Life Sciences Commons^™

Cell Division Regulation In Staphylococcus Aureus, Catherine M. Spanoudis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cell division is a fundamental biological process that occurs in all kingdoms of life. Our understanding of cell division in bacteria stems from studies in the rod-shaped model organisms: Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis. The molecular underpinnings of cell division regulation in non-rod-shaped bacteria remain to be studied in detail. Rod-shaped bacteria possess many positive and negative regulatory proteins that are essential to the proper placement of the division septa and ultimately the production of two identical daughter cells, many of which are absent in cocci. Given that essential cell division proteins are attractive antibacterial drug targets, it …

Mass Spectrometry-Based Structural Proteomics: Methodology And Application Of Fast Photochemical Oxidation Of Proteins (Fpop), Ben Niu

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation will be solely focused on using mass spectrometry to characterize protein high order structures (HOS), it emphasizes the use of hydroxyl radical footprinting (FPOP) coupled to bottom-up MS approach. A detailed background information about FPOP, and the corresponding method developments as well as applications will be covered.

The first chapter will be a comprehensive review regarding the FPOP. Following this, chapter 2, 3, and 4 will be focused on the method developments. Chapter 2 describes an isotope dilution GC-MS method to quantitate OH radicals in FPOP; chapter 3 describes the incorporation of Leu-enkephalin as reporter peptide for a …

Characterizing Reactive Glutamines In Fibrinogen And Elucidating Factor Xiii Substrate Specificity., Kelly Njine Mouapi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fibrinogen is the most abundant protein involved in blood coagulation and has been associated with many pathological implications in cardiovascular disease. At the final stages of blood clot formation, the transglutaminase Factor XIIIa introduces γ-glutamyl-ε-lysinyl covalent bonds between reactive glutamines and lysines in fibrin, which results in a tighter clot network that is resistant to fibrinolysis. Factor XIIIa crosslinks specific reactive glutamines on fibrinogen, selecting more reactive glutamines in the αC region of fibrinogen than any other chain. Although crosslinking pairs in the αC region have been identified, little is known about the extent of crosslinking and the role played …

Globular Domain Structure And Function Of Restriction-Like-Endonuclease Bearing Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements, Mst Murshida Mahbub

Biology Dissertations

Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements (LINEs) are a major group of eukaryotic transposable elements that have profoundly influenced and sculpted eukaryotic genome structure and function. LINEs replicate within the host genome, often to high copy number. Replication occurs through an RNA intermediate, which is integrated back into the host genome by target primed reverse transcription (TPRT). The element encoded protein is known to contain a restriction-like DNA endonuclease, a reverse transcriptase, and nucleic acid binding domains. However, the secondary and tertiary structure of these domains as well as the overall protein is poorly understood. The protein encoded by the R2 element …

Mapping Analyte-Signal Relations In Lc-Ms Based Untargeted Metabolomics, Nathaniel Guy Mahieu

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of untargeted metabolomics is to profile metabolism by measuring as many metabolites as possible. A major advantage of the untargeted approach is the detection of unexpected or unknown metabolites. These metabolites have chemical structures, metabolic pathways, or cellular functions that have not been previously described. Hence, they represent exciting opportunities to advance our understanding of biology. This beneficial approach, however, also adds considerable complexity to the analysis of metabolomics data - an individual signal cannot be readily identified as a unique metabolite. As such, a major challenge faced by the untargeted metabolomic workflow is extracting the analyte content …

Quantitative Proteomic Characterization Of Cx-4945, A Clinical Stage Inhibitor Of Protein Kinase Ck2, Adam J. Rabalski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Protein phosphorylation is controlled by protein kinases, and represents a critical signaling mechanism involved in the regulation of fundamental biological processes. Furthermore, the aberrant regulation of kinase activity is implicated in diseases such as cancer and has resulted in efforts to target kinases therapeutically. Protein kinase CK2, although frequently considered constitutively active, has emerged as a clinical target on the basis of its altered expression in different types of human cancers and its regulatory participation in multiple biological processes. In fact, CX-4945, a small molecule ATP-competitive inhibitor of CK2 has advanced to clinical trial and has been widely used to …

Mycobacterium Species Identification In An Acute Hospital: Towards Rapid Identification, And Improved Epidemiology, Using Novel Mass Spectrometry Analysis, James Anthony O'Connor

Theses

Mycobacteria are a heterogeneous group of bacteria that cause a wide spectrum of disease, including Tuberculosis (TB), the single biggest killer worldwide. The genus also incorporates over 170 nontuberculosis (NTM) species, many of which are opportunistic pathogens. The aim of this project was to ascertain the burden of mycobacterial disease in the region and to determine the efficacy of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-tof) mass spectrometry (MS) for novel uses as a rapid identification method for clinical mycobacteria and as a typing tool for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates. A five-year retrospective epidemiological study of the region was conducted, the first …

Mass Spectrometric Analysis And Machine Learning Enable Microorganism Classification Based On Rna Posttranscriptional Modifications, Colin Christopher Aldrich

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

RNA post-transcriptional modifications (PTMs) are dynamic features that can be up- or down-regulated by the health and metabolic state of a cell. These covalent modifications are installed and removed on RNA nucleosides by enzymes controlled by the activation and deactivation of specific genes. The goal of this research was to demonstrate that RNA PTMs can serve as a unique feature for the classification/identification of microorganisms. We utilized a scheme based on electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) to obtain global PTM profiles from total RNA extracted from various microorganisms in optimal growth conditions as well as Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium) spiked …

Further Development Of Raman Spectroscopy For Body Fluid Investigation : Forensic Identification, Limit Of Detection, And Donor Characterization, Claire K. Muro

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The challenges to forensic body fluid analysis have placed limitations on the type of information that investigators can acquire and how that information can be collected. In recent years, Raman spectroscopy has proven itself useful for characterizing body fluids. In 2008, a large-scale investigation was undertaken to explore the use of Raman spectroscopy as a means of identifying body fluids. This work resulted in multidimensional Raman spectroscopic signatures for the five main body fluids: semen, peripheral blood, saliva, vaginal fluid, and sweat. These studies were incredibly successful and created the foundation for years of continued research. Accordingly, the studies included …