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Amygdala Npy+ Interneurons Are Activated By Aversive Stim-Uli, Patric Perez Sep 2025

Amygdala Npy+ Interneurons Are Activated By Aversive Stim-Uli, Patric Perez

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Neuropeptide Y (NPY) serves as a critical endogenous anxiolytic and stress-buffering molecule, yet the temporal and spatial dynamics of NPY+ cells during fear learning re-main unknown. Temporal dynamics can be measured with in vivo calcium imaging tech-niques, which enable real-time monitoring of cell-type-specific neural activity in freely behaving animals. Snapshots of neuronal activation can be measured using c-Fos im-munohistochemistry, thereby providing excellent spatial resolution. Here, I employ cut-ting-edge approaches to characterize the temporal and spatial activation patterns of NPY+ cells in amygdala, a key fear-regulating brain region negatively impacted by aversive events. I first used in vivo fiber photometry, together …

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Standardizing Sea Urchin Husbandry: Tank Effects, Gamete Production, And Co-Culture, Raven Amber Edwards Sep 2025

Standardizing Sea Urchin Husbandry: Tank Effects, Gamete Production, And Co-Culture, Raven Amber Edwards

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This dissertation seeks to further knowledge of sea urchin husbandry in three major areas that have so far not been investigated substantially: optimal conditions for housing sea urchins in a lab-based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), impacts of repetitive spawning regimens on reproductive output, and co-culture utilizing juvenile oysters. All studies utilize a commercial recirculating aquaculture system that is relatively novel for culturing sea urchins. The first chapter investigated the influence of housing conditions on sea urchin growth outcomes. Under the conditions of this study, the size of the tank showed limited influence on growth; however, stocking density was found to …

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Murder On The Axonal Express: Synucleinopathy Disruption Of 14-3-3 Protein-Protein Interactions Impairs Axonal Trafficking, Frank Sanders Pair Sep 2025

Murder On The Axonal Express: Synucleinopathy Disruption Of 14-3-3 Protein-Protein Interactions Impairs Axonal Trafficking, Frank Sanders Pair

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14-3-3s are a family of proteins highly expressed in the brain. These proteins exert their functions mainly through protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and have thousands of binding partners. 14-3-3s have been shown to be present in pro-teinaceous aggregates of alpha-synuclein (αsyn), a pathological hallmark of synucleinopathies. This includes such diseases as Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). 14-3-3 proteins, particularly the 14-3-3θ isoform, have been shown to be protective in multiple synucleinopathy models. However, reduced soluble levels of 14-3-3s and increased phosphorylation of 14-3-3θ at S232 observed in synucleinopathies like DLB may impair their protec-tive ability, potentially due …

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The Unseen Struggle: Poems From The Abyss, Victor Ihechiluru Unachukwu Aug 2025

The Unseen Struggle: Poems From The Abyss, Victor Ihechiluru Unachukwu

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The Unseen Struggle: Poems from The Abyss is a collection of seventy poems. The poems cracked into the experiences of Nigerians—enduring social, political, and environmental oppression. Socially, ethnic divisions and limited education restrict opportunity; politically, corruption and repression silence dissent; environmentally, resource exploitation devastates livelihoods. Through poetry, I constructed a fictionalized Imo and Abia State, rendering these struggles visceral without requiring the reader’s physical presence. Drawing on personal experience, I employed sensory, auditory, and visual imagery to immerse readers in the systems that dictate and constrain Nigerian life. As a Nigerian living in America, I intertwine real events with familial …

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The Bone Is Not Alone: Skeletal Muscle Is A Novel Source Of Fibroblast Growth Factor 23, Kylie Heitman Jun 2025

The Bone Is Not Alone: Skeletal Muscle Is A Novel Source Of Fibroblast Growth Factor 23, Kylie Heitman

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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health issue often accompanied by various pathologies. Hyperphosphatemia contributes to a range of complications, including vascular calcification, systemic inflammation, anemia, left ventricular hypertrophy, and skeletal muscle atrophy. Phosphate homeostasis is tightly regulated through a combination of renal excretion and its storage in bones, with fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 23 playing a central role in this regulation. Produced primarily by osteocytes in response to elevated serum phosphate, FGF23 helps maintain phosphate balance by promoting renal phosphate excretion and inhibiting the synthesis of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone. Dysregulation of FGF23 is associated both …

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Development Of Aldot's Worker Safety Assessment, Risk Identification, And Control Program, Lana Marji Jun 2025

