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2016

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Articles 91 - 120 of 10231

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Ric-8a, A G Protein Chaperone With Nucleotide Exchange Activity Induces Long-Range Secondary Structure Changes In Gα, Ravi Kant, Baisen Zeng, Celestine J. Thomas, Brian Bothner, Stephen R. Sprang Dec 2016

Ric-8a, A G Protein Chaperone With Nucleotide Exchange Activity Induces Long-Range Secondary Structure Changes In Gα, Ravi Kant, Baisen Zeng, Celestine J. Thomas, Brian Bothner, Stephen R. Sprang

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Cytosolic Ric-8A has guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) activity and is a chaperone for several classes of heterotrimeric G protein α subunits in vertebrates. Using Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange-Mass Spectrometry (HDX-MS) we show that Ric-8A disrupts the secondary structure of the Gα Ras-like domain that girds the guanine nucleotide-binding site, and destabilizes the interface between the Gαi1 Ras and helical domains, allowing domain separation and nucleotide release. These changes are largely reversed upon binding GTP and dissociation of Ric-8A. HDX-MS identifies a potential Gα interaction site in Ric-8A. Alanine scanning reveals residues crucial for GEF activity within that sequence. HDX confirms that, …

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Microbial Phytases And Phytate: Exploring Opportunities For Sustainable Phosphorus Management In Agriculture, Nelly P. Balaban, Aliya D. Suleimanova, Lia R. Valeeva, Inna B. Chastukhina, Natalia L. Rudakova, Margarita R. Sharipova, Eugene V. Shakirov Dec 2016

Microbial Phytases And Phytate: Exploring Opportunities For Sustainable Phosphorus Management In Agriculture, Nelly P. Balaban, Aliya D. Suleimanova, Lia R. Valeeva, Inna B. Chastukhina, Natalia L. Rudakova, Margarita R. Sharipova, Eugene V. Shakirov

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Myo-inositol phosphates (phytates) are important biological molecules produced largely by plants to store phosphorus. Phytate is very abundant in many different soils making up a large portion of all soil phosphorus. This review assesses current phytase science from the perspective of its substrate, phytate, by examining the intricate relationship between the phytate-hydrolyzing enzymes and phytate as their substrate. Specifically, we examine available data on phytate’s structural features, distribution in nature and functional roles. The role of phytases and their localization in soil and plant tissues are evaluated. We provide a summary of the current biotechnological advances in using industrial …

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Effects Of Transportation Hazards On High Barrier Flexible Packaging Films, Kyle Dunno Dec 2016

Effects Of Transportation Hazards On High Barrier Flexible Packaging Films, Kyle Dunno

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Two flexible food packaging barrier material film structures were employed for this research study to evaluate the effects of over-the-road truck transport. The films containing different barrier materials, ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) or aluminum oxide (AlOx), were selected based on their abundant use within the flexible food packaging arena. Pouches were formed and filled with tomato paste before being thermally processed then palletized for shipment. Pouches were shipped over-the-road via truck transport a distance of 2,500 miles. After transport, the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of the pouches located on the bottom and top layers of the palletized loads were obtained and …

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High Tunnel Tomato Variety Report Uri 2016, Andy Mark Radin Dec 2016

High Tunnel Tomato Variety Report Uri 2016, Andy Mark Radin

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

No abstract provided.

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Pumpkin Variety Trial Uri 2016, Rebecca Brown Dec 2016

Pumpkin Variety Trial Uri 2016, Rebecca Brown

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

No abstract provided.

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Butternut Squash Variety Trial Uri 2016, Rebecca Brown Dec 2016

Butternut Squash Variety Trial Uri 2016, Rebecca Brown

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

No abstract provided.

