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Articles 1471 - 1500 of 1788

Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology

Functions Of The Arabidopsis Kinesin Superfamily Of Microtubule-Based Motor Proteins, Chuanmei Zhu, Ram Dixit Oct 2012

Functions Of The Arabidopsis Kinesin Superfamily Of Microtubule-Based Motor Proteins, Chuanmei Zhu, Ram Dixit

Biology Faculty Research

Plants possess a large number of microtubule-based kinesin motor proteins. While the kinesin-2, 3, 9, and 11 families are absent from land plants, the kinesin-7 and 14 families are greatly expanded. In addition, some kinesins are specifically present only in land plants. The distinctive inventory of plant kinesins suggests that kinesins have evolved to perform specialized functions in plants. Plants assemble unique microtubule arrays during their cell cycle, including the interphase cortical microtubule array, preprophase band, anastral spindle and phragmoplast. In this review, we explore the functions of plant kinesins from a microtubule array viewpoint, focusing mainly on Arabidopsis kinesins. …

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Transcriptional Cross Talk Within The Mar-Sox-Rob Regulon In Escherichia Coli Is Limited To The Rob And Marrab Operons, Lon Chubiz, George Glekas, Christopher Rao Sep 2012

Transcriptional Cross Talk Within The Mar-Sox-Rob Regulon In Escherichia Coli Is Limited To The Rob And Marrab Operons, Lon Chubiz, George Glekas, Christopher Rao

Biology Department Faculty Works

Bacteria possess multiple mechanisms to survive exposure to various chemical stresses and antimicrobial compounds. In the enteric bacterium Escherichia coli, three homologous transcription factors—MarA, SoxS, and Rob—play a central role in coordinating this response. Three separate systems are known to regulate the expression and activities of MarA, SoxS, and Rob. However, a number of studies have shown that the three do not function in isolation but rather are coregulated through transcriptional cross talk. In this work, we systematically investigated the extent of transcriptional cross talk in the mar-sox-rob regulon. While the three transcription factors were found to have the potential …

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Achieving High Accuracy Prediction Of Minimotifs, Tian Mi, Sanguthevar Rajasekaran, Jerlin Camilus Merlin, Michael R. Gryk, Martin Schiller Sep 2012

Achieving High Accuracy Prediction Of Minimotifs, Tian Mi, Sanguthevar Rajasekaran, Jerlin Camilus Merlin, Michael R. Gryk, Martin Schiller

Life Sciences Faculty Research

The low complexity of minimotif patterns results in a high false-positive prediction rate, hampering protein function prediction. A multi-filter algorithm, trained and tested on a linear regression model, support vector machine model, and neural network model, using a large dataset of verified minimotifs, vastly improves minimotif prediction accuracy while generating few false positives. An optimal threshold for the best accuracy reaches an overall accuracy above 90%, while a stringent threshold for the best specificity generates less than 1% false positives or even no false positives and still produces more than 90% true positives for the linear regression and neural network …

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Effect Of Egf-Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor On Rab5 Function During Endocytosis, Ivan Jozic, Samar C. Saliba, M. Alejandro Barbieri Sep 2012

Effect Of Egf-Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor On Rab5 Function During Endocytosis, Ivan Jozic, Samar C. Saliba, M. Alejandro Barbieri

Biology Faculty Articles

Tyrosine autophosphorylation within the cytoplasmic tail of EGF-receptor is a key event, which in turn recruits several factors including Shc, Grb2 and Rin1 that are essential activities for receptor-mediated endocytosis and signaling. In this study, we demonstrated that treatment with AG1478, an EGF-receptor kinase inhibitor, blocked the formation of Rab5-positive endosomes as well as the activation of Rab5 upon addition of EGF. We also found that EGF-receptor catalytically inactive mutant failed to activate Rab5 upon EGF stimulation. Additionally, endosomal co-localization of Rab5 and EGF-receptor was inhibited by AG1478. Interestingly, AG1478 inhibitor did not block the formation of enlarged Rab5-positive endosomes …