Development Of Aldot's Worker Safety Assessment, Risk Identification, And Control Program, Lana Marji

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This research examines the safety challenges faced by Transportation Maintenance Technicians (TMTs) at the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). By ana-lyzing extensive injury data from 2009 to 2024, along with insights from surveys and interactions with ALDOT personnel, this effort highlights significant trends and relation-ships among injury characteristics such as nature, cause, source, and affected body parts. The findings reveal considerable costs and productivity losses associated with common injury types that warrant the need for targeted interventions. By reviewing successful safety programs across various state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), the study identifies opportunities to enhance safety within ALDOT. This effort …

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Stroke Survivors: Predicting Cognitive Outcomes By Stroke Severity, Caregiver Factors, & Social Determinants Of Health, Jason Alexander Blake Jun 2025

Stroke Survivors: Predicting Cognitive Outcomes By Stroke Severity, Caregiver Factors, & Social Determinants Of Health, Jason Alexander Blake

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Physical and cognitive disabilities are common following a stroke, often leading to significant changes in survivors' daily lives and increasing dependency on caregivers. These changes can include involuntary retirement, loss of independence, and decreased social engagement, which may necessitate adjustments in living arrangements and long-term care. This dissertation investigates the predictors of cognitive outcomes in stroke survivors, with a particular focus on the roles of stroke severity and caregiver factors. Utilizing data from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) project, this research captures the different predictors of post-stroke cognition through biennial assessments. Through longitudinal studies, this …

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The Role Of B Cells In A Mouse Model Of Multiple System Atrophy, Gabrielle Childers Jun 2025

The Role Of B Cells In A Mouse Model Of Multiple System Atrophy, Gabrielle Childers

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Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare, fast progressing, debilitating and ultimately fatal movement disorder. The pathological hallmark of MSA disease is the aggregation and misfolding of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) protein in the cytoplasm of oligodendrocytes, termed glial cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs). Accumulation of these GCIs result in progressive demyelination and neurodegeneration of the striatonigral and olivopontocerebellar regions of the brain. Currently, no therapeutics have been approved that slow or halt the progression of this devastating disease. Neuroinflammation, has been increasingly appreciated as a key neuropathological feature of disease, especially activation of tissue resident innate immune cells. Recently, evidence of adaptive immune …

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Cardiac-Derived Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 Contributes To Physiologic And Pathologic Cardiac Remodeling, Isaac Daniel Campos Jun 2025

Cardiac-Derived Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 Contributes To Physiologic And Pathologic Cardiac Remodeling, Isaac Daniel Campos

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Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a global health risk that increases patients’ risk for premature mortality and is accompanied by pathologic cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. Declining kidney function results in elevations of serum phosphate and Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) 23, a bone-derived phosphaturic hormone. Hyperphosphatemia and elevated FGF23 are associated with cardiovascular mortality in CKD. FGF23 can directly target cardiac myocytes via FGF Receptor (FGFR) 4 and induce cardiac hypertrophy and blocking FGFR4 signaling in CKD models reduces cardiac hypertrophy, but not fibrosis. FGF23 elevations are also observed following exercise and during pregnancy, two scenarios of physiologic hypertrophy not associated …

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Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Persons Living With Hiv Who Are Homebound Due To One Or More Comorbidities Within A Southern State Using Photovoice, Anthony Alyn "Deek" Cunningham Jan 2025

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Persons Living With Hiv Who Are Homebound Due To One Or More Comorbidities Within A Southern State Using Photovoice, Anthony Alyn "Deek" Cunningham

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At the end of 2022, there were 1,109,418 adults and adolescents with HIV in the United States and the six dependent areas of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Palau, and the US Virgin Islands (CDC, 2024). Due to ongoing advances in medications and treatments, people who have been diagnosed with HIV are living longer and healthier lives, making this a chronic health condition. Yet, there are gaps in the literature that focuses on this population growing older and aging in place. This dissertation investigated the lived experiences of individuals fifty years and older …

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Exploring The Role Of Brain Angiogenesis Inhibitor 3 (Bai3) In Regulating Body Weight, Haifa Alsahrif Jan 2025

Exploring The Role Of Brain Angiogenesis Inhibitor 3 (Bai3) In Regulating Body Weight, Haifa Alsahrif