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Rit1 Gtpase Regulates Sox2 Transcriptional Activity And Hippocampal Neurogenesis, Sajad Mir, Weikang Cai, Douglas A. Andres Dec 2016

Rit1 Gtpase Regulates Sox2 Transcriptional Activity And Hippocampal Neurogenesis, Sajad Mir, Weikang Cai, Douglas A. Andres

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Adult neurogenesis, the process of generating mature neurons from neuronal progenitor cells, makes critical contributions to neural circuitry and brain function in both healthy and disease states. Neurogenesis is a highly regulated process in which diverse environmental and physiological stimuli are relayed to resident neural stem cell populations to control the transcription of genes involved in self-renewal and differentiation. Understanding the molecular mechanisms governing neurogenesis is necessary for the development of translational strategies to harness this process for neuronal repair. Here we report that the Ras-related GTPase RIT1 serves to control the sequential proliferation and differentiation of adult hippocampal neural …

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Molecular Typing And Virulence Analysis Of Multidrug Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae Clinical Isolates Recovered From Egyptian Hospitals, Reham Wasfi, Walid F. Elkhatib, Hossam M. Ashour Dec 2016

Molecular Typing And Virulence Analysis Of Multidrug Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae Clinical Isolates Recovered From Egyptian Hospitals, Reham Wasfi, Walid F. Elkhatib, Hossam M. Ashour

Molecular Biosciences Faculty Publications

Klebsiella pneumonia infection rates have increased dramatically. Molecular typing and virulence analysis are powerful tools that can shed light on Klebsiella pneumonia infections. Whereas 77.7% (28/36) of clinical isolates indicated multidrug resistant (MDR) patterns, 50% (18/36) indicated carpabenem resistance. Gene prevalence for the AcrAB efflux pump (82.14%) was more than that of the mdtK efflux pump (32.14%) in the MDR isolates. FimH-1 and mrkD genes were prevalent in wound and blood isolates. FimH-1 gene was prevalent in sputum while mrkD gene was prevalent in urine. Serum resistance associated with outer membrane protein coding gene (traT) was found in all blood …

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Bioremoval Of Phenol From Aqueous Solutions Using Native Caribbean Seaweed, Abel E. Navarro, Anibal Hernandez-Vega, Md Emran Masud, Loretta M. Roberson, Liz M. Diaz-Vázquez Dec 2016

Bioremoval Of Phenol From Aqueous Solutions Using Native Caribbean Seaweed, Abel E. Navarro, Anibal Hernandez-Vega, Md Emran Masud, Loretta M. Roberson, Liz M. Diaz-Vázquez

Publications and Research

Among several Puerto Rican algae, Sargassum sp. (SG) and Chaetomorpha (CM) showed the highest phenol adsorption capacity from aqueous solutions and were used in optimized adsorption batch experiments at room temperature. The effects of pH, adsorbent dose, phenol concentration, salinity and presence of interfering substances were evaluated. Initial solution pH exhibited a strong effect, mainly on the phenol aqueous chemistry; showing the maximum adsorption at pH 10. Sorption isotherm results were modelled according to the Langmuir, Tempkin and Freundlich equations. Isotherm modelling indicated a maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) of 82.10 and 17.7 mg of phenol per gram of SG and …

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Adaptive Variation And Introgression Of A Constans-Like Gene In North American Red Oaks, Jennifer F. Lind-Riehl, Oliver Gailing Dec 2016

Adaptive Variation And Introgression Of A Constans-Like Gene In North American Red Oaks, Jennifer F. Lind-Riehl, Oliver Gailing

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Oaks provide a model system to study maintenance of species identity by divergent selection since they maintain morphological differences and ecological adaptations despite interspecific hybridization. The genome of closely related interfertile oak species was shown to be largely homogeneous, with a few genomic areas exhibiting high interspecific differentiation possibly as result of strong divergent selection. Previously, a genic microsatellite was identified as under strong divergent selection, being nearly fixed on alternative alleles in the two interfertile North American red oak species: Quercus rubra L. and Quercus ellipsoidalis E.J. Hill. Further genotyping in two other red oak species—Quercus velutina Lam. and …

