Life Sciences Commons^™

Yos1p Is A Novel Subunit Of The Yip1p–Yif1p Complex And Is Required For Transport Between The Endoplasmic Reticulum And The Golgi Complex, Matthew Heidtman, Catherine Z. Chen, Ruth N. Collins, Charles Barlowe

Dartmouth Scholarship

Yeast Yip1p is a member of a conserved family of transmembrane proteins that interact with Rab GTPases. Previous studies also have indicated a role for Yip1p in the biogenesis of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-derived COPII transport vesicles. In this report, we describe the identification and characterization of the uncharacterized open reading frame YER074W-A as a novel multicopy suppressor of the thermosensitive yip1-4 strain. We have termed this gene Yip One Suppressor 1 (YOS1). Yos1p is essential for growth and for function of the secretory pathway; depletion or inactivation of Yos1p blocks transport between the ER and …

Jmjd2a Is A Novel N-Cor-Interacting Protein And Is Involved In Repression Of The Human Transcription Factor Achaete Scute-Like Homologue 2 (Ascl2/Hash2), Dianzheng Zhang, Hoguen Yoon, Jiemin Wong

PCOM Scholarly Works

Corepressor N-CoR (nuclear receptor corepressor) and the highly related protein SMRT (silencing mediator of retinoid and thyroid hormone receptor) play important roles in different biological processes including proliferation, differentiation, and development. Understanding the biological function of these corepressors requires identification and characterization of their interacting proteins. Here we report the characterization of a novel N-CoR-interacting protein, JMJD2A (previously known as KIAA0677). JMJD2A is an evolutionarily conserved nuclear protein containing many functionally unknown domains. JMJD2A directly interacts with the N-terminal region of N-CoR through a small NID (N-CoR interaction domain) both in vitro and in vivo. Despite its copurification with N-CoR, …

Guideview: Structured Multi-Modal Delivery Of Clinical Guidelines, M Sriram Iyengar, Subhajit Sarkar, Kira Bacal, Gregory Defouw, Phyllis Mcculley, Victor Hurst

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

GuideView is a system designed for structured, multi-modal delivery of clinical guidelines. Clinical instructions are presented simultaneously in voice, text, pictures or video or animations. Users navigate using mouse-clicks and voice commands. An evaluation study performed at a medical simulation laboratory found that voice and video instructions were rated highly.

Persuasive Email Messages For Patient Communication, Muhammad Walji, Kathy Johnson-Throop, Todd Johnson, Elmer Bernstam, Jiajie Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To improve health and reduce costs, we need to encourage patients to make better health care decisions. Since email is widely available, it may be useful for patient-directed interventions. However, we know little about how the contents of an email message can influence a health-related decision. We propose a model to understand how patients may process persuasive email messages.

Identification Of Recql1 As A Holliday Junction Processing Enzyme In Human Cell Lines, Gary Leroy, Robert Carroll, Saw Kyin, Masayuki Seki, Michael D. Cole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Homologous recombination provides an effective way to repair DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and is required for genetic recombination. During the process of homologous recombination, a heteroduplex DNA structure, or a ‘Holliday junction’ (HJ), is formed. The movement, or branch migration, of this junction is necessary for recombination to proceed correctly. In prokaryotes, the RecQ protein or the RuvA/RuvB protein complex can promote ATP-dependent branch migration of Holliday junctions. Much less is known about the processing of Holliday junctions in eukaryotes. Here, we identify RecQL1 as a predominant ATP-dependent, HJ branch migrator present in human nuclear extracts. A reduction in the …

Arsenite Regulates Cystic Fibrosis Transmem­Brane Conductance Regulator And P-Glycoprotein: Evidence Of Pathway Independence, Rangan Maitra, Joshua Hamilton

Dartmouth Scholarship

In the past, people have argued for and against the theory of reciprocal regulation of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) and P-glycoprotein (Pgp). Data have indicated that this may occur in vitro during drug-induced selection of cells, and in vivo during development. Much of this debate has been caused by a severe lack of mechanistic details involved in such regulation. Our past data indicate that certain Pgp modulators can affect CFTR expression and function. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of trivalent arsenic (arsenite), a known transcriptional activator of Pgp, on CFTR expression. In …

Predicting Childhood Sexual Or Physical Abuse: A Logistic Regression Geo-Mapping Approach To Prevention, Roland K. Tadoum, Kamila Smolij, Michelle A. Lyn, Craig W. Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study investigates the degree to which gender, ethnicity, relationship to perpetrator, and geomapped socio-economic factors significantly predict the incidence of childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse and non- abuse. These variables are then linked to geographic identifiers using geographic information system (GIS) technology to develop a geo-mapping framework for child sexual and physical abuse prevention.