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Obesity is a significant public health issue, strongly associated with various metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Understanding the mechanisms that contribute to obesity is essential for developing effective interventions. One critical area of interest involves G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which are important in regulating metabolic health. These receptors are known to be involved in critical metabolic functions such as insulin secretion, lipid metabolism, and glucose uptake. The role of the GPCR, brain angiogenesis inhibitor-3 (BAI3), in metabolic regulation has not been fully explored. This dissertation focuses on the known functions of the BAI isoforms (BAI1-3) and presents …

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Insights Into Rett Syndrome: Social Behavior, Bdnf-Trkb Signaling, And Dendritic Spines, Destynie Medeiros Jan 2025

Insights Into Rett Syndrome: Social Behavior, Bdnf-Trkb Signaling, And Dendritic Spines, Destynie Medeiros

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Rett syndrome (RTT) is a neurodevelopmental disorder primarily affecting females, caused by pathogenic variants in the X-linked MECP2 gene, which encodes the transcriptional modulator Methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2). RTT is characterized by motor deficits, loss of speech, autistic features, and intellectual disability. A key gene regulated by MeCP2 is BDNF, encoding the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF levels are lower in multiple brain regions of Mecp2-deficient mice, and experimentally increasing BDNF levels improves several RTT phenotypes in mouse models. Due to BDNF's low blood-brain barrier permeability, we tested LM22A-4, a brain-penetrant small molecule ligand of TrkB receptors, on …

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Characterization Of Dhdds Rp59 Knock-In Mouse Models Of Retinitis Pigmentosa, Mai Ngoc Nguyen Jan 2025

Characterization Of Dhdds Rp59 Knock-In Mouse Models Of Retinitis Pigmentosa, Mai Ngoc Nguyen

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Cis-prenyltransferase (CPT), a prenyl chain elongation enzyme made up of two copies of dehydrodolichyl diphosphate synthase (DHDDS) and two copies of Nogo-B Receptor (NgBR), condenses metabolites from the mevalonate pathway to create dolichol, a sugar carrier required for glycosylation in all cells of the body. However, certain missense mutations in DHDDS cause non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa (RP59). Three missense mutations, K42E, T206A, and R98W have been found in RP59 patients that present the cardinal phenotypes of RP – diminished ERG responses, attenuated retinal vessels, bone spicule-like pigmentation, and retinal thinning due to photoreceptor loss. However, no global changes in glycosylation are …

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Development Of Cardiac Tissue Chip Platforms For In Vitro Modeling Of Myocardial Fibrosis, Caleb Graham Jan 2025

Development Of Cardiac Tissue Chip Platforms For In Vitro Modeling Of Myocardial Fibrosis, Caleb Graham

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Myocardial fibrosis often accompanies cardiovascular disease of varying etiologies. Initial reparative myocardial remodeling following insult, characterized by fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transdifferentiation and myofibroblast-mediated collagen deposition, can become a chronic, maladaptive process if injurious stimuli are not removed and inflammation persists, and the resultant fibrosis worsens cardiac function through myocardial stiffening and arrhythmogenic disruption of cardiomyocyte coupling. There are no FDA-approved therapies targeting myocardial fibrosis, in large part due to the complexity of the disease process. In vitro models can serve as useful complements to in vivo studies as they allow for significantly greater control over experimental variables. Cardiac tissue chips (CTCs) are …

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Impact Of Achromobacter Xylosoxidans Infection On The Cf Lung In Single-Species And Polymicrobial Infection With Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Caitlin E. Billiot Jan 2025

Impact Of Achromobacter Xylosoxidans Infection On The Cf Lung In Single-Species And Polymicrobial Infection With Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Caitlin E. Billiot

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Achromobacter xylosoxidans is a Gram-negative bacillus that acts as an opportun- istic pathogen in those with cystic fibrosis (CF). Infection with A. xylosoxidans in these populations is associated with decreased lung function. Thus, this raises the question of the role of A. xylosoxidans in CF disease progression. CF is a polymicrobial disease and A. xylosoxidans is oftentimes isolated alongside Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major CF colonizer. In the context of CF disease, it is important to understand the implications of polymicrobial infection as altered infection dynamics are observed when multiple microbes colonize together. In the first half of this work, we …

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Where The Black Women At? Exploring The Narratives & Experiences Of Black Women In Higher Education Leadership, Jasmine P. Jean Jan 2025

Where The Black Women At? Exploring The Narratives & Experiences Of Black Women In Higher Education Leadership, Jasmine P. Jean