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A Machine Learning Approach For Using The Postmortem Skin Microbiome To Estimate The Postmortem Interval, Hunter R. Johnson, Donovan D. Trinidad, Stephania Guzman, Zenab Khan, James V. Parziale, Jennifer M. Debruyn, Nathan H. Lents Dec 2016

A Machine Learning Approach For Using The Postmortem Skin Microbiome To Estimate The Postmortem Interval, Hunter R. Johnson, Donovan D. Trinidad, Stephania Guzman, Zenab Khan, James V. Parziale, Jennifer M. Debruyn, Nathan H. Lents

Publications and Research

Research on the human microbiome, the microbiota that live in, on, and around the human person, has revolutionized our understanding of the complex interactions between microbial life and human health and disease. The microbiome may also provide a valuable tool in forensic death investigations by helping to reveal the postmortem interval (PMI) of a decedent that is discovered after an unknown amount of time since death. Current methods of estimating PMI for cadavers discovered in uncontrolled, unstudied environments have substantial limitations, some of which may be overcome through the use of microbial indicators. In this project, we sampled the microbiomes …

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The Chemistry Of The Flint Water Crisis, Ernest M. Oleksy Dec 2016

The Chemistry Of The Flint Water Crisis, Ernest M. Oleksy

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Politics and science do not always go hand-in-hand. Nowhere was this more clear than in the Flint Water Crisis. Negligence towards growing levels of lead poisoning in drinking water led to incredibly deleterious effects on Flint's citizens. The chemistry of equilibrium and the shortcomings of local leaders led to Flint's water becoming a crisis.

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Factors Influencing Swallow Bug (O. Vicarius) Populations Within Cliff Swallows Nests, Paul Mcphail Dec 2016

Factors Influencing Swallow Bug (O. Vicarius) Populations Within Cliff Swallows Nests, Paul Mcphail

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Hematophagous ectoparasites such as swallow bugs (Oeciacus vicarius) have been shown to have a profound negative impact on infested bird chicks, and one study shows that O. vicarius populations are positively correlated with large colonies. In this study, we investigated the abundance of O. vicarius and other arthropods within Cliff Swallow nests, and performed statistical analysis of the results to find any variables that correlated with O. vicarius population size. We expected the number of O. vicarius would be positively influenced by urban surroundings and large Cliff Swallow colony size, and that samples collected in the fall would be larger …

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Can Functional Traits Predict Plant Community Response To Global Change?, Sarah Kimball, Jennifer L. Funk, Marko J. Spasojevic, Katharine N. Suding, Scot Parker, Michael K. Goulden Dec 2016

Can Functional Traits Predict Plant Community Response To Global Change?, Sarah Kimball, Jennifer L. Funk, Marko J. Spasojevic, Katharine N. Suding, Scot Parker, Michael K. Goulden

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

One primary goal at the intersection of community ecology and global change biology is to identify functional traits that are useful for predicting plant community response to global change. We used observations of community composition from a long-term field experiment in two adjacent plant communities (grassland and coastal sage shrub) to investigate how nine key plant functional traits were related to altered water and nitrogen availability following fire. We asked whether the functional responses of species found in more than one community type were context dependent and whether community-weighted mean and functional diversity were significantly altered by water and nitrogen …

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Vamorolone, A Dissociative Steroidal Compound, Reduces Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Expression In Glioma Cells And Increases Activity And Survival In A Murine Model Of Cortical Tumor., Elizabeth Wells, Madhuri Kambhampati, Jesse M Damsker, Heather Gordish-Dressman, Sridevi Yadavilli, Oren J Becher, Jamila Gittens, Mojca Stampar, Roger J. Packer, Javad Nazarian Dec 2016

Vamorolone, A Dissociative Steroidal Compound, Reduces Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Expression In Glioma Cells And Increases Activity And Survival In A Murine Model Of Cortical Tumor., Elizabeth Wells, Madhuri Kambhampati, Jesse M Damsker, Heather Gordish-Dressman, Sridevi Yadavilli, Oren J Becher, Jamila Gittens, Mojca Stampar, Roger J. Packer, Javad Nazarian

