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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Effects Of Mercury Exposure On The Cytochrome C Oxidase 1 Gene Of Larval Dragonflies, Megan C. Little
The Effects Of Mercury Exposure On The Cytochrome C Oxidase 1 Gene Of Larval Dragonflies, Megan C. Little
Honors College
Mercury is an environmental pollutant; its most toxic form is methylmercury. Once mercury is converted to methylmercury in a body of water it is able to bioaccumulate in organisms and biomagnify up the food chain. Mercury is able to cause DNA damage through the generation of free radicals and binding to sulfhydryl groups of cysteines in zinc finger DNA binding domains, inhibiting DNA repair machinery. In this study the potential mutagenic effects of mercury were investigated on larval dragonflies (Odonta: Anisoptera) collected from national parks across the United States. Since mercury is a known mutagen it was hypothesized that the …
Investigating The Mechanism Of Jc Polyomavirus Endocytosis, Conner Robert Lajoie
Investigating The Mechanism Of Jc Polyomavirus Endocytosis, Conner Robert Lajoie
Honors College
The majority of the human population is infected with JC polyomavirus (JCPyV), which establishes an asymptomatic infection in the kidney of healthy individuals. In immunosuppressed individuals, the virus spreads to the brain and attacks glial cells, causing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a fatal demyelinating disease. With limited treatments available, an improved understanding of the virus-host cell interactions during JCPyV infection is crucial for developing effective PML therapies. JCPyV internalization into host cells requires the serotonin 5- hydroxytryptamine type 2 (5-HT2) receptors. The mechanism by which the 5-HT2Rs mediate viral entry has not yet been characterized, yet it is thought to …