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Conformational Changes In The Extracellular Domain Of Glutamate Receptors, Anu Rambhadran

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The family of membrane protein called glutamate receptors play an important role in the central nervous system in mediating signaling between neurons. Glutamate receptors are involved in the elaborate game that nerve cells play with each other in order to control movement, memory, and learning.

Neurons achieve this communication by rapidly converting electrical signals into chemical signals and then converting them back into electrical signals. To propagate an electrical impulse, neurons in the brain launch bursts of neurotransmitter molecules like glutamate at the junction between neurons, called the synapse. Glutamate receptors are found lodged in the membranes of the post-synaptic …

Understanding Nanog's Role In Cancer Biology, Mark D. Badeaux

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Understanding Nanog’s Role in Cancer Biology

Mark Daniel Badeaux

Supervisory Professor Dean Tang, PhD

The cancer stem cell model holds that tumor heterogeneity and population-level immortality are driven by a subset of cells within the tumor, termed cancer stem cells. Like embryonic or somatic stem cells, cancer stem cells are believed to possess self-renewal capacity and the ability to give rise to a multitude of varieties of daughter cell. Because of cancer’s implied connections to authentic stem cells, we screened a variety of prostate cancer cell lines and primary tumors in order to determine if any notable ‘stemness’ genes were …

Definition Of The Landscape Of Chromatin Structure At The Frataxin Gene In Friedreich’S Ataxia, Eunah Kim

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA) is caused by the transcriptional silencing of the frataxin (FXN) gene. FRDA patients have expansion of GAA repeats in intron 1 of the FXN gene in both alleles. A number of studies demonstrated that specific histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) affect either histone modifications at the FXN gene or FXN expression in FRDA cells, indicating that the hyperexpanded GAA repeat may facilitate heterochromatin formation. However, the correlation between chromatin structure and transcription at the FXN gene is currently limited due to a lack of more detailed analysis. Therefore, I analyzed the effects of the hyperexpanded GAA …

Dysregulation Of Meox2 Following Wt1 Mutation In Kidney Development And Wilms Tumorigenesis, Lagina M. Nosavanh, Lagina Merie Nosavanh

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Wilms tumor (WT) is a childhood tumor of the kidney and a productive model for understanding the role of genetic alteration and interactions in tumorigenesis. The Wilms tumor gene 1 (WT1) is a transcriptional factor and one of the few genes known to have genetic alterations in WT and has been shown be inactivated in 20% of WTs. However, the mechanisms of how WT1 mutations lead to Wilms tumorigenesis and its influence on downstream genes are unknown. Since it has been established that WT1 is a transcriptional regulator, it has been hypothesized that the loss of WT1 leads …

The Role Of E2f1 In The Response To Dna Double Strand Breaks, Jie Chen

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The importance of E2F transcription factors in the processes of proliferation and apoptosis are well established. E2F1, but not other E2F family members, is also phosphorylated and stabilized in response to various forms of DNA damage to regulate the expression of cell cycle and pro-apoptotic genes. E2F1 also relocalizes and forms foci at sites of DNA double-strand breaks but the function of E2F1 at sites of damage is still unknown. Here I reveal that E2F1 deficiency leads to increased spontaneous DNA break and impaired recovery following exposure to ionizing radiation. In response to DNA double-strand breaks, NBS1 phosphorylation and foci …

The Role Of Cortisol In The Cycle Of Violence, Joshua Leigh Gowin

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Child abuse and neglect are universal risk factors for delinquency, violence and aggression; this phenomenon is known as the cycle of violence. Despite a wide body of research demonstrating this phenomenon, the processes which mediate this relationship remain largely unknown. One potentially relevant result of abuse and neglect may be disruptions in the development of the body’s stress response, specifically the function of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA-axis, and its end-product, cortisol, may play a role in regulating aggressive behavior, but this function may be disrupted following abuse and neglect. Another risk factor for aggression, psychopathy, may mediate the …

Role Of The Gcn5 Histone Acetyltransferase In Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 7 And In Immature Neurons, Yi Chun Chen