Genomics and Precision Medicine Faculty Publications

Corticosteroids, such as dexamethasone, are routinely used as palliative care in neuro-oncology for their anti-inflammatory benefits, however many patients experience dose limiting side effects caused by glucocorticoid response element (GRE)-mediated transcription. The purpose of this study was to use a murine model to investigate a new steroid alternative, vamorolone, which promises to reduce side effects through dissociating GRE-mediated transcription and NF-κB -mediated anti-inflammatory actions. To compare vamorolone to dexamethasone in reducing pro-inflammatory signals in vitro, murine glioma cells were treated with dexamethasone, vamorolone or vehicle control. Changes in mRNA expression were assessed using the nanostring inflammatory platform. Furthermore, drug …

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Comparative Genomic Analysis Of Two Serotype 1/2b Listeria Monocytogenes Isolates From Analogous Environmental Niches Demonstrates The Influence Of Hypervariable Hotspots In Defining Pathogenesis, Aidan Casey, Kieran Jordan, Aidan Coffey, Edward M. Fox, Olivia Mcauliffe Dec 2016

Comparative Genomic Analysis Of Two Serotype 1/2b Listeria Monocytogenes Isolates From Analogous Environmental Niches Demonstrates The Influence Of Hypervariable Hotspots In Defining Pathogenesis, Aidan Casey, Kieran Jordan, Aidan Coffey, Edward M. Fox, Olivia Mcauliffe

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The vast majority of clinical human listeriosis cases are caused by serotype 1/2a, 1/2b, 1/2c, and 4b isolates of Listeria monocytogenes. The ability of L. monocytogenes to establish a systemic listeriosis infection within a host organism relies on a combination of genes that are involved in cell recognition, internalization, evasion of host defenses, and in vitro survival and growth. Recently, whole genome sequencing and comparative genomic analysis have proven to be powerful tools for the identification of these virulence-associated genes in L. monocytogenes. In this study, two serotype 1/2b strains of L. monocytogenes with analogous isolation sources, but …

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Integrated Strategy Improves The Prediction Accuracy Of Mirna In Large Dataset., Bin Xue, David Lipps, Sree Devineni Dec 2016

Integrated Strategy Improves The Prediction Accuracy Of Mirna In Large Dataset., Bin Xue, David Lipps, Sree Devineni

Molecular Biosciences Faculty Publications

MiRNAs are short non-coding RNAs of about 22 nucleotides, which play critical roles in gene expression regulation. The biogenesis of miRNAs is largely determined by the sequence and structural features of their parental RNA molecules. Based on these features, multiple computational tools have been developed to predict if RNA transcripts contain miRNAs or not. Although being very successful, these predictors started to face multiple challenges in recent years. Many predictors were optimized using datasets of hundreds of miRNA samples. The sizes of these datasets are much smaller than the number of known miRNAs. Consequently, the prediction accuracy of these predictors …

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Protein Kinase M Zeta-Mediated Ltp Maintenance In The Non-Human Primate Hippocampus: A Role For Stress And Serotonergic Signaling In Affective Processing, Sasha L. Fulton Dec 2016

Protein Kinase M Zeta-Mediated Ltp Maintenance In The Non-Human Primate Hippocampus: A Role For Stress And Serotonergic Signaling In Affective Processing, Sasha L. Fulton

Theses and Dissertations

Early-Life Stress (ELS) is associated with vulnerability to mood disorder, but it’s not well understood how ELS contributes to deficits in cognitive function. Atypical PKMzeta is critical for LTP maintenance and memory. The current study aims to characterize the ELS phenotype with respect to this key marker of hippocampal LTP.

