Digital Commons Network^™

Practical Use Of Nitrogen Gas As A Method For Insect Control In Herbaria, Miriam Kritzer Van Zant, Donald Ugent, David A. Lightfoot

Articles

Herbaria are libraries of dried mounted plants used for plant identification, research vouchers and teaching. Herbarium specimens are subject to damage from insects, fungi and bacteria, and must be protected by treatments that kill damaging organisms. Naphthalene, the most common chemical currently used in herbaria, is a class C carcinogen and potential allergen. The aim was to develop an affordable alternative to treatment with persistent hazardous toxins for maintaining dried herbarium specimens. The new method uses ambient temperature nitrogen gas and widely available, valved, nylon, oxygen barrier bags. Nitrogen gas treatment has been shown to be less expensive than freezer …

Understanding The Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Complex Cancer Genome Rearrangements, Robert Hedlund, Vladimir N. Uversky

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

In their recent paper, Malhotra et al. performed a comprehensive analysis of the structural variation breakpoints in 64 cancer genomes from 7 tumor types to find the prevalence and origins of complex genomic rearrangements.1 Since this work represents a breakthrough in understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying complex cancer genome rearrangements, we provide a brief overview of this outstanding study.

Extracting Structural Information From Charge-State Distributions Of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins By Non-Denaturing Electrospray-Ionization Mass Spectrometry, Lorenzo Testa, Stefania Brocca, Carlo Santambrogio, Annalisa D'Urzo, Johnny Habchi, Sonia Longhi, Vladimir N. Uversky, Rita Grandori

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) exert key biological functions but tend to escape identification and characterization due to their high structural dynamics and heterogeneity. The possibility to dissect conformational ensembles by electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) offers an attracting possibility to develop a signature for this class of proteins based on their peculiar ionization behavior. This review summarizes available data on charge-state distributions (CSDs) obtained for IDPs by non-denaturing ESI-MS, with reference to globular or chemically denatured proteins. The results illustrate the contributions that direct ESI-MS analysis can give to the identification of new putative IDPs and to their conformational investigation.

Intrinsic Disorder In Pten And Its Interactome Confers Structural Plasticity And Functional Versatility, Prerna Malaney, Ravi Ramesh Pathak, Bin Xue, Vladimir N. Uversky, Vrushank Davé

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

IDPs, while structurally poor, are functionally rich by virtue of their flexibility and modularity. However, how mutations in IDPs elicit diseases, remain elusive. Herein, we have identified tumor suppressor PTEN as an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) and elucidated the molecular principles by which its intrinsically disordered region (IDR) at the carboxyl-terminus (C-tail) executes its functions. Post-translational modifications, conserved eukaryotic linear motifs and molecular recognition features present in the C-tail IDR enhance PTEN's protein-protein interactions that are required for its myriad cellular functions. PTEN primary and secondary interactomes are also enriched in IDPs, most being cancer related, revealing that PTEN functions …

Alpha 1-Antichymotrypsin, An Inflammatory Protein Overexpressed In The Brains Of Patients With Alzheimer’S Disease, Induces Tau Hyperphosphorylation Through C-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Activation, Ethika Tyagi, Tina Fiorelli, Michelle Norden, Jaya Padmanabhan

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

The association of inflammatory proteins with neuritic plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients has led to the hypothesis that inflammation plays a pivotal role in the development of pathology in AD. Earlier studies have shown that alpha 1-antichymotrypsin (ACT) enhances amyloid beta fibrillization and accelerated plaque formation in APP transgenic mice. Later studies from our laboratory have shown that purified ACT induces tau hyperphosphorylation and degeneration in neurons. In order to understand the mechanisms by which inflammatory proteins enhance tau hyperphosphorylation, we injected interleukin-1β (IL-1β) intracerebroventricularly into mice expressing human ACT, human tau, or …