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by expansion of a CAG repeat encoding a polyglutamine tract in ATXN7, a component of the SAGA histone acetyltransferase (HAT) complex. Previous studies provided conflicting evidence regarding the effects of polyQ-ATXN7 on the activity of Gcn5, the HAT catalytic subunit of SAGA. Here I showed that reducing Gcn5 expression accelerates both cerebellar and retinal degeneration in a mouse model of SCA7. Deletion of Gcn5 in Purkinje cells in mice expressing wild type Atxn7, however, causes only mild ataxia and does not lead to the early lethality observed in SCA7 mice. …

The Role Of Cell Sterilization In Population Based Studies Of Radiogenic Second Cancers Following Radiation Therapy, Annelise Giebeler

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Advances in radiotherapy have generated increased interest in comparative studies of treatment techniques and their effectiveness. In this respect, pediatric patients are of specific interest because of their sensitivity to radiation induced second cancers. However, due to the rarity of childhood cancers and the long latency of second cancers, large sample sizes are unavailable for the epidemiological study of contemporary radiotherapy treatments. Additionally, when specific treatments are considered, such as proton therapy, sample sizes are further reduced due to the rareness of such treatments. We propose a method to improve statistical power in micro clinical trials. Specifically, we use a …

The Expression Profile Of A Gwas Detected Gene (Ninj2) In The Brain Of A Mouse Model Of Ischemic Stroke, Antonio Joel Tito Jr., Antonio Joel Tito Jr.

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Stroke is the third leading cause of death and a major debilitating disease in the United States. Multiple factors, including genetic factors, contribute to the development of the disease. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have contributed to the identification of genetic loci influencing risk for complex diseases, such as stroke. In 2010, a GWAS of incident stroke was performed in four large prospective cohorts from the USA and Europe and identified an association of two Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosome 12p13 with a greater risk of ischemic stroke in individuals of European and African-American ancestry. These SNPs are located 11 …

Roles For Braf Kinase Activating Mutations In Melanoma: Microenvironmental Immunosuppression, Jahan Khalili

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The BRAF oncogene demonstrates a characteristic mutation (V600E) in a significant fraction of cutaneous melanomas, leading to constitutive activation of the MAP kinase pathway. This genetic lesion endows tumor cells with proliferative and survival advantages, and metastatic melanoma patients treated with the BRAF(V600E)-specific inhibitor, Vemurafenib, have shown dramatic clinical responses. Here, I show that BRAF(V600E) induces transcription of the IL-1α and IL-1β genes in both melanocytes and melanoma cell lines and that this upregulation is specifically abrogated by targeted BRAF(V600E) inhibitors. Furthermore, treatment of melanoma tumor-associated fibroblasts (TAFs) with IL-1α/β significantly enhanced the ability of TAFs to suppress the proliferation …

The Cytoplasmic Tail Of Mhc Class I Molecules Plays A Critical Role In Dendritic Cell-Induced T Cell Immunity, Tania G. Rodriguez-Cruz

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The presentation of MHC class I (MHC-I)/peptide complexes by dendritic cells (DCs) is critical for the maintenance of central tolerance to self and for the regulation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL)-mediated adaptive immune responses against pathogens and cancer cells. Interestingly, several findings have suggested that the cytoplasmic tail of MHC class I plays a functional role in the regulation of CTL immune responses. For example, our previous studies demonstrated that exon 7-deleted MHC-I molecules not only showed extended DC cell surface half-lives but also induced significantly increased CTL responses to viral challange invivo. Although exon 7-deleted variant of MHC-I does …

Field-Controlled Electron Transfer And Reaction Kinetics Of The Biological Catalytic System Of Microperoxidase-11 And Hydrogen Peroxide, Yongki Chou, Siu-Tung Yau