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Analyzing Environmental Microbes For Genomic Regions Promoting Ionic Liquid Tolerance In E. Coli, Ann Nguyen, Alison Richins, Thomas Rüegg, Steven Singer, Michael Thelen Aug 2012

Analyzing Environmental Microbes For Genomic Regions Promoting Ionic Liquid Tolerance In E. Coli, Ann Nguyen, Alison Richins, Thomas Rüegg, Steven Singer, Michael Thelen

STAR Program Research Presentations

Ionic liquids (ILs) are promising as solvents to increase the efficiency of biofuel production; however, ILs are toxic to microbes used in the fermentation of liquid fuels. To engineer IL resistant biofuel hosts, environmental bacteria were screened for tolerance, and these were used to create gene libraries to test in E. coli. Future characterization of these libraries using molecular techniques will be used to identify genes that contribute IL-tolerance to transformed microbes.

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Regulation Of To Xin Synthesis By Clostridium Difficile, Charles Darkoh Aug 2012

Regulation Of To Xin Synthesis By Clostridium Difficile, Charles Darkoh

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Clostridium difficile is the leading definable cause of nosocomial diarrhea worldwide due to its virulence, multi-drug resistance, spore-forming ability, and environmental persistence. The incidence of C. difficile infection (CDI) has been increasing exponentially in the last decade. Virulent strains of C. difficile produce either toxin A and/or toxin B, which are essential for the pathogenesis of this bacterium. Current methods for diagnosing CDI are mostly qualitative tests that detect the bacterium, the toxins, or the toxin genes. These methods do not differentiate virulent C. difficile strains that produce active toxins from non-virulent strains that do not produce toxins or produce …

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Plant Lectin Can Target Receptors Containing Sialic Acid, Exemplified By Podoplanin, To Inhibit Transformed Cell Growth And Migration, Jhon Ochoa-Alvarez, Harini Krishnan, Yongquan Shen, Nimish Acharya, Min Han, Dean Mcnulty, Hitoki Hasegawa Jul 2012

Plant Lectin Can Target Receptors Containing Sialic Acid, Exemplified By Podoplanin, To Inhibit Transformed Cell Growth And Migration, Jhon Ochoa-Alvarez, Harini Krishnan, Yongquan Shen, Nimish Acharya, Min Han, Dean Mcnulty, Hitoki Hasegawa

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Cancer is a leading cause of death of men and women worldwide. Tumor cell motility contributes to metastatic invasion that causes the vast majority of cancer deaths. Extracellular receptors modified by α2,3-sialic acids that promote this motility can serve as ideal chemotherapeutic targets. For example, the extracellular domain of the mucin receptor podoplanin (PDPN) is highly O-glycosylated with α2,3-sialic acid linked to galactose. PDPN is activated by endogenous ligands to induce tumor cell motility and metastasis. Dietary lectins that target proteins containing α2,3-sialic acid inhibit tumor cell growth. However, anti-cancer lectins that have been examined thus far target receptors …

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Energy-Saving Hypothermia Reduces Flight Ability In Mourning Doves, Jennie M. Carr, Steven L. Lima May 2012

Energy-Saving Hypothermia Reduces Flight Ability In Mourning Doves, Jennie M. Carr, Steven L. Lima

Symposium 2012

Overwintering birds are frequently exposed to thermal challenges that can quickly decrease energy reserves, thus leading to an increase in the risk of starvation. During these periods of energetic hardship, many avian species use nocturnal hypothermia to conserve energy that would otherwise be lost remaining warm throughout the night (McKechnie & Lovegrove 2002). However, a cool body temperature (Tb) may limit a bird’s ability to monitor the environment and may slow their response to a potential threat. Thus, birds likely trade-off between the benefits of energy-saving hypothermia and the potential costs of reduced behavioral responsiveness to predators (Welton et al. …

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Development And Evaluation Of A Mouse Neocortical Cells Neurodevelopment Assay To Assess The Effects Of Pyrethroids, Stephanie I. Savino May 2012

Development And Evaluation Of A Mouse Neocortical Cells Neurodevelopment Assay To Assess The Effects Of Pyrethroids, Stephanie I. Savino

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Pyrethroid insecticides have been used for more than 40 years and account for 25% of the global insecticide market with household, agricultural and public health applications. With increasing use of pyrethroids over recent years, human exposure to these chemicals is likely. The acute toxicity of pyrethroids to mammalian adults has been documented as moderately toxic by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However, little evidence is available regarding the potential toxicological effects of pyrethroids on mammalian neurodevelopment. In this study, a neurodevelopment assay was developed for future investigation of potential pyrethroid effects on the neuronal development of Mus musculus neocortical cells.