Using Technology To Teach Technology: Design And Evaluation Of Bilingual Online Physician Education About Electronic Medical Records, Sarah R. Edmonson, Adol Esquivel, Pallavi Mokkarala, Craig W. Johnson, Cynthia L. Phelps

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The "EMR Tutorial" is designed to be a bilingual online physician education environment about electronic medical records. After iterative assessment and redesign, the tutorial was tested in two groups: U.S. physicians and Mexican medical students. Split-plot ANOVA revealed significantly different pre-test scores in the two groups, significant cognitive gains for the two groups overall, and no significant difference in the gains made by the two groups. Users rated the module positively on a satisfaction questionnaire.

Regulatory Role Of Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 For Transcriptional Activity Of Add1/Srebp1c, Kang Ho Kim, Min Jeong Song, Eung Jae Yoo, Sung Sik Choe, Sang Dai Park, Jae Bum Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Adipocyte determination- and differentiation-dependent factor 1 (ADD1) plays important roles in lipid metabolism and insulin-dependent gene expression. Because insulin stimulates carbohydrate and lipid synthesis, it would be important to decipher how the transcriptional activity of ADD1/SREBP1c is regulated in the insulin signaling pathway. In this study, we demonstrated that glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3 negatively regulates the transcriptional activity of ADD1/SREBP1c. GSK3 inhibitors enhanced a transcriptional activity of ADD1/SREBP1c and expression of ADD1/SREBP1c target genes including fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1), and steroyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) in adipocytes and hepatocytes. In contrast, overexpression of GSK3beta down-regulated the transcriptional …

Phylogenetic Analysis Of The Formin Homology 2 Domain, Henry N. Higgs, Kevin J. Peterson

Dartmouth Scholarship

Formin proteins are key regulators of eukaryotic actin filament assembly and elongation, and many species possess multiple formin isoforms. A nomenclature system based on fundamental features would be desirable, to aid the rapid identification and characterization of novel formins. In this article, we attempt to systematize the formin family by performing phylogenetic analyses of the formin homology 2 (FH2) domain, an independently folding region common to all formins, which alone can influence actin dynamics. Through database searches, we identify 101 FH2 domains from 26 eukaryotic species, including 15 in mice. Sequence alignments reveal a highly conserved yeast-specific insert in the …

The Caenorhabditis Elegans F-Box Protein Sel-10 Promotes Female Development And May Target Fem-1 And Fem-3 For Degradation By The Proteasome, Sibylle Jager, Hillel T. Schwartz, H. Robert Horvitz, Barbara Conradt

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Caenorhabditis elegans F-box protein SEL-10 and its human homolog have been proposed to regulate LIN-12 Notch signaling by targeting for ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation LIN-12 Notch proteins and SEL-12 PS1 presenilins, the latter of which have been implicated in Alzheimer's disease. We found that sel-10 is the same gene as egl-41, which previously had been defined by gain-of-function mutations that semidominantly cause masculinization of the hermaphrodite soma. Our results demonstrate that mutations causing loss-of-function of sel-10 also have masculinizing activity, indicating that sel-10 functions to promote female development. Genetically, sel-10 acts upstream of the genes fem-1, fem-2, and fem-3 and …

From Biomedicine To Natural History Research: Est Resources For Ambystomatid Aalamanders, Srikrishna Putta, Jeramiah J. Smith, John A. Walker, Mathieu Rondet, David W. Weisrock, James Monaghan, Amy K. Samuels, D. Kevin Kump, David C. King, Nicholas J. Maness, Bianca Habermann, Elly Tanaka, Susan V. Bryant, David M. Gardiner, David M. Parichy, S. Randal Voss

Biology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Establishing genomic resources for closely related species will provide comparative insights that are crucial for understanding diversity and variability at multiple levels of biological organization. We developed ESTs for Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) and Eastern tiger salamander (A. tigrinum tigrinum), species with deep and diverse research histories.