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Controlled reaction kinetics of the bio-catalytic system of microperoxidase-11 and hydrogen peroxide has been achieved using an electrostatic technique. The technique allowed independent control of 1) the thermodynamics of the system using electrochemical setup and 2) the quantum mechanical tunneling at the interface between microperoxidase-11 and the working electrode by applying a gating voltage to the electrode. The cathodic currents of electrodes immobilized with microperoxidase-11 showed a dependence on the gating voltage in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, indicating a controllable reduction reaction. The measured kinetic parameters of the bio-catalytic reduction showed nonlinear dependences on the gating voltage as the …

The Prospector, December 1, 2011, Utep Student Publications

The Prospector

Headline: Good Luck Graduating Miners

'Exploring The Potential Of Using Antimicrobial Peptides And Copper Nanoparticles In Tackling Surgical Site Infections', Sriram Sankar

All Theses

Postoperative wound site infections remain a major source of illness with approximately 500,000 infections per year, among an estimated 27 million surgical procedures. Such infections account for approximately one quarter of the estimated 2 million nosocomial infections in the United States which causes about 90,000 deaths each year. More than 70% of the bacteria that causes such infections are resistant to at least one of the antibiotics and result in longer hospitalization; besides requiring second option treatments that may be less effective, more toxic and expensive. Hence, there is a frenetic search for alternatives and in this regard, antimicrobial peptides …

A Comparison Of The Performance Of Neural Q-Learning And Soar-Rl On A Derivative Of The Block Design (Bd)/Block Design Multiple Choice (Bdmc) Subtests On The Wisc-Iv Intelligence Test, Charreau Bell

All Theses

Teaching an autonomous agent to perform tasks that are simple to humans can be complex, especially when the task requires successive steps, has a low likelihood of successful completion with a brute force approach, and when the solution space is too large or too complex to be explicitly encoded. Reinforcement learning algorithms are particularly suited to such situations, and are based on rewards that help the agent to find the optimal action to execute given a certain state. The task investigated in this thesis is a modified form of the Block Design (BD) and Block Design Multiple Choice (BDMC) subtests, …

A Survey And Assessment Of The State Of Low Impact Development In The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester County Region Of Coastal South Carolina Emphasizing The Role Of Landscape Architects In Stormwater Management, Noelle Castiglia

All Theses

Watersheds across the U.S., particularly population-dense coastal regions, are being impacted by cultural development preferences which promote an increase in impervious surfaces and ultimately increase the rate and volume of stormwater runoff. Low Impact Development (LID), a site specific form of green infrastructure (GI), is being adopted by many municipalities as an alternative stormwater management solution. Taking advantage of local ecological systems, LID addresses pressing growth requirements with the fundamental need to protect waterways, while also meeting federal regulations resulting from the National Permit Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). This thesis attempts to assess the state of LID in the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester …

Effects Of Dietary Supplementation Of Conjugated Linoleic Acid In Horses, Shannon Headley

All Theses

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) reduces inflammation via the inhibition of cyclooxygenase II , thus reducing prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production. Conjugated linoleic acid has a suggested osteoclast-suppressive role in bone remodeling and osteoarthritis, which are dependent on bone resorptive stimulator PGE2. Bone resorption marker, deoxypyridinoline (DPD), and bone formation marker, bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP), have been modulated by CLA supplementation in other species. Recent research in equine exercise physiology investigated dietary supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids as a possible prevention and treatment for osteoarthritis, but CLA supplementation has putative effects on skeletal function or inflammation in horses has not been reported. …

Printing Carbon Nanotube Based Supercapacitors For Packaging, Alexandra Hartman

All Theses

Living in a world full of portable electronics, there is great need for energy storage devices. Currently, limitations for storage involve power inefficiencies as well as bulkiness. This is why printable charge storage devices that display good electrochemical performance are needed. It is for this reason that research into the production and packaging of carbon nanotube based super capacitors was carried out.
A super capacitor can be built by using high surface area multi-walled carbon nanotubes suspended in an ionic liquid. The two active electrodes are made from a combination of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes and an ionic liquid, ground …

The Design Of A Haptic Device For Training And Evaluating Surgeon And Novice Laparoscopic Movement Skills, Ryan Bontreger