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Increased Geranylgeranylated K-Ras Contributes To Antineoplastic Effects Of Farnesyltransferase Inhibitors., Mandy A. Hall May 2012

Increased Geranylgeranylated K-Ras Contributes To Antineoplastic Effects Of Farnesyltransferase Inhibitors., Mandy A. Hall

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The Ras family of small GTPases (N-, H-, and K-Ras) is a group of important signaling mediators. Ras is frequently activated in some cancers, while others maintain low level activity to achieve optimal cell growth. In cells with endogenously low levels of active Ras, increasing Ras signaling through the ERK and p38 MAPK pathways can cause growth arrest or cell death. Ras requires prenylation – the addition of a 15-carbon (farnesyl) or 20-carbon (geranylgeranyl) group – to keep the protein anchored into membranes for effective signaling. N- and K-Ras can be alternatively geranylgeranylated (GG’d) if farnesylation is inhibited but are …

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A Plant Virus Substrate Induces Early Upregulation Of Bmp2 For Rapid Bone Formation, Pongkwan Sitasuwan, L. Andrew Lee, Peng Bo, Erin N. Davis, Yuan Lin, Qian Wang Apr 2012

A Plant Virus Substrate Induces Early Upregulation Of Bmp2 For Rapid Bone Formation, Pongkwan Sitasuwan, L. Andrew Lee, Peng Bo, Erin N. Davis, Yuan Lin, Qian Wang

Faculty Publications

Many nanoscale materials have been developed to investigate the effects on stem cell differentiations via topographical and chemical cues for applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The use of plant viruses as cell supporting substrates has been of particular interest due to the rapid induction of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) towards osteogenic cells. In this study, the role of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and its early effects on osteoinduction with particular emphasis on the regulation of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2) was examined. We observed that the cells on the virus substrate immediately aggregated and formed bone-like …

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Cholesterol Side-Chain Degradation Enzymes Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Brian Villalba^, Itzel Chavarria, Bernardo Terres, Johnathan Abou-Fadel, Rhone A. Mendoza, Hugues Ouellet* Apr 2012

Cholesterol Side-Chain Degradation Enzymes Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Brian Villalba^, Itzel Chavarria, Bernardo Terres, Johnathan Abou-Fadel, Rhone A. Mendoza, Hugues Ouellet*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2012

No abstract provided.

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Section Abstracts: Biology With Microbiology And Molecular Biology Apr 2012

Section Abstracts: Biology With Microbiology And Molecular Biology

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Biology with Microbiology and Molecular Biology Section for the 90th Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 23-25, 2015, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, Virginia.

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Validation On Sodium Channel Dependence By Electrical Stimulation-Induced Dopamine Release, Alice E. Hernandez ^, Mabel N. Terminel, Edward Castaneda * Apr 2012

Validation On Sodium Channel Dependence By Electrical Stimulation-Induced Dopamine Release, Alice E. Hernandez ^, Mabel N. Terminel, Edward Castaneda *

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2012

No abstract provided.

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Proteins: Form And Function, Roy D. Sleator Mar 2012

Proteins: Form And Function, Roy D. Sleator

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

An overwhelming array of structural variants has evolved from a comparatively small number of protein structural domains; which has in turn facilitated an expanse of functional derivatives. Herein, I review the primary mechanisms which have contributed to the vastness of our existing, and expanding, protein repertoires. Protein function prediction strategies, both sequence and structure based, are also discussed and their associated strengths and weaknesses assessed.

