Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering Commons^™

De Novo Protein Binding To Zinc Oxide Through Biomineralization Pathways, Jean-Mark A. Francis

Theses and Dissertations

De novo proteins are structurally distinct from proteins found in nature and thus capable of having their amino acid sequence modified to accomplish tasks such as increasing protein-nanoparticle binding without unfolding or decomposing. Zinc Oxide nanoparticles are functionally distinct from their bulk counterparts and are widely used as semiconductors in a variety of fields such as medicine and agriculture. With demand for these nanoparticles increasing, environmentally sustainable methods of Zinc Oxide nanoparticle synthesis are being investigated as an eco-friendly alternative to currently utilized but environmentally hazardous chemical and physical techniques. This research investigates the binding characteristics between Zinc Oxide nanoparticles …

Higher Tensile Forces Across Cellular Junctions And An Intact Nuclear Linc Complex Is Required For Epithelial Function And Stability, Fnu Vani Narayanan

Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances in three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems have provided key insights into the understanding of biochemical and physiological states of native tissue. A significant progress in the field of mechanobiology involves measuring cellular traction forces in a more native 3D environment. However, the effects of mechanical forces exerted across cellular junctions and the nuclear LINC complex, in an organized 3D system has not been investigated thus far. Epithelial cells spontaneously form acini (also known as cysts or spheroids) with a single, fluid-filled central lumen, when grown in 3D matrices. The size of the lumen is dependent on apical secretion …

Reaction Profiling Of Extracellular Protein Phosphorylation Through A Microfluidic Reactor Coupled With Raman Spectroscopy, Abigail Casey

Theses and Dissertations

Diseases and disorders in the human body are considered abnormalities of proper cellular function. Understanding the signal transduction mechanisms that cause these abnormalities is crucial to developing earlier detection methods, better treatment options and effective cures. While current diagnostic procedures are powerful tools in diagnosing diseases, they are ineffective in informing physicians on the real-time behavior of the signal transduction mechanisms associated with diseases and disorders. Currently, disease progression is monitored over time through routine patient visits and testing by one or more of the above techniques. By developing an approach that can monitor structural and conformational changes of proteins …

Elucidating The Action Of A Regulatory Lipid Ligand Via Molecular Simulation: Cholesterol Swarms And The Inwardly Rectifying Potassium Channel, Belinda Akpa, Nicolas Barbera, Irena Levitan

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Modeling Pharmaceutical Inhibition Of Glucose-Stimulated Renin-Angiotensin System In Kidneys, Ashlee N. Ford Versypt, Minu R. Pilvankar, Hui Ling Yong

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Metabolic Engineering Of Serratia Marcescens, Qiang Yan

Theses and Dissertations

The potential value of the chitin biomass (e.g. food waste) is recently considered being ignored by landfill. Chitin can be a potential cheap carbon source for converting into value-added chemicals by microorganisms. Serratia marcescens is a chitinolytic bacterium that harbors endogenous chitinase systems. With goals of characterzing S. marcescens chitinolytic capabilities and applying S. marcescens to chemical production from chitin, my dissertation main content includes five chapters: 1) Chapter 1 highlights background information of chitin source, S. marcescens and potential metabolic engineering targets using chitin as a substrate; 2) Chapter 2 demonstrates that ChiR is a key regulator in regulating …

Computational All Atom Energy Density Landscape Mappings Of Intra-Protein Interactions From Static And Dynamic Ensemble Structure Data, Oscar H. Bastidas

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the energetic and dynamic behavior of natural protein fluctuations is critical to elucidating important information associated with a multitude of protein functions including signaling processes, enzyme behavior, aggregation pathways etc... This information is also critically important in the development of novel and effective strategies aimed at target proteins associated with pathologies and disease. In order to obtain such useful information, tools and techniques are lacking that: 1) permit the efficient quantitative analysis of fluctuation behavior of existing protein structure ensembles and 2) permit computationally generated natural fluctuation states of proteins at relatively large timescales demanded by the need for …

Fabrication Of Flexible, Biofunctional Architectures From Silk Proteins, Ramendra K. Pal

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in the biomedical field require functional materials and processes that can lead to devices that are biocompatible, and biodegradable while maintaining high performance and mechanical conformability. In this context, a current shift in focus is towards natural polymers as not only the structural but also functional components of such devices. This poses material-specific functionalization and fabrication related questions in the design and fabrication of such systems. Silk protein biopolymers from the silkworm show tremendous promise in this regard due to intrinsic properties: mechanical performance, optical transparency, biocompatibility, biodegradability, processability, and the ability to entrap and stabilize biomolecules. The unique …

Photoelectrochemical Cell Constructed From Bby Membrane With Various Substrate Materials, Yang Liu

Theses and Dissertations

Photoelectrochemical cells have been intensively studied in recent years with regard to using thylakoid and photosynthesis system I/II. BBY membrane is another protein complex that has potential to be utilized to build photoelectrochemical cells. Within the BBY membrane lies the highly active photosynthesis system II complex, which upon light activation, generates electrons transported within the electron transport chain during photosynthesis in green plants. This study presents an approach of immobilizing thylakoid or BBY membrane onto gold nanoparticle modified gold plate or multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) modified indium tin oxide vi (ITO) coated glass substrate. The results show that BBY membrane …

Creation Of An Annotated Library On Fda Approved Nanomedicines, Marley R. Hodson, Tanin Izadi, Nastassja Lewinski Ph.D, Bridget T. Mcinnes Ph.D

Undergraduate Research Posters

Nanomedicine is a type of nanotechnology used in the medical field to limit the dosage amount and target drug delivery to specific cells. Nanomedicines that are approved and used tend to be extremely successful; however despite over a decade of research, only a limited number of nanomedicines have advanced for clinical use. A possible reason for the numerous nanomedicine failures is lack of easily accessible information and research on previous nanomedicines. In this project, we have compiled nanomedicine labeling information from the Drugs@FDA website. We have extracted phrases/sentences from labels relating to keywords on nanomaterial properties and drug profile characteristics. …

Integrated Nanoscale Imaging And Spatial Recognition Of Biomolecules On Surfaces, Congzhou Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Biomolecules on cell surfaces play critical roles in diverse biological and physiological processes. However, conventional bulk scale techniques are unable to clarify the density and distribution of specific biomolecules in situ on single, living cell surfaces at the micro or nanoscale. In this work, a single cell analysis technique based on Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is developed to spatially identify biomolecules and characterize nanomechanical properties on single cell surfaces. The unique advantage of these AFM-based techniques lies in the ability to operate in situ (in a non-destructive fashion) and in real time, under physiological conditions or controlled micro-environments.

First, AFM-based …

Polysaccharide-Based Shear Thinning Hydrogels For Three-Dimensional Cell Culture, Vasudha Surampudi

Theses and Dissertations

The recreation of the complicated tissue microenvironment is essential to reduce the gap between in vitro and in vivo research. Polysaccharide-based hydrogels form excellent scaffolds to allow for three-dimensional cell culture owing to the favorable properties such as capability to absorb large amount of water when immersed in biological fluids, ability to form “smart hydrogels” by being shear-thinning and thixotropic, and eliciting minimum immunological response from the host. In this study, the biodegradable shear-thinning polysaccharide, gellan-gum based hydrogel was investigated for the conditions and concentrations in which it can be applied for the adhesion, propagation and assembly of different mammalian …