All Theses

As proper levels of force application are necessary to ensure patient safety, and training hours with an expert on live subjects are difficult, enhanced computer-based training is needed to teach the next generation of surgeons. Considering the role of touch in surgery, there is a need for a device capable of discerning the haptic ability of surgical trainees. This need is amplified by minimally invasive surgical techniques where a surgeon's sense of tissue properties comes not directly through their own hands but indirectly through the tools. A haptic device capable of producing a realistic range of forces and motions that …

Prevention Of Iron- And Copper-Mediated Oxidative Dna Damage By Neurotransmmitters And Related Compounds: Evidence For Metal Binding As An Antioxidant Mechanism, Carla Garcia

All Theses

An array of health concerns have been attributed to oxidative DNA damage from the hydroxyl radical (*OH), and the presence of the most biologically available metals iron and copper perpetuate the production of this radical through the Fenton and Fenton-like reactions, respectively. The concentrations at which flavonol and polyphenol antioxidants prevent 50% of DNA damage (IC50) were measured using gel electrophoresis assays upon Fe(II)/H2O2- and Cu(I)/H2O2-mediated DNA damage (Chapter 2). Results show that catechol- and gallol-containing antioxidants differ greatly in preventing DNA damage by Cu(I)/H2O2, compared to Fe(II)/H2O2, behavior that was explained using electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Semiquinone and other …

Robust Design And Monitoring Tools For Sustainable And Resilient Structural Design And Infrastructure Management, Sarah Dalton

All Theses

Structural systems are subject to inherent uncertainties due to the variability in many hard-to-control `noise factors' that include but are not limited to external loads, material properties, and construction workmanship. Two design methodologies have been widely accepted in the practicing engineering realm to manage the variability associated with operational structures: Allowable Stress Design (ASD) and Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD). These traditional approaches explicitly recognize the presence of uncertainty; however, they do not take robustness against this uncertainty into consideration. Overlooking this robustness against uncertainty in the structural design process has two drawbacks. First, the design may not satisfy …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Multi-Functional Non-Spherical Particles Via Mechanical Deformation, Venkata Shilpa Varahagiri

All Theses

Nanoparticles bridge the gap between bulk materials and molecules. They possess exciting but contrasting mechanical, chemical, magnetic and optical properties when compared to their bulk counterparts due to their shape and size. When the size of noble metal nanoparticles is reduced to less than the wavelength of light, the particles intensely absorb and scatter light at wavelengths that depend on the particle size, shape, and local dielectric environment due to Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) modes. Recently, plasmonic particles have been used in a wide variety of sensor and optical device applications including immunoassays and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates. …

“That’S What Friends Do”: Informal Caregiving For Chronically Ill Midlife And Older Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Adults, Anna M. Muraco, Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen

Sociology Faculty Works

This study examines the relationships between friends; a caregiver who provides care to a care recipient, who is a lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) adult over age 50 in need of assistance due to chronic physical or mental health conditions. Using a sample of 18 care pairs (n = 36), this work examines qualitative interview data. Findings from the study include: (a) both the care recipient and the caregiver receive benefits from the friendship; (b) caregiving alters and challenges the friendship; and (c) friends assume differential levels of commitment and responsibility in providing care. Studying this population of LGB …

Diffusion Tensor Imaging Data Reveals Grm3 Polymorphism's Association With White Matter Integrity In Schizophrenia, Joanna Mounce

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

While the functional disconnectivity hypothesis of schizophrenia has been the subject of much study, very little is known about the contribution of individual genotypes to connectivity between brain regions in either schizophrenia patients or in healthy controls. In this study, we obtained diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) maps and genome-wide SNP data from 74 cases and 87 age- and gender-matched controls. Correlations were performed between loading coefficients obtained from fractional anisotropy (FA) values in networks of regions representing 6 maximally independent components and 134 SNPs in genes that have been found to be important in myelination and/or schizophrenia. By using independent …

Assessment Of Functional Characteristics Of Small Gtpases Using Small Molecules, Jacob Ongudi Agola

