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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
A Noncanonical Function Of The Telomerase Rna Component In Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Kirsten Ann Brenner
A Noncanonical Function Of The Telomerase Rna Component In Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Kirsten Ann Brenner
Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Telomeres are stretches of TTAGGG nucleotide repeats located at the ends of linear chromosomes that shorten with progressive cell division and prevent genomic instability at the cost of limiting a cell’s capacity to proliferate. This limitation can be overcome by telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein complex that elongates telomeres via reverse-transcription of the template telomerase RNA component (TERC). Recent studies have reported potential functions of TERC outside of its role in telomere maintenance. These noncanonical functions of TERC are however poorly defined, and the molecular mechanisms and biological relevance behind such functions remain elusive. Here, we generated conditional TERC knock-out human embryonic …
The Resolution Phase Of Nk Cell Proliferation And Ifn Production Following Viral Infection Are Highly Regulated Processes., Leslie Abigail Fogel
The Resolution Phase Of Nk Cell Proliferation And Ifn Production Following Viral Infection Are Highly Regulated Processes., Leslie Abigail Fogel
Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations
In response to MCMV infection, NK cells undergo three distinct phases of proliferation: the non-specific phase mediated by pro-proliferative cytokines; the specific phase mediated by recognition of an MCMV-encoded protein by an NK cell activating receptor, Ly49H; and the resolution phase, whose mechanism is unknown. MCMV infection of RAG mice, which lack all adaptive immune cells, results in prolonged proliferation of NK cells despite similar viral titers compared to wildtype mice. Interestingly, there are different kinetics for Ly49H+ and Ly49H- NK cells. We have identified several additional markers that may distinguish NK cells that have been specifically activated through their …