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Matrix Metalloproteinase Genes Are Transcriptionally Regulated By E2f Transcription Factors: A Link Between Cell Cycle Control And Metastatic Progression, Jacqueline Lea Johnson Feb 2012

Matrix Metalloproteinase Genes Are Transcriptionally Regulated By E2f Transcription Factors: A Link Between Cell Cycle Control And Metastatic Progression, Jacqueline Lea Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The RbµE2F transcriptional regulatory pathway plays a critical role in the cell cycle. Rb is inactivated through multiple waves of phosphorylation, mediated mainly by cyclin D and cyclin E associated kinases. Once Rb is inactivated, cells can enter Sµphase. Collectively, three Rb family members and ten E2F proteins coordinate every additional stage of the cell cycle, from quiescence to mitosis. However the RbµE2F pathway is frequently altered in cancer. Aside from cell proliferation, the RbµE2F pathway regulates other essential cellular processes including apoptosis, cell differentiation, angiogenesis and DNA damage repair pathways, but its role in invasion and cancer progression is …

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Characterization Of Aquaporin 4 Protein Expression And Localization In Tissues Of The Dogfish (Squalus Acanthias), Christopher P. Cutler, Sheena Harmon, Jonathan Walsh, Kia Burch Feb 2012

Characterization Of Aquaporin 4 Protein Expression And Localization In Tissues Of The Dogfish (Squalus Acanthias), Christopher P. Cutler, Sheena Harmon, Jonathan Walsh, Kia Burch

Biology: Faculty Publications

The role of aquaporin water channels such as aquaporin 4 (Aqp4) in elasmobranchs such as the dogfish Squalus acanthias is completely unknown. This investigation set out to determine the expression and cellular and sub-cellular localization of Aqp4 protein in dogfish tissues. Two polyclonal antibodies were generated (AQP4/1 and AQP4/2) and these showed somewhat different characteristics in Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Western blots using the AQP4/1 antibody showed two bands (35.5 and 49.5 kDa) in most tissues in a similar fashion to mammals. Liver had an additional band of 57 kDa and rectal gland two further faint bands of 37.5 and …

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Single-Molecule Analysis Of The Microtubule Cross-Linking Protein Map65-1 Reveals A Molecular Mechanism For Contact-Angle-Dependent Microtubule Bundling, Amanda Tulin, Sheri Mcclerklin, Yue Huang, Ram Dixit Feb 2012

Single-Molecule Analysis Of The Microtubule Cross-Linking Protein Map65-1 Reveals A Molecular Mechanism For Contact-Angle-Dependent Microtubule Bundling, Amanda Tulin, Sheri Mcclerklin, Yue Huang, Ram Dixit

Biology Faculty Research

Bundling of microtubules (MTs) is critical for the formation of complex MT arrays. In land plants, the interphase cortical MTs form bundles specifically following shallow-angle encounters between them. To investigate how cells select particular MT contact angles for bundling, we used an in vitro reconstitution approach consisting of dynamic MTs and the MT-cross-linking protein MAP65-1. We found that MAP65-1 binds to MTs as monomers and inherently targets antiparallel MTs for bundling. Dwell-time analysis showed that the affinity of MAP65-1 for antiparallel overlapping MTs is about three times higher than its affinity for single MTs and parallel overlapping MTs. We also …

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Aquaporin 4 Is A Ubiquitously Expressed Isoform In The Dogfish (Squalus Acanthias) Shark, Christopher P. Cutler, Bryce Maciver, Gordon Cramb, Mark L. Zeidel Jan 2012

Aquaporin 4 Is A Ubiquitously Expressed Isoform In The Dogfish (Squalus Acanthias) Shark, Christopher P. Cutler, Bryce Maciver, Gordon Cramb, Mark L. Zeidel

Biology: Faculty Publications

The dogfish ortholog of aquaporin 4 (AQP4) was amplified from cDNA using degenerate PCR followed by cloning and sequencing. The complete coding region was then obtained using 5′ and 3′ RACE techniques. Alignment of the sequence with AQP4 amino acid sequences from other species showed that dogfish AQP4 has high levels (up to 65.3%) of homology with higher vertebrate sequences but lower levels of homology to Agnathan (38.2%) or teleost (57.5%) fish sequences. Northern blotting indicated that the dogfish mRNA was approximately 3.2 kb and was highly expressed in the rectal gland (a shark fluid secretory organ). Semi-quantitative PCR further …