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Rab and Rho subfamilies of GTPases are functionally linked to intracellular trafficking and organization of the cytoskeleton respectively. Despite their roles, use of small molecule inhibitors or activators to map the functionality of these GTPases remains largely underexplored due to lack of suitable compounds. In this dissertation, we report on the functional characterization of Rab7 and Rac1 GTPases using small molecules. 2-(benzoylcarbamothioylamino)-5,5-dimethyl-4,7- dihydrothieno[2,3-c]pyran-3-carboxylic acid (PubChem #: CID1067700) has been used to characterize Rab7. Using bead based flow cytometry, CID1067700 was found to have significant inhibitory potency on Rab7 nucleotide binding with a respective inhibitory efficacy of 80% for BODIPY-GTP and …

Life History Tradeoffs And Phenotypic Plasticity: The Tale Of A Flight Polyphenic Field Cricket, Chandreyee Mitra

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Most organisms are resource limited. Such limitations can result in tradeoffs between life history traits -- any traits that affect survival or reproduction. Flight polyphenic field crickets are thought to be a classic example of such a life history tradeoff, in which individuals tradeoff investment in flight capability and investment in reproduction. This polyphenism results from the interaction of two morphological traits: wing morphology (short or long) and flight muscle morphology (functional pink or non-functional white), and is affected by both genes and the environment. I examined life history traits of a flight polyphenic field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps. First, …

Msh1 Influence On Plant Mitochondrial Genome Recombination And Phenotype In Tobacco, Peibei Sun

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Plant mitochondrial genomes are composed of unusually complex structures, due to active recombination at numerous repeated sequences in the genome. The maintenance of mitochondrial genome stability is under the control of identifiable nuclear genes. In plants, three nuclear genes (MSH1, RECA3 and OSB1) have been shown to participate in recombination surveillance and the suppression of illegitimate recombination in mitochondria. Disruption of these loci in Arabidopsis results in reproducible mitochondrial genome rearrangements. We demonstrated that repeat-mediated de novo recombination was also enhanced in both Arabidopsis and tobacco during passage through in vitro culture. Furthermore, in vitro conditions led …

Score Tests For Inverse Gaussian Mixtures, A. F. Desmond, Zhenlin Yang

Research Collection School Of Economics

The mixed inverse Gaussian given by Whitmore (Scand. J. Statist., 13, 1986, 211–220) provides a convenient way for testing the goodness-of-fit of a pure inverse Gaussian distribution. The test is a one-sided score test with the null hypothesis being the pure inverse Gaussian (i.e. the mixing parameter is zero) and the alternative a mixture. We devise a simple score test and study its finite sample properties. Monte Carlo results show that it compares favourably with the smooth test of Ducharme (Test, 10, 2001, 271-290). In practical applications, when the pure inverse Gaussian distribution is rejected, one is interested in making …

Effect Of Diet Quantity And Quality On Female Sampling Behavior And Mating Preferences In A Field Cricket, Heidi L. Bulfer

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Understanding the adaptive significance of variation in female mating behaviour is important because variation may often be favored by selection instead of a change in mean mating behaviour, particularly in variable environments. Females are known to adjust their mating behaviour to a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors including nutrition. There are multiple reasons why female behaviours might vary with nutrition; we tested two of these hypotheses: the search cost hypothesis and the direct benefits hypothesis. These hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, but they make contrasting predictions under some conditions. Low nutrition females may have less available energy to support …

Analysis Of Turnip Crinkle Virus Effects On The Innate And Adaptive Immunity In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Teresa J. Donze

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The ability to understand the interactions between plants and the variety of pathogens they encounter on a daily basis is an important area of research. In the following work presented in this dissertation, I sought to better understand the mechanisms that Turnip crinkle virus (TCV) employs to elude the defense responses of the host plant Arabidopsis thaliana. It was previously determined that TCV coat protein (CP) interacts with a transcription factor, TIP, within the about 10 amino acid region near the N-terminus of the CP called the R-domain. When this interaction was disrupted by making single amino acid substitutions …