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WHERE THE BLACK WOMEN AT? EXPLORING THE NARRATIVES & EXPERIENCES OF BLACK WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION LEADERSHIP JASMINE P. PARKER JEAN HIGHER EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION ABSTRACT This thesis explores the experiences of Black Women in mid- and senior-level leadership roles in higher education, with a focus on the unique challenges they face due to the intersection of race and gender. Black Women remain significantly underrepresented in leadership positions across the academic landscape, despite earning higher education degrees at high rates. The study seeks to amplify the voices of Black Women leaders, providing insight into the barriers they encounter, the strategies they …

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Transcriptomic Transformations And Epigenetic Elements: The Heart Of The Matter Across Diverse Cardiac Pathophysiologies, Sayan Bakshi Jan 2025

Transcriptomic Transformations And Epigenetic Elements: The Heart Of The Matter Across Diverse Cardiac Pathophysiologies, Sayan Bakshi

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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) comprises a complex array of disorders affecting the heart and blood vessels, representing the leading cause of mortality worldwide. This multifaceted nature of CVD has prompted extensive research into its molecular underpinnings and etiological diversity. Despite significant advances, the majority of CVD management strategies are guideline-based symptomatic treatment. This necessitates extensive research studies on therapeutic interventions aimed at disease prevention or cure. In this dissertation, we have employed next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques to elucidate the cardiac transcriptional and epigenetic landscape across various conditions, including ischemic heart failure (IHF), Cardiogenic shock (CS), and diabetic heart failure (DHF). Our …

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Evaluations Of Hand-Arm Vibration (Hav) Exposure And Related Vascular And Musculoskeletal Heath Effects Among Groundskeeping Workers In Southeastern U.S., Nathan Chen Jan 2025

Evaluations Of Hand-Arm Vibration (Hav) Exposure And Related Vascular And Musculoskeletal Heath Effects Among Groundskeeping Workers In Southeastern U.S., Nathan Chen

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Long-term, excessive exposure to hand-arm vibration (HAV) may induce vascular, neurological, and musculoskeletal disorders, collectively known as hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). However, concerns arise when adopting the currently available guidelines and standards to protect workers who regularly use vibrating tools due to the lack of standardized exposure assessment methods for HAV and reliable health indicators for HAVS. The existing exposure-response relationship addressed in ISO 5349-1 was developed based on epidemiological studies predominantly performed in temperate zones. Thus, this dissertation aimed to evaluate the HAV exposure levels and vascular and muscular health effects from vibration exposure among groundskeepers in the southeastern …

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The Dopaminergic Cell-Intrinsic Clock And Bidirectional Relationships Of Circadian Disruption And Synucleinopathy, Ananya Swaroop Jan 2025

The Dopaminergic Cell-Intrinsic Clock And Bidirectional Relationships Of Circadian Disruption And Synucleinopathy, Ananya Swaroop

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Circadian rhythms are crucial endogenous cycles with period of ~24 hours that evolved to adapt to light – dark driven changes in environmental conditions. At a molecular level, circadian rhythms are generated by the actions of clock genes that form a transcriptional- translational feedback loop and regulate the rhythmic expression of downstream clock-controlled genes. Cumulatively, the actions of these molecular clocks regulate rhythmicity of physiological and behavioral processes and are extensively characterized within the central circadian pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Like SCN neurons, dopaminergic neurons of the SN are intrinsically pacemaking, though it is unknown if this intrinsic firing …

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Role Of Ring-Box E3 Ligases In Runx2 And Sp7 Protein Turnover During Osteoblast Differentiation, Abeera Sikandar Jan 2025

Role Of Ring-Box E3 Ligases In Runx2 And Sp7 Protein Turnover During Osteoblast Differentiation, Abeera Sikandar

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The bone matrix synthesis by osteoblast during skeletogenesis is regulated by several transcription factors and signaling pathways. Runx2 and Sp7 are master regulators of osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. Deletion of both genes in mice results in the complete failure of ossification. In humans, Sp7 and Runx2 genes mutations cause osteogenesis imperfecta and cleidocranial dysplasia, respectively. The progression of osteoblast differentiation requires a coordinated and temporal expression of Runx2 and Sp7 genes. Posttranslational modifications regulate the cellular levels and function of Runx2 and Sp7 proteins. Ubiquitination controls protein turnover through targeted degradation. The multi-subunit SCF-complex is the largest class of …

