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In Vivo Functions Of Inhibitory Immunoreceptors During Viral Infection, Aaron Rapaport

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

CD8+ T cells and NK cells are two effector cells of the mammalian immune system that rely on activating and inhibitory immunoreceptors to determine the outcome of an interaction with a target cell. An infected or transformed target cell can upregulate a variety of ligands that bind to activating receptors. Activating signals within an effector cell can then elicit responses that kill the target directly by lysing it or indirectly by secreting cytokines and chemokines that attract and activate other immune cells. In contrast, a healthy target cell can maintain expression of ligands for inhibitory receptors that restrain effector cell …

Dynamic Responses At The Barrier Epithelium, Katherine Beebe

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

A fundamental question in biology is how cellular systems sense and respond to their environment. The environment is a changing parameter, and cellular life has evolved a multitude of interesting and adaptive ways to sense and respond to external changes. The GI tract is a particularly interesting tissue in which to examine this question. One of few barrier epithelia, the intestine is exposed to both the unique environment of the lumen and the internal environment of the organism. Cells of the intestine simultaneously function as barrier, digestive organ, and sensory organ. Additionally, in many metazoan animals these functions occur in …

Micrornas In Als: Defining Cell-Type Specific Expression, Developing Methods To Modulate Micrornas In Vivo, And Identifying Novel Therapeutic Targets, Erica Danielle Koval

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an adult-onset, fatal neuromuscular disease with no adequate therapies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are dysregulated in a variety of disease states, suggesting that this newly discovered class of gene expression repressors may be viable therapeutic targets. A microarray of miRNA changes in ALS model SOD1G93A rodents identified 12 miRNAs as significantly changed. Six miRNAs tested in human ALS tissues were confirmed increased. Specifically, miR-155 was increased 5-fold in mice and 2-fold in human spinal cords. Generation of mice that express a GFP-tagged miRNA processing protein behind cell-type specific promoters allowed for the identification of miRNA expression patterns …

The Role Of Sleep In Memory Consolidation With An Induced Sleep-Like State In Drosophila And The Role Of Alpha-Synuclein In Fatty Acid Metabolism, Yasuko Suzuki

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The Role of Sleep in Memory Consolidation with an Induced Sleep-like State in Drosophila

Introduction: Sleep plays an important role in memory consolidation. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. The importance of sleep in the memory consolidation process has been demonstrated by sleep deprivation studies in which sleep loss corresponded to poor performance on memory tasks. A sleep induction approach, that allows us to study sleep-mediated changes in the presence of sleep, provides further understanding of sleep's role in the memory consolidation process.

Method: We first developed a pharmacological method to induce a sleep-like state and examined if the induced …

Mechanisms Regulating The Self-Renewal And Differentiation Of Nephron Progenitors, Shuang Chen

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Nephrons, the basic functional units of the kidney, are built from an embryonic progenitor population called the cap mesenchyme (CM). Although stem-like in many aspects, these progenitors exhaust before or shortly after birth when nephron numbers reach a species appropriate limit termed "nephron endowment" . The actual number of nephrons varies greatly between individuals, and low nephron numbers have been linked to hypertension and other renal diseases. However, the mechanisms that lead to the depletion of CM cells remain elusive.

We hypothesized that cell intrinsic changes of the CM actively regulate the lifespan of CM cells. To test this hypothesis, …

Murine Cytomegalovirus Encodes Proteins That Regulate Viral Late Transcription, Travis Chapa

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a Beta-herpesvirus that causes severe disease in immuno-compromised individuals (including AIDS patients), and is the leading viral cause of congenital birth defects. Murine Cytomegalovirus (MCMV) is the primary surrogate model for HCMV, and resembles the human virus with respect to virion structure, genome organization, gene expression, tissue tropism, and clinical manifestations. In my graduate studies, I discovered the function of two novel MCMV proteins during in vitro infection. I demonstrated that ORF M79 encoded protein pM79, and ORF M92 encoded protein pM92. Both pM79 and pM92 have homologs in HCMV, and I showed that they regulate …

Identification Of Functional Variants In Alzheimer's Disease-Associated Genes, Sheng Chih Jin

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia affecting the health of more than 5 million Americans in 2013. Understanding how genetic variants contribute to AD is important to develop effective therapeutics for delaying and eventually curing the disease. Recent sequencing studies have identified rare variants p.V232M in PLD3 and p.R47H in TREM2 significantly associated with AD risk. Additionally, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) uncovered common variants in ABCA7, BIN1, CD33, CD2AP, CLU, CR1, EPHA1, MS4A4A, and PICALM that contribute to AD; however, the most-significant variants in these loci are located within non-coding regions and have no direct functional …