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Can Functional Traits Predict Plant Community Response To Global Change?, Sarah Kimball, Jennifer L. Funk, Marko J. Spasojevic, Katharine N. Suding, Scot Parker, Michael K. Goulden Dec 2016

Can Functional Traits Predict Plant Community Response To Global Change?, Sarah Kimball, Jennifer L. Funk, Marko J. Spasojevic, Katharine N. Suding, Scot Parker, Michael K. Goulden

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

One primary goal at the intersection of community ecology and global change biology is to identify functional traits that are useful for predicting plant community response to global change. We used observations of community composition from a long-term field experiment in two adjacent plant communities (grassland and coastal sage shrub) to investigate how nine key plant functional traits were related to altered water and nitrogen availability following fire. We asked whether the functional responses of species found in more than one community type were context dependent and whether community-weighted mean and functional diversity were significantly altered by water and nitrogen …

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Robustness, Flexibility, And Sensitivity In A Multifunctional Motor Control Model, David N. Lyttle, Jeffrey P. Gill, Peter J. Thomas, Hillel J. Chiel Dec 2016

Robustness, Flexibility, And Sensitivity In A Multifunctional Motor Control Model, David N. Lyttle, Jeffrey P. Gill, Peter J. Thomas, Hillel J. Chiel

Faculty Scholarship

Motor systems must adapt to perturbations and changing conditions both within and outside the body. We refer to the ability of a system to maintain performance despite perturbations as “robustness,” and the ability of a system to deploy alternative strategies that improve fitness as “flexibility.” Different classes of pattern-generating circuits yield dynamics with differential sensitivities to perturbations and parameter variation. Depending on the task and the type of perturbation, high sensitivity can either facilitate or hinder robustness and flexibility. Here we explore the role of multiple coexisting oscillatory modes and sensory feedback in allowing multiphasic motor pattern generation to be …

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Myofilament Calcium Sensitivity: Consequences Of The Effective Concentration Of Troponin I, Jalal K. Siddiqui, Svetlana B. Tikunova, Shane D. Walton, Bin Liu, Meredith Meyer, Pieter P. De Tombe, Nathan Neilson, Peter M. Kekenes-Huskey, Hussam E. Salhi, Paul M.L. Janssen, Brandon J. Biesiadecki, Jonathan P. Davis Dec 2016

Myofilament Calcium Sensitivity: Consequences Of The Effective Concentration Of Troponin I, Jalal K. Siddiqui, Svetlana B. Tikunova, Shane D. Walton, Bin Liu, Meredith Meyer, Pieter P. De Tombe, Nathan Neilson, Peter M. Kekenes-Huskey, Hussam E. Salhi, Paul M.L. Janssen, Brandon J. Biesiadecki, Jonathan P. Davis

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Control of calcium binding to and dissociation from cardiac troponin C (TnC) is essential to healthy cardiac muscle contraction/relaxation. There are numerous aberrant post-translational modifications and mutations within a plethora of contractile, and even non-contractile, proteins that appear to imbalance this delicate relationship. The direction and extent of the resulting change in calcium sensitivity is thought to drive the heart toward one type of disease or another. There are a number of molecular mechanisms that may be responsible for the altered calcium binding properties of TnC, potentially the most significant being the ability of the regulatory domain of TnC to …

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Vincentian Education: The Role Of Compassion, Jerrold Ross Dec 2016

Vincentian Education: The Role Of Compassion, Jerrold Ross

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

The renowned Vincentian Center of St John's University brings with it additional prestige and recognition to the research faculties who produce important findings for all levels of Catholic education and for the perpetuation of a tradition long associated with the University. Beginning with Catholic education in preschool and continuing through higher education, Vincentian education, now in its second century, should provide Hope, answer our dreams and refresh its reaction to a vibrant social context, so that people can understand its meaning beyond philosophical statements.

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The Heart Of Vincentian Higher Education, Dennis H. Holtschneider Cm. Dec 2016

The Heart Of Vincentian Higher Education, Dennis H. Holtschneider Cm.