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Alternative Splicing In The Brain: Across Disease States, Sexes, Regions, And Cell Types, Emma Finn Jones Jan 2025

Alternative Splicing In The Brain: Across Disease States, Sexes, Regions, And Cell Types, Emma Finn Jones

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Molecular phenotype heterogeneity is prevalent across multiple contexts and is mediated by mRNA expression differences and the gene and isoform level. Isoform-level mRNA complexity in the brain is essential for healthy neurodevelopment, and perturbations in AS are associated with many neurological and psychiatric disorders. While previous research has examined how AS changes in the brain, there is still a gap in using newer techniques to study these changes with greater specificity. Therefore, we address this gap by using long-read and scRNA-seq technologies to study isoform-level diversity in AS across four contexts (i.e., disease, sex, region, and cell type) in the …

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Single Nucleus Multiomics Reveals The Drought-Driven Gene Regulatory Atlas In Arabidopsis, Jinbao Liu Jan 2025

Single Nucleus Multiomics Reveals The Drought-Driven Gene Regulatory Atlas In Arabidopsis, Jinbao Liu

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The regulation of gene expression in plant responses to drought has been thoroughly in-vestigated in previous studies. Despite this, a detailed understanding of the cell type-specific regulatory mechanisms, encompassing multi-layered biological processes, is lack-ing. In this study, we report the use of single nucleus multiomic analysis in Arabidopsis seedlings in response to drought stress. Our single-nuclei RNA (snRNA) analysis deline-ated 14 distinct clusters representing major root and shoot cell types and discovered new cell type-specific drought markers. Integration of snRNA with single-nuclei ATAC (snATAC) data in leaf epidermis, root endodermis, and guard cells revealed accessible chromatin regions (ACRs)-linked genes predominantly …

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Controlled By Disorder: Modifications To An Unstructured C-Terminal Region Alter Srsf1'S Intramolecular Interactions And Tendency To Phase Separate, Talia Fargason Jan 2025

Controlled By Disorder: Modifications To An Unstructured C-Terminal Region Alter Srsf1'S Intramolecular Interactions And Tendency To Phase Separate, Talia Fargason

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The protein Serine-Arginine-rich Splicing Factor 1 (SRSF1) is essential in multiple stages of the mRNA lifecycle, including alternative splicing, nonsense-mediated decay, and nuclear export. SRSF1’s dysfunction is linked to cancers, viral evasion, and developmental disorders. Its function depends on interactions between structured and unstructured regions, modulated by phosphorylation. However, the unstructured regions, while critical for regulation, contribute to protein insolubility, hindering full-length studies. Prior to the work presented here, structural studies of SRSF1 were limited to analysis of its isolated domains. This dissertation develops new techniques to characterize SRSF1, focusing on its intermolecular interactions driving phase separation and intramolecular interactions …

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Elucidating The Impact Of Ribosome Biogenesis On Breast Cancer, Amr Rafat Elhamamsy Jan 2025

Elucidating The Impact Of Ribosome Biogenesis On Breast Cancer, Amr Rafat Elhamamsy

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Ribosome biogenesis, a complex and multi-step process that occurs predominantly in the nucleolus, plays a critical role in cellular function by mediating protein synthesis through the assembly of ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and ribosomal proteins into functional ribosomes. In cancer, dysregulation of this process is linked to the development of specialized ribosomes (onco-ribosomes) that support oncogenic translation programs, enhancing tumor progression and therapeutic resistance. This dissertation explores the interplay between ribosome biogenesis and cancer, focusing particularly on the role of RNA Polymerase I (RNA Pol I) activity under hypoxic conditions and rRNA modifications in breast cancer. My first study elucidates the …

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Production And Radiochemistry Of Theranostic Radioscandium Nuclides, Shelbie Jaylene Cingoranelli Jan 2025

Production And Radiochemistry Of Theranostic Radioscandium Nuclides, Shelbie Jaylene Cingoranelli

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In nuclear medicine, theranostics utilizes radionuclide pairs for diagnosis and therapy. Radioscandium isotopes (43Sc, 44Sc, and 47Sc) offer a promising alternative to the 68Ga/177Lu theranostic pair due to their identical radiolabeling conditions, complexes and in vivo pharmacokinetics. 43Sc (t1/2=3.89h, β+=88%) and 44Sc (t1/2 =3.97h. β+=94.3%) are suitable for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging whereas 47Sc (t1/2=3.3d. Eβ-ave=162keV) is suitable for targeted radiotherapy and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). These isotopes require production routes that lead to high radionuclidic purity and radiochemistry development for incorporation into radiopharmaceuticals. This study explores the production, purification, and application of these isotopes. The proton …

