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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Mutant Drought Phenotype Investigation : A Look Into Effects Of Protein Prenylation On Water Utilization In Conditions Of Varying Soil Saturation And Gene Knockout., Casey Rasmussen Dec 2013

Mutant Drought Phenotype Investigation : A Look Into Effects Of Protein Prenylation On Water Utilization In Conditions Of Varying Soil Saturation And Gene Knockout., Casey Rasmussen

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Plants respond to environmental stress, such as drought, with increases in levels of Abscisic Acid (ABA). This stress response allows greater survival rates but results in the plants producing lower seed yield and biomass. Certain mutant strains of the Arabidopsis plant have been identified with mutations in coding regions involved in the formation of the α and β subunits of PFT and PGGT-I genes involved in protein prenylation. We explored the possibility of these mutant strains to better preserve seed yield and plant biomass under drought stressing conditions in comparison to the wild type (Columbia) strain, based on the mutants’ …


Sinusoidal Endothelial Cell-Derived Extracellular Matrix Regulates Basal And Stimulated Macrophage Activation., Lauren G. Poole May 2013

Sinusoidal Endothelial Cell-Derived Extracellular Matrix Regulates Basal And Stimulated Macrophage Activation., Lauren G. Poole

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Fatty liver disease, be it from alcohol (ALD), obesity (NAFLD) or other sources (e.g. viral infection), share similar mechanisms of disease progression. One potential mechanism is that altered sinusoidal endothelial cell (SEC) extracellular matrix (ECM) favors a more inflammatory phenotype in resident macrophages (i.e., Kupffer cells). Here, the hypothesis was tested that SEC-derived matrices directly affect the inflammatory response of macrophages. Methods. Transformed sinusoidal endothelial cells (TSECs) were cultured for 24 or 72 hours. Culture plates were then washed with a solution that selectively removed the cells, but preserved the ECM. Cultured macrophages (RAW 264.7 cells) were then seeded on …


Targeting The Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome To Induce Mitotic Arrest In Ovarian Cancer., Douglas John Saforo May 2013

Targeting The Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome To Induce Mitotic Arrest In Ovarian Cancer., Douglas John Saforo

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Taxanes are a class of chemotherapeutic drug that act to disrupt microtubule function and cause mitotic arrest and cell death. These drugs are commonly used for cancer treatment, however their effectiveness is dependent on the presence of a functioning spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC). As a result, it is possible for cancer cells to become resistant to microtubule disrupting drugs by inactivating the SAC. The anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that acts as the master regulator of cell cycle progression. Inhibition of the APC/C should result in disruption of the cell cycle, resulting in arrest during mitosis …