Life Sciences Commons^™

Sequencing And Assembling The Nuclear Genome Of The Antarctic Psychrophilic Green Alga Chlamydomonas Sp. Uwo241: Unravelling The Evolution Of Cold Adaptation, Xi Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

DNA sequencing technologies have undergone tremendous advancements in recent years, but assembling, annotating, and analyzing a nuclear genome is still a huge undertaking, especially for small laboratory groups, partly because many eukaryotic genomes are repeat-rich and contain thousands of genes and introns. The Antarctic harbors a variety of algae that can withstand extreme cold but do not grow at warmer temperatures (psychrophiles), including the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas sp. UWO241 (a.k.a. UWO241). Little is known, however, about how psychrophilic algae evolved from their respective mesophilic ancestors by adapting to particular cold environments. To present insights into this issue,I critically determined …

Non-Invasive Quantification Of Cerebral Oxygen Metabolism By Hybrid Positron Emission Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Lucas Diovani Lopes Narciso

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Although positron emission tomography (PET) remains the gold standard for quantifying cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO₂), the procedures are invasive and complex, requiring arterial sampling and accounting for blood-borne activity. Non-invasive methods generally require extracting an image-derived input function (IDIF) from the carotid arteries; however, these methods are sensitive to partial volume errors due to the poor spatial resolution of PET. Hybrid PET/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers an alternative non-invasive approach by using MRI to calibrate PET data. PET/MR imaging of oxidative metabolism (PMROx) is a reference-based approach that uses whole-brain (WB) …

The Role Of Gsk3 Alpha And Beta In Embryonic Craniofacial Development, Harman Jassar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: The GSK-3 genes (Gsk3a and Gsk3b) have been known to affect many cellular processes and signaling pathways some of which are implicated in the growth and development of the craniofacial skeleton.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of chondrocyte-specific deletion of Gsk3a and Gsk3b on the size of the mandible and craniofacial skeleton in embryonic mice.

Materials & Methods: Mice were bred to generate cartilage-specific Gsk3a and Gsk3b KO mice. On embryonic day 18.5 (E18.5) the offspring were gathered by caesarian section. Whole mount skeletal staining was completed on the specimens using …

Implications And Applications Of Transfer Rna Variants That Mistranslate The Genetic Code, Matthew D. Berg

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Genetic information is passed from DNA to RNA to protein through the processes of transcription and translation. Transfer RNAs (tRNA) are the adaptors that bring amino acids to the growing polypeptide chain during translation and decode the three base codons that define protein sequence. Mistranslation occurs when an amino acid different from what is specified by the genetic code is inserted into a protein. tRNA variants cause mistranslation by decreasing the accuracy of amino acid charging or by altering decoding at the ribosome. My goal was to characterize mistranslating tRNA variants, identify their effects on cells and determine mechanisms used …

Meningeal B Cells In Central Nervous System Autoimmunity: Their Phenotype And Susceptibility To Therapeutic Depletion, Yodit Tesfagiorgis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

B cell depleting therapies have been effective in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), yet to date little is known about how B cells promote disease pathogenesis. B cells can be found invading the meninges around the brain and spinal cord in MS, where they cluster in association with T cells. These meningeal B cells clusters are often adjacent to demyelinating lesions suggesting this may be a site where B cells are exerting their pathogenic effects. The purpose of this thesis was to understand the contribution of meningeal B cells to central nervous system (CNS) autoimmunity, by characterizing their phenotype …