RESULTS: Approximately 40,000 quality cDNA sequences were isolated for these species from various tissues, including regenerating limb and tail. These sequences and an existing set of 16,030 cDNA sequences for A. mexicanum were processed to yield 35,413 and 20,599 high quality ESTs for A. mexicanum and A. t. tigrinum, respectively. Because the …

The Kini Kinesin Kif2a Is Required For Bipolar Spindle Assembly Through A Functional Relationship With Mcak, Neil J. Ganem, Duane A. Compton

Dartmouth Scholarship

Although the microtubule-depolymerizing KinI motor Kif2a is abundantly expressed in neuronal cells, we now show it localizes to centrosomes and spindle poles during mitosis in cultured cells. RNAi-induced knockdown of Kif2a expression inhibited cell cycle progression because cells assembled monopolar spindles. Bipolar spindle assembly was restored in cells lacking Kif2a by treatments that altered microtubule assembly (nocodazole), eliminated kinetochore–microtubule attachment (loss of Nuf2), or stabilized microtubule plus ends at kinetochores (loss of MCAK). Thus, two KinI motors, MCAK and Kif2a, play distinct roles in mitosis, and MCAK activity at kinetochores must be balanced by Kif2a activity at poles for spindle …

Efficacy Of Quality Criteria To Identify Potentially Harmful Information: A Cross-Sectional Survey Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine Web Sites, Muhammad Walji, Smitha Sagaram, Deepak Sagaram, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Craig Johnson, Nadeem Q Mirza, Elmer V Bernstam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Many users search the Internet for answers to health questions. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a particularly common search topic. Because many CAM therapies do not require a clinician's prescription, false or misleading CAM information may be more dangerous than information about traditional therapies. Many quality criteria have been suggested to filter out potentially harmful online health information. However, assessing the accuracy of CAM information is uniquely challenging since CAM is generally not supported by conventional literature. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to determine whether domain-independent technical quality criteria can identify potentially harmful online CAM content. …

Pv1 Is A Key Structural Component For The Formation Of The Stomatal And Fenestral Diaphragms, Radu V. Stan, Eugene Tkachenko, Ingrid R. Niesman

Dartmouth Scholarship

PV1 is an endothelial-specific integral membrane glycoprotein associated with the stomatal diaphragms of caveolae, transendothelial channels, and vesiculo-vacuolar organelles and the diaphragms of endothelial fenestrae. Multiple PV1 homodimers are found within each stomatal and fenestral diaphragm. We investigated the function of PV1 within these diaphragms and their regulation and found that treatment of endothelial cells in culture with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) led to upregulation of PV1. This correlated with de novo formation of stomatal diaphragms of caveolae and transendothelial channels as well as fenestrae upon PMA treatment. The newly formed diaphragms could be labeled with anti-PV1 antibodies. The upregulation …

Genetic Polymorphisms Of The Interleukin-1 Gene And Early Marginal Bone Loss Around Endosseous Dental Implants, Hitomi Shimpuku, Yasuhiro Nosaka, Tatsuya Kawamura, Yoichi Tachi, Mitsuko Shinohara, Kiyoshi Ohura

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Dental implant surgery commonly proceeds in two stages. It is generally accepted that bone loss around implants does not occur at stage-II surgery because implants do not receive mechanical loading. However, early marginal bone loss around implants occasionally does occur during the healing period. Genetic polymorphisms in the interleukin-1 (IL-1) gene have been reported to be important for bone homeostasis and susceptibility to bone disease. We therefore investigated whether the idiopathic early marginal bone loss around implants is related to polymorphisms in the IL-1 gene. We performed a case-control study. Patients demonstrating marginal bone loss around implants at stage-II surgery …

Crystal Structure Of The Sars Protein From Staphylococcus Aureus, Ronggui Li, Adhar C. Manna, Shaodong Dai, Ambrose L. Cheung, Gongyi Zhang

