. However, the role of H2S in the regulation of MLC phosphatase activity and MLC20 phosphorylation is not known. The aim of the present study was to examine the expression of CSE and CBS in smooth muscle cells and to elucidate the molecular …

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Development Of Antagonists Targeting Chemokine Receptor Ccr5 And The Chemokine Receptor Ccr5 – Mu Opioid Receptor Heterodimer, Christopher Kent Arnatt Apr 2013

Development Of Antagonists Targeting Chemokine Receptor Ccr5 And The Chemokine Receptor Ccr5 – Mu Opioid Receptor Heterodimer, Christopher Kent Arnatt

Theses and Dissertations

The chemokine receptor CCR5 (CCR5) plays an integral role within the inflammatory network of cells. Importantly, CCR5 is a mediator in several disease states and can be targeted using small molecule antagonists. Within this work, CCR5’s role in prostate cancer and HIV/AIDS has been exploited in order to develop potential therapeutics and probes. First, a series of novel compounds was designed by using pharmacophore-based drug design based upon known CCR5 antagonists and molecular modeling studies of the CCR5 receptor’s three-dimensional conformation. Once synthesized, these compounds were tested for their CCR5 antagonism and their anti-proliferative effects in several prostate cancer cell …

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