Modulating The Intrinsic Disorder In The Cytoplasmic Domain Alters The Biological Activity Of The N-Methyl-D-Spartate-Sensitive Glutamate Receptor, Ucheor B. Choi, Rashek Kazi, Natalie Stenzoski, Lonnie P. Wollmuth, Vladimir N. Uversky, Mark E. Bowen

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

The NMDA-sensitive glutamate receptor is a ligand-gated ion channel that mediates excitatory synaptic transmission in the nervous system. Extracellular zinc allosterically regulates the NMDA receptor by binding to the extracellular N-terminal domain, which inhibits channel gating. Phosphorylation of the intrinsically disordered intracellular C-terminal domain alleviates inhibition by extracellular zinc. The mechanism for this functional effect is largely unknown. Proline is a hallmark of intrinsic disorder, so we used proline mutagenesis to modulate disorder in the cytoplasmic domain. Proline depletion selectively uncoupled zinc inhibition with little effect on receptor biogenesis, surface trafficking, or ligand-activated gating. Proline depletion also reduced the affinity …

Interplay Between Estrogen Receptor And Akt In Estradiol-Induced Alternative Splicing, Poornima Bhat-Nakshatri, Eun-Kyung Song, Nikail R. Collins, Vladimir N. Uversky, A. Keith Dunker, Bert W. O'Malley, Tim R. Geistlinger, Jason S. Carroll, Myles Brown, Harikrishna Nakshatri

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Background: Alternative splicing is critical for generating complex proteomes in response to extracellular signals. Nuclear receptors including estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and their ligands promote alternative splicing. The endogenous targets of ERα:estradiol (E2)-mediated alternative splicing and the influence of extracellular kinases that phosphorylate ERα on E2-induced splicing are unknown.
Methods: MCF-7 and its anti-estrogen derivatives were used for the majority of the assays. CD44 mini gene was used to measure the effect of E2 and AKT on alternative splicing. ExonHit array analysis was performed to identify E2 and AKT-regulated endogenous alternatively spliced apoptosis-related genes. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction …

What’S In A Name? Why These Proteins Are Intrinsically Disordered, A. Keith Dunker, M. Madan Babu, Elisar Barbar, Martin Blackledge, Sarah E. Bondos, Zsuzsanna Dosztányi, H. Jane Dyson, Julie D. Forman-Kay, Monika Fuxreiter, Joerg Gsponer, Kyou-Hoon Han, David T. Jones, Sonia Longhi, Steven J. Metallo, Ken Nishikawa, Ruth Nussinov, Zoran Obradovic, Rohit V. Pappu, ,Burkhard Rost, Philipp Selenko, Vinod Subramaniam, Joel Sussman, Peter Tompa, Vladimir N. Uversky

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” From “Romeo and Juliet”, William Shakespeare (1594)

This article opens a series of publications on disambiguation of the basic terms used in the field of intrinsically disordered proteins. We start from the beginning, namely from the explanation of what the expression “intrinsically disordered protein” actually means and why this particular term has been chosen as the common denominator for this class of proteins characterized by broad structural, dynamic and functional characteristics.

D2P2: Database Of Disordered Protein Predictions, Matt E. Oates, Pedro R. Romero, Takashi Ishida, Mohamed Ghalwash, Marcin J. Mizianty, Bin Xue, Zsuzsanna Dosztányi, Vladimir N. Uversky, Zoran Obradovic, Lukasz Kurgan, A. Keith Dunker, Julian Gough

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

We present the Database of Disordered Protein Prediction (D2P2), available at http://d2p2.pro (including website source code). A battery of disorder predictors and their variants, VL-XT, VSL2b, PrDOS, PV2, Espritz and IUPred, were run on all protein sequences from 1765 complete proteomes (to be updated as more genomes are completed). Integrated with these results are all of the predicted (mostly structured) SCOP domains using the SUPERFAMILY predictor. These disorder/structure annotations together enable comparison of the disorder predictors with each other and examination of the overlap between disordered predictions and SCOP domains on a large scale. D2P2 will increase our understanding of …