Dartmouth Scholarship

The expression of virulence determinants in Staphylococcus aureus is controlled by global regulatory loci (e.g., sarA and agr). One of these determinants, protein A (spa), is activated by sarS, which encodes a 250-residue DNA-binding protein. Genetic analysis indicated that the agr locus likely mediates spa repression by suppressing the transcription of sarS. Contrary to SarA and SarR, which require homodimer formation for proper function, SarS is unusual within the SarA protein family in that it contains two homologous halves, with each half sharing sequence similarity to SarA and SarR. Here we report the 2.2 Å …

Residency Program At Michael E Debakey Department Of Surgery, Baylor College Of Medicine, F Charles Brunicardi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Is Hp1 An Rna Detector That Functions Both In Repression And Activation?, Rebecca Kellum

Biology Faculty Publications

Heterochromatin is defined as regions of compact chromatin that persist throughout the cell cycle (Heitz, 1928). The earliest cytological observations of heterochromatin were followed by ribonucleotide labeling experiments that showed it to be transcriptionally inert relative to the more typical euchromatic regions that decondense during interphase. Genetic studies of rearrangements that place euchromatic genes next to blocks of heterochromatin also pointed out the repressive nature of heterochromatin (Grigliatti, 1991; and references therein). The discovery of the heterochromatin-enriched protein heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) by Elgin and co-workers in the mid-1980s suggested that the distinct cytological features of this chromatin may be …

Genomic And Proteomic Profiling Of Responses To Toxic Metals In Human Lung Cells, Angeline S. Andrew, Amy J. Warren, Aaron Barchowsky, Kaili A. Temple, Linda Klei, Nicole V. Soucy, Kimberly A. O'Hara, Joshua W. Hamilton

Dartmouth Scholarship

Examining global effects of toxic metals on gene expression can be useful for elucidating patterns of biological response, discovering underlying mechanisms of toxicity, and identifying candidate metal-specific genetic markers of exposure and response. Using a 1,200 gene nylon array, we examined changes in gene expression following low-dose, acute exposures of cadmium, chromium, arsenic, nickel, or mitomycin C (MMC) in BEAS-2B human bronchial epithelial cells. Total RNA was isolated from cells exposed to 3 M Cd(II) (as cadmium chloride), 10 M Cr(VI) (as sodium dichromate), 3 g/cm2 Ni(II) (as nickel subsulfide), 5 M or 50 M As(III) (as sodium arsenite), or …

Minus-End Capture Of Preformed Kinetochore Fibers Contributes To Spindle Morphogenesis, Alexey Khodjakov, Lily Copenagle, Michael B. Gordon, Duane A. Compton, Tarun M. Kapoor

Dartmouth Scholarship

Near-simultaneous three-dimensional fluorescence/differential interference contrast microscopy was used to follow the behavior of microtubules and chromosomes in living alpha-tubulin/GFP-expressing cells after inhibition of the mitotic kinesin Eg5 with monastrol. Kinetochore fibers (K-fibers) were frequently observed forming in association with chromosomes both during monastrol treatment and after monastrol removal. Surprisingly, these K-fibers were oriented away from, and not directly connected to, centrosomes and incorporated into the spindle by the sliding of their distal ends toward centrosomes via a NuMA-dependent mechanism. Similar preformed K-fibers were also observed during spindle formation in untreated cells. In addition, upon monastrol removal, centrosomes established a transient …

G03-1485 Guidelines For The Prudent Use Of Antibiotics In Food Animals, Katherine Irwin, David R. Smith, Grasso M. Ebako, Steve Ensley, Dicky D. Griffin, Arden Wohlers

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This NebGuide explains why antibiotics must be used with care and how to prudently use antibiotics to treat food animals.

Antibiotics are used to improve animal health and productivity. You, the animal caregiver, make important decisions about how antibiotics are finally used in food producing animals. Antibiotics should be used prudently to ensure they are effective, do not leave residues in food, and will continue to benefit man and animals in the future. Are you prepared to make the best decisions about using antibiotics in animals?

G03-1514 Use Of Feed Contaminated With Fungal (Mold) Toxins (Mycotoxins), Michael P. Carlson, Steve M. Ensley

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Mycotoxins are chemicals produced by fungi (molds) under certain conditions. They are not essential for fungal growth or reproduction, and they are toxic to animals or humans. They are naturally occurring chemicals found in grains, food and feed consumed by humans and animals and cannot be completely avoided. Accordingly, we try to control the amount of such chemicals ingested by humans and animals.