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Cytotoxic, Genotoxic, And Metabolic Effects Of Dihydroxyacetone In Heart, Liver And Lung Models, Arlet Hernandez Jan 2025

Cytotoxic, Genotoxic, And Metabolic Effects Of Dihydroxyacetone In Heart, Liver And Lung Models, Arlet Hernandez

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Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is a triose sugar found as an active ingredient in sunless tanning products (STPs) and by-product in electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). DHA can rapidly be absorbed into cells and tissues and incorporated into several metabolic pathways through its conversion into dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP). Previous studies have shown that DHA promotes cytotoxicity and genotoxicity primarily characterized in skin models. The extent of these effects in systemic models is highly cell-type specific. Here we investigate the cytotoxic, genotoxic, and metabolic effects of DHA across several cell models. First, we investigated the effects of DHA in a metabolically active cell line, hepatocellular …

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Vitamin D Receptor Signaling Antagonizes RorT Signaling To Reprogram Th17 Cells, Blake Frey Jan 2025

Vitamin D Receptor Signaling Antagonizes RorT Signaling To Reprogram Th17 Cells, Blake Frey

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Vitamin D3 has long been associated with protection against a myriad of autoimmune diseases commonly linked to dysregulation of the T helper 17 (Th17) program. Th17 cells rely on the nuclear receptor (NR) RORγt as the master transcription factor for differentiation and function, establishing a metastate that can drive pro-inflammatory or alternative pathways depending on external cues. Vitamin D3 signals through another NR, the vitamin D receptor (VDR), to inhibit IL-17A in favor of the immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10; however, the precise mechanisms remain unclear. We developed a novel dual Vdr reporter and conditional knockout mouse model, and for the first …

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The Evolutionary Ecology Of Reproductive System Variation In Haploid-Diploid Freshwater Red Macroalgae, Sarah Connelly Jan 2025

The Evolutionary Ecology Of Reproductive System Variation In Haploid-Diploid Freshwater Red Macroalgae, Sarah Connelly

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Reproductive systems describe the relative rates of sexual versus asexual reproduction and selfing versus outcrossing, governing the transmission of genetic diversity between generations and shaping evolutionary responses to environmental change. Though sex has inherent costs, it contributes to the reproductive system for most eukaryotes, generating incredible life cycle diversity. Life cycles are expected to be correlated with different reproductive systems. Diploid life cycles should be associated with outcrossing, whereas life cycles with a long-lived haploid phase are hypothesized to be associated with selfing and asexual reproduction. To test this hypothesis, we used ten polymorphic microsatellite loci to genotype 311 gametophytes …

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Targeted Exon Skipping Of Nf1 Exon 52 As A Mutation Specific Therapeutic For Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Cameron Lee Church Jan 2025

Targeted Exon Skipping Of Nf1 Exon 52 As A Mutation Specific Therapeutic For Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Cameron Lee Church

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Modification of pre-mRNA splicing using antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) can be used to skip one or more exons carrying pathogenic DNA sequence variants. Our previ-ously published data indicates NF1 exon 52 is a good target for exon skipping as a cDNA screen indicates an NF1 isoform lacking exon 52 maintains both high neurofi-bromin expression and the ability to suppress Ras activity. To develop an exon skipping approach, we designed antisense phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) to skip exon 52. Our lead PMO has a low IC50 of 45nM and is able to restore NF1 expres-sion and Ras-suppression in a cell line with …

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Scalable Resonance-Based Multi-Coil Inductive Links For Wireless Power Transmission And Passive Sensing In Biomedical Applications, Reepa Saha Jan 2025

Scalable Resonance-Based Multi-Coil Inductive Links For Wireless Power Transmission And Passive Sensing In Biomedical Applications, Reepa Saha

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Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) has become a major health crisis, affecting up to 95% of the 38.4 million diabetes cases in the United States and costing approximately $327 billion annually. Current treatments mainly focus on symptom management rather than reversing the disease. However, clinical observations suggest a promising link between certain stomach surgeries, such as the removal of the upper stomach, and diabetes reversal within a year. This raises the possibility of anatomical changes influencing diabetes outcomes, though the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. This dissertation is organized into three interconnected research segments, each contributing to a platform that deepens …

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