Dysregulated Alternative Splicing Pattern Of Pkc During Differentiation Of Human Preadipocytes Represents Distinct Differences Between Lean And Obese Adipocytes, Gay Carter, André Apostolatos, Rekha Patel, Abhishek Mathur, Denise Cooper, Michel Murr, Niketa A. Patel

Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications

Obesity and its comorbidities affect millions of people. Here, we demonstrate that human preadipocytes are susceptible to programmed cell death (apoptosis) while mature adipocytes are resistant to apoptosis. The molecular mechanisms underlying the phenotype of apoptosis-resistant adipocytes are lesser known. To study the role of apoptosis and define molecular differences in the developmental process of adipogenesis, human preadipocytes were differentiated in vitro to mature adipocytes. Many genes in the apoptosis pathway are alternatively spliced. Our data demonstrates that during differentiation PKCδ, Bclx, and Caspase9 switch to their prosurvival splice variants along with an increase in Bcl2 expression when …

Biology Department Newsletter, No. 3, Sacred Heart University

Biology Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Sir2 Is Required For Clr4 To Initiate Centromeric Heterochromatin Assembly In Fission Yeast, Benjamin J. Alper, Godwin Job, Rajesh K. Yadav, Sreenath Shanker, Brandon R. Lowe, Janet F. Partridge

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Heterochromatin assembly in fission yeast depends on the Clr4 histone methyltransferase, which targets H3K9. We show that the histone deacetylase Sir2 is required for Clr4 activity at telomeres, but acts redundantly with Clr3 histone deacetylase to maintain centromeric heterochromatin. However, Sir2 is critical for Clr4 function during de novo centromeric heterochromatin assembly. We identified new targets of Sir2 and tested if their deacetylation is necessary for Clr4-mediated heterochromatin establishment. Sir2 preferentially deacetylates H4K16Ac and H3K4Ac, but mutation of these residues to mimic acetylation did not prevent Clr4-mediated heterochromatin establishment. Sir2 also deacetylates H3K9Ac and H3K14Ac. Strains bearing H3K9 or H3K14 …

Doing The Numbers: The Numerate Lawyer And Transactional Law, Theresa A. Gabaldon

American University Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Discovering Protein Functions And Career Goals: The Suppressor Sike, Rebekah Rifareal

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Discovering IMSD was accidental. I was having a routine advising appointment and discussing future careers when the topic surfaced. At the time, I had no clue about what I wanted to do, so my advisor suggested that I explore research and encouraged me to apply for the program.

Inquiry Teaching: It Is Easier Than You Think!, S. Key, D. Owens

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

This article is a survey of the literature on inquiry teaching. Many teachers do not participate in inquiry teaching for various reasons. The following are the main reasons: it takes too much time; students do not learn what they need for the state test; and, the teachers do not know how to grade projects and presentations. These reasons sound like rhetoric from long ago, but it is very current. In this article, research is used to show that students who participate in inquiry learning or any type of problem-based education do much better than students who do not have that …

Examining The Relationship Between Particulate Matter, Nitrogen Oxide, Carbon Oxides, Sulfur Dioxide And Hypertension In Urban Areas In India: A Review, Hiren Kolli

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

While blood pressure may be decreasing around the world, it has been on the rise in India (Kounteya, 2012). According to the World Health Organization, the average blood pressure went down by 2.7mm Hg among women globally, while increasing by 2.4mm Hg in India. In men, blood pressure decreased by 2.3mm Hg globally in the past three decades but increased by 2.2mm Hg in India (Kounteya, 2012). Almost three-quarters of people with hypertension live in developing countries with limited health resources where there is very low awareness of hypertension, and India is one of these countries. Hypertension is the leading …

Detection Of Thermoluminescence In Polyether Ether Ketone (Peek), Dipendra Adhikari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Sterilization is a mandatory process for materials used in medical applications. Sterilization procedures commonly used are steam sterilization, ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization and sterilization by radiation. The high energy photons incident upon a polymer can cause chain scission, crosslinking, defects (trapped electrons) within the polymer matrix, and the formation of free radicals. In this research work, we used thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) to study the effects of X- and UV-irradiation on different grades of PEEK. We have observed a major sharp glow peak at temperature of about 150°C (with other five minor peaks), at the …