The purpose of this NebGuide is to provide guidelines on use of mycotoxin-contaminated feeds.

G03-1515 Sampling And Analyzing Feed For Fungal (Mold) Toxins (Mycotoxins), Michael P. Carlson, Steven M. Ensley

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Mycotoxins are chemicals produced by fungi (molds) under certain conditions. They are not essential for fungal growth or reproduction, and are toxic to animals or humans. They are naturally present in feed and cannot always be avoided.

The purposes of this NebGuide are to provide information about sampling feeds to detect the presence of mycotoxins in them and about how feeds may be analyzed for mycotoxins.

G03-1513 Understanding Fungal (Mold) Toxins (Mycotoxins), Michael P. Carlson, Steveb M. Ensley

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Mycotoxins are chemicals produced by fungi (molds) under certain conditions. They are not essential for fungal growth or reproduction, and are toxic to animals or humans.

This NebGuide briefly discusses mycotoxins commonly encountered in grains and feeds used in Nebraska and the mycotoxicoses they cause. Mycotoxin sources and clinical signs, lesions, diagnostic aids and treatment for each mycotoxicosis are listed.

Nf03-571 Aspergillus Flavus And Aflatoxins In Corn, Jim Stack, Michael Carlson

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

The severe weather conditions of the 2002 growing season resulted in an increase in the incidence and severity of aflatoxin contamination of both food grade and feed grade corn in Nebraska.

The mycotoxin called aflatoxin is produced by the grain mold Aspergillus flavus. Not all isolates of A. flavus produced aflatoxin and isolates that are capable of producing aflatoxin do not always synthesize the toxin. Many factors including environmental conditions and host suscepbitility, determine the incidence and severity of grain mold and subsequent mycotoxin contamination.

This NebFact discusses the cause and occurrence of aflatoxin in corn; the effects it has …

Nf03-570 Fumonisins In Corn, Jim Stack, Michael Carlson

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

During the past two years, millers have rejected some Nebraska food grade corn because it was contaminated with the mycotoxin fumonisin. Most of the contaminated samples and the highest levels of contamination were detected in corn from counties in the eastern half of Nebraska.

Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by the grain molds Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium proliferatum. These fungi are commonly found in corn throughout the United States.

This NebFact discusses the cause and occurrence of fumonisin in corn; the effects it has on plants, animals and humans; and management options to minimize fumonisin contamination.

Rigorously Assessing Whether The Data Backs The Back School, David T. Vinh, Craig W. Johnson, Cynthia L. Phelps

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A rigorous between-subjects methodology employing independent random samples and having broad clinical applicability was designed and implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of back safety and patient transfer training interventions for both hospital nurses and nursing assistants. Effects upon self-efficacy, cognitive, and affective measures are assessed for each of three back safety procedures. The design solves the problem of obtaining randomly assigned independent controls where all experimental subjects must participate in the training interventions.

Randomized Comparisons Among Health Informatics Students Identify Hypertutorial Features As Improving Web-Based Instruction, Craig W. Johnson, Yan Xing, Lan Yang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Hypertutorials optimize five features - presentation, learner control, practice, feedback, and elaborative learning resources. Previous research showed graduate students significantly and overwhelmingly preferred Web-based hypertutorials to conventional "Book-on-the-Web" statistics or research design lessons. The current report shows that the source of hypertutorials' superiority in student evaluations of instruction lies in their hypertutorial features. Randomized comparisons between the two methodologies were conducted in two successive iterations of a graduate level health informatics research design and evaluation course. The two versions contained the same text and graphics, but differed in the presence or absence of hypertutorial features: Elaborative learning resources, practice, feedback, …

The Physician's Perception Of Medical Error And Its Application To The Development Of An Educational Training Tool, Johnny E. Bates, Cynthia Phelps, Craig W. Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

It is becoming clear that if we are to impact the rate of medical errors it will have to be done at the practicing physician level. The purpose of this project was to survey the attitude of physicians in Alabama concerning their perception of medical error, and to obtain their thoughts and desires for medical education in the area of medical errors. The information will be used in the development of a physician education program.