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

It means a great deal to me to be here at St. John’s University, where I began my university service twenty-seven years ago. It has been my own great joy to spend my life in Vincentian education. Working in Vincentian Universities combines my love for the intellectual life with a desire to serve the poor that I myself received because I attended a Vincentian university in my youth. And it’s the great heart of a Vincentian university to see possibility in ALL the young. I doubt that Bishop Loughlin, whose idea that there should be a university for immigrants led …

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Jovsa: Editorial, Marc E. Gillespie Dec 2016

Jovsa: Editorial, Marc E. Gillespie

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

Vincentian Universities are engaged in service at so many levels and in so many ways, yet it is easy to move through our day unaware of the herculean efforts that our students and colleagues are engaged in. The Vincentian Universities seem rooted in the idea of service. For us, service is not another trend that we adopted, but rather it has always been part of our constitution. The work presented in this issue provides two direct examples of how we can better serve.

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Cover Page Dec 2016

Cover Page

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

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Guide To The Kevin And Carla Chambers Collection, Linfield College Archives Dec 2016

Guide To The Kevin And Carla Chambers Collection, Linfield College Archives

Linfield Archives Finding Aids

This collection is comprised of materials advertising wine events occurring in Oregon’s wine country, more specifically in Yamhill County. There are other promotional materials as well.

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Guide To The Barney Watson Collection, Linfield College Archives Dec 2016

Guide To The Barney Watson Collection, Linfield College Archives

Linfield Archives Finding Aids

This collection contains materials regarding the wine industry and Oregon State University’s enology program. All materials focus around Barney Watson, an active member in the wine industry and former professor of enology at Oregon State.

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New Open Conformation Of Smyd3 Implicates Conformational Selection And Allostery, Nicholas Spellmon, Xiaonan Sun, Wen Xue, Joshua Holcomb, Srinivas Chakravarthy, Weifeng Shang, Brian Fp Edwards, Nualpun Sirinupong, Chunying Li, Zhe Yang Dec 2016

New Open Conformation Of Smyd3 Implicates Conformational Selection And Allostery, Nicholas Spellmon, Xiaonan Sun, Wen Xue, Joshua Holcomb, Srinivas Chakravarthy, Weifeng Shang, Brian Fp Edwards, Nualpun Sirinupong, Chunying Li, Zhe Yang

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

SMYD3 plays a key role in cancer cell viability, adhesion, migration and invasion. SMYD3 promotes formation of inducible regulatory T cells and is involved in reducing autoimmunity. However, the nearly “closed” substrate-binding site and poor in vitro H3K4 methyltransferase activity have obscured further understanding of this oncogenically related protein. Here we reveal that SMYD3 can adopt an “open” conformation using molecular dynamics simulation and small-angle X-ray scattering. This ligand-binding-capable open state is related to the crystal structure-like closed state by a striking clamshell-like inter-lobe dynamics. The two states are characterized by many distinct structural and dynamical differences and the conformational …

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Il-15 Activates The Jak3/Stat3 Signaling Pathway To Mediate Glucose Uptake In Skeletal Muscle Cells, James E. Krolopp, Shantaé M. Thornton, Marcia J. Abbott Dec 2016

Il-15 Activates The Jak3/Stat3 Signaling Pathway To Mediate Glucose Uptake In Skeletal Muscle Cells, James E. Krolopp, Shantaé M. Thornton, Marcia J. Abbott

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Myokines are specialized cytokines that are secreted from skeletal muscle (SKM) in response to metabolic stimuli, such as exercise. Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a myokine with potential to reduce obesity and increase lean mass through induction of metabolic processes. It has been previously shown that IL-15 acts to increase glucose uptake in SKM cells. However, the downstream signals orchestrating the link between IL-15 signaling and glucose uptake have not been fully explored. Here we employed the mouse SKM C2C12 cell line to examine potential downstream targets of IL-15-induced alterations in glucose uptake. Following differentiation, C2C12 cells were treated overnight with 100 …

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Editorial Board, Kesmawan Andri Putra Dec 2016

Editorial Board, Kesmawan Andri Putra

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

No abstract provided.

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