The Xenopus Lefty (Xlefty) Prodomain Negatively Regulates Xlefty Activity And Is Necessary For Proper Xlefty Secretion, Adrian Amelio Vasquez

Wayne State University Theses

In vertebrates, the TGF #914; superfamily of secreted peptides are stringently regulated since they are responsible for multiple cell processes and behaviors that give rise to the proper patterning of embryonic tissues. Examples of members of the TGF #914; superfamily are Nodal and Lefty. Dysregulation of these proteins can lead to many diseases and developmental syndromes in humans.

Lefty functions by antagonizing Nodal an essential organizer signal that patterns dorsal mesoderm and the embryonic axes. Loss of Lefty expression results in excess Nodal signaling which has been shown to cause several perturbations including metastatic cancer. Although studies have clearly shown …

Closing The Gap: A Research Agenda For The Study Of Health Needs Among American Indian/Native Hawaiian Transgender Individuals, Irene S. Vernon, Trudie Jackson

Ethnic Studies Review

Objectives: To explore health research needs of American Indian and Native Hawaiian (AIINH) transgender individuals. Methods: This qualitative study is composed of four focus groups and one informal meeting, totaling 42 AIINH transgender individuals in four major cities. The theoretical and methodological approaches combined grounded theory with the principles of community based participatory research. Results: Healthcare and resiliency are two main themes that emerged as research needs with important subcategories within them. Access to quality care from medical professionals and access to care that is unique to their trans gender status were subcategories within healthcare. Lived experiences, culture, and history …

Professional Product Review Vol. 8 No. 2, American Dental Association, Council On Scientific Affairs

Professional Product Review

A user-friendly newsletter from the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs offering scientifically sound, unbiased, and clinically relevant information to member dentists about professional dental products tested by the ADA. This collection is historical and may not reflect current standards. For up-to-date information contact the ADA.

Ambient Air Pollutant Pm10 And The Risk Of Preterm Birth In Lanzhou, China, Nan Zhao

Public Health Theses

ABSTRACT

Background: Early studies have inconsistently linked ambient air pollutant PM₁₀ exposure during pregnancy to the risk of preterm birth. However, majority of early studies were based on registry data which could result in misclassification of exposure due to the lack of detailed home and work addresses, as well as failed to collect information on potential confounders. China has the world's most polluted cities and suffers the second largest burden of preterm births. Very few studies, however, have been conducted in China to investigate the association between PM₁₀ exposure and preterm birth. Building upon a birth cohort study …

Future Expectations And Resiliency Among Adolescents: The Possible Moderating Role Of Future Expectations., Brigette Aliece Davis

Public Health Theses

Background: Future expectations are the extent to which an individual believes certain events will occur in their lifetime. Positive expectations for the future are well understood to be independently protective for both risk factors in times of transition--specifically adolescence--and for health outcomes in the future. Resiliency theory suggests that certain protective factors may interact with baseline risk to weaken or eliminate the association between risks and poor outcomes, providing enhanced protection for at-risk youth. This study aimed to determine if future expectations can moderate the association between high-risk adolescent behaviors and adult outcomes; specifically if high expectations can be a …

Understanding The Behaviors And Beliefs Of African-American/Black Fathers: A Qualitative Examination, Nicholas James Gomulinski

Wayne State University Theses

UNDERSTANDING THE BEHAVIORS AND BELIEFS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN/BLACK FATHERS: A QUALITATIVE EXAMINATION

by

NICHOLAS J. GOMULINSKI

May 2013

Advisor: Dr. Stella M. Resko

Major: Social Work

Degree: Master of Social Work

The positive influence father involvement has on children has been widely examined and embraced. Despite this, examination of men's beliefs on parenting and where they learn their parenting practices has only recently received attention. This study surveyed African-American/Black fathers in five focus groups (N=26) regarding where they felt they learned how to be a father, and what parenting behaviors they use or believe in. The responses from the participants were …