Methods And Mechanisms Of Dna Methylation In Development And Disease, Maximiliaan Schillebeeckx

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

DNA methylation is a mechanism for long-term transcriptional regulation and is required for normal cellular differentiation. Failure to properly establish or maintain DNA methylation patterns leads to cell dysfunction and diseases such as cancer and neurological disorders. The goal of this thesis is to understand the role of DNA methylation in oncological cellular transformation and in normal development. To achieve this goal, I have developed a novel method for mapping genome-wide DNA methylation patterns and have applied the method to gonadectomy-induced adrenocortical neoplasms and to maturing motor neurons. The novel method, called Laser Capture Microdissected-Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (LCM-RRBS), accurately …

Host-Microbial Interactions That Modulate Luminal Iga, Clara Moon

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

IgA is the most abundant immunoglobulin produced in the body, most of which can be found at mucosal sites such as the intestine where it plays an important role at a critical intersection between the host immune system and the microbiota. In the work detailed here, I sought to investigate IgA delivery and stability using in vitro and in vivo methods. First, I developed a primary intestinal epithelial monolayer system, and utilized this system to evaluate factors that modulate IgA transcytosis. In vivo, I interrogated baseline levels of fecal IgA in WT mice and surprisingly observed a binary phenotype in …

Enst 595.01: Environmental Justice Issues And Solutions, Robin Saha

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 491.01: Special Topics - Nature And Native Americans, Rosalyn R. Lapier

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 489s.01: Environmental Justice Issues And Solutions (Serv), Robin Saha

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 391.01: Earth Ethics - Moral Dimensions Of Environmental Issues, Daniel T. Spencer

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Gphy 520.01: Seminar In Graphical Thought, Jeffrey Allman Gritzner

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Artz 321.01: Painting Ii - Contemporary Theme, James Bailey

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Artz 231a.03: Ceramics I, Tyler R. Nansen

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Artz 231a.02: Ceramics I, Julia M. Galloway

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Artz 106a.02: Visual Language - 2-D Foundations, Elizabeth J. Huhtala

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Artz 105a.06: Visual Language - Drawing, Crista Ann Ames

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Artz 105a.05: Visual Language - Drawing, Crista Ann Ames

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Mart 586.01: Screenwriting I, Andrew J. Smith

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Mart 445.01: Sound For Digital Media, Dale E. Sherrard

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Mart 416.01: Preproduction For Animation, Heejoo Gwen Kim

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Mart 305.01: 3d Animation I, Heejoo Gwen Kim

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Mart 111a.50: Integrated Digital Art, Talena D. Sanders

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Rethinking The Nevada Campus Protection Act: Future Challenges & Reaching A Legislative Compromise, Brian Vasek

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Two Figures In The Picture: How An Old Legal Practice Might Solve The Puzzle Of Lost Punitive Damages In Legal Malpractice, John M. Bickers

Northern Illinois University Law Review

When lawyers err, clients must pay the price. If a lawyer's action, or inaction, prevents a client from succeeding in a lawsuit, the lawyer must pay the amount necessary to make the client whole. But what does it mean to make the client whole? A puzzle appears when a finder of fact in a legal malpractice case determines that punitive damages in the original lawsuit were appropriate. Punitive damages are not meant to restore the client to her original position. By definition, they are meant to punish the original defendant for the egregiousness of his conduct. The plaintiff receives them …

Redirecting Disney Rants: The Real Angst Fueling The Negative Obsession With Disney Tales, Laura Randle

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

No abstract provided.

Forum, Volume 38, No. 3, Fall 2014, Florida Humanities Council, Barbara O'Reilley

FORUM: The Magazine of Florida Humanities

Contents: Letter from the Director -- Ready for an Adventure? -- Splashing and Laughing in the Springs, and Working Together to Save Them -- Enter Another World: Where Waters, Once Worshipped, are Now Threatened -- Bowls of Liquid Light: Map of Florida Springs -- Where Early People Sought Sustenance -- Can Wakulla Recapture its Luster? -- Remembering a Once-Magical Place -- Springs were Mecca for Tourists, and Movie-Makers -- Humanities Alive! -- Flying Underwater -- Painting the Fluid -- Celebrating the Legacy of Florida's Highwaymen -- What did Teachers Do on their Summer Vacation? -- My Favorite Florida Place: Finding …

Bioe 594.01b: Seminar - Soil Ecology - Opening The Black Box, Ylva Lekberg

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.