Landscape Characteristics Of Upland Sandpiper Habitat In Michigan, Jacob Lawrence Korte

Wayne State University Theses

Grassland bird populations have declined across North America due to habitat loss but at a disproportionately higher rate in the midwestern United States, where extensive coverage of grasslands and other open land ecosystems have been converted to other land cover types. The upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda Bechstein, UPSA) is a migratory, area-sensitive, terrestrial shorebird that breeds in grasslands and other open land ecosystem types across their North American range. Although breeding habitats of the Great Plains contain the greatest concentrations of this species, anthropogenic openings such as hayfields and pastures serve as surrogate habitat elsewhere, as do remnant patches …

Evaluation Of Effectiveness Of Classroom-Based Nutrition Intervention On Changes In Eating Behavior In African American Parents/Caregivers And Their Children., Nesrine Akil

Wayne State University Theses

Although obesity rate has increased steadily over the past 20 years in the US, a 2006 report showed that the obesity rate is expected to continue to rise, with 13.9% of children between the ages of 2 to 5 years are considered overweight. However, 26.2% were considered at risk of becoming overweight. The parents/caregivers are the key players for developing their children's healthy or unhealthy eating habits since they are the specific determinants of food selection, serving structured meals and being the role models to their children by eating the same food offered themselves. This reflects the parents' significant roles …

Protective Effects Of The Alcohol Dehydrogenase-Adh1b Allele, Neil Dodge

Wayne State University Theses

Alcohol dehydrogenase is a critical enzyme in the metabolism of alcohol. Expression of three alleles at the ADH1B locus results in enzymes that differ in turnover rate and affinity for alcohol. The ADH1B*3 allele, which appears to be unique to African Americans, is associated with more rapid alcohol metabolism than the more prevalent ADH1B*1 allele. It has been previously demonstrated that the presence of at least one maternal ADH1B*3 allele confers a protective effect against alcohol teratogenicity in African American infants and children. This study was conducted to determine whether the presence of the ADH1B*3 allele in the mother or …

Cumulative Risk, Parental Emotional Expressivity, And Parental Secure Base As Predictors Of Children's Social Competence, Caitlin Marie Mclear

Wayne State University Theses

There is substantial evidence in the literature focusing on the effects a child's social competence can have on future school success (Bulotsky-Shearer, Dominguez, Bell, Rouse, & Fantuzzo, 2010; Krishnakumar & Black, 2002; Foster, Lambert, Abbott-Shim, McCarty, & Franze, 2005). However, less research has been conducted specifically on the effects of exposure to risk on a child's social competence, and which factors may protect them from the negative effects of the presence of various risk factors. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the extent to which the accumulation of contextual risk factors influences social competence, and role that …

Investigating The Metal Binding Affinity Of Bacterial Zinc Transporters: Zupt And Truncated Znta (Znta-Pina), Fei Nie

Wayne State University Theses

Zinc is essential trace elements for all living organisms and serves as cofactor and structural cofactors for more than 300 enzymes. ZupT is one of the members of ZIP super family of transporter proteins, which were identified as iron and zinc transporter in Eukaryotes at first. However, recent evidence showed that some of members can also transport other metal ions, such as manganese or cadmium, and ZIP proteins also exist in bacteria. ZupT is responsible for zinc uptake in E. coli; however, its full metal selectivity is not yet characterized. In addition, the mechanism of transport is also unknown. Therefore, …

George P. Smith, Ii's Law And Bioethics - Intersections Along The Mortal Ciol, Michael Donald Kirby The Honourable

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

Florida Institute Of Technology Catalog 2014-2015, Florida Institute Of Technology

Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne and Jensen Beach Catalogs, 1967-2015

Academic catalog by Florida Institute of Technology for the 2014-2015 academic year.