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[Accepted Article Manuscript Version (Postprint)] Plant Peroxisomes: Biogenesis And Function, Jianping Hu, Alison Baker, Bonnie Bartel, Nicole Linka, Robert Mullen, Sigrun Reumann, Bethany Zolman Jan 2012

[Accepted Article Manuscript Version (Postprint)] Plant Peroxisomes: Biogenesis And Function, Jianping Hu, Alison Baker, Bonnie Bartel, Nicole Linka, Robert Mullen, Sigrun Reumann, Bethany Zolman

Biology Department Faculty Works

Peroxisomes are eukaryotic organelles that are highly dynamic both in morphology and metabolism. Plant peroxisomes are involved in numerous processes, including primary and secondary metabolism, development, and responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. Considerable progress has been made in the identification of factors involved in peroxisomal biogenesis, revealing mechanisms that are both shared with and diverged from non-plant systems. Furthermore, recent advances have begun to reveal an unexpectedly large plant peroxisomal proteome and have increased our understanding of metabolic pathways in peroxisomes. Coordination of the biosynthesis, import, biochemical activity, and degradation of peroxisomal proteins allows for highly dynamic responses of …

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Increased Variability Of Microbial Communities In Restored Salt Marshes Nearly 30 Years After Tidal Flow Restoration, Anne E. Bernhard, David Marshall, Lazaros Yiannos Jan 2012

Increased Variability Of Microbial Communities In Restored Salt Marshes Nearly 30 Years After Tidal Flow Restoration, Anne E. Bernhard, David Marshall, Lazaros Yiannos

Biology Faculty Publications

We analyzed microbial diversity and community composition from four salt marsh sites that were impounded for 40–50 years and subsequently restored and four unimpounded sites in southeastern Connecticut over one growing season. Community composition and diversity were assessed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) and sequence analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. Our results indicated diverse communities, with sequences representing 14 different bacterial divisions. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Planctomycetes dominated clone libraries from both restored and unimpounded sites. Multivariate analysis of the TRFLP data suggest significant site, sample date, and restoration status effects, but the exact causes of these …

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Escherichia Coli Lacking Rpos Are Rare In Natural Populations Of Non-Pathogens, Emily Snyder '11, David M. Gordon, Daniel M. Stoebel Jan 2012

Escherichia Coli Lacking Rpos Are Rare In Natural Populations Of Non-Pathogens, Emily Snyder '11, David M. Gordon, Daniel M. Stoebel

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

The alternative sigma factor RpoS controls a large regulon that allows E. coli to respond to a variety of stresses. Mutations in rpoS can increase rates of nutrient acquisition at the cost of a decrease in stress resistance. These kinds of mutations evolve rapidly under certain laboratory conditions where nutrient acquisition is especially challenging. The frequency of strains lacking RpoS in natural populations of E. coli is less clear. Such strains have been found at frequencies over 20% in some collections of wild isolates. However, laboratory handling can select for RpoS-null strains and may have affected some of these strain …

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Estradiol Modulation Of Calcium Dynamics In Pituitary Mmq Lactotroph Cells, Monika Pauckova Jan 2012

Estradiol Modulation Of Calcium Dynamics In Pituitary Mmq Lactotroph Cells, Monika Pauckova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pituitary lactotrophs are excitable cells that exhibit spontaneous, calcium influx triggering prolactin (PRL) secretion to stimulate lactation. Lactotrophs express estrogen receptors (ER) and are a well established estrogen-responsive cell system. 17B-estradiol (E2) is known to directly affect lactotrophs by increasing PRL transcription and biosynthesis, intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and PRL secretion. This study demonstrates that the MMQ clonal cell line, isolated from the 7315a rat pituitary tumor, is a model lactotroph cell line that is E2-responsive. Spontaneous and evoked Ca2+ transients were especially sensitive to L-type channel block, but not affected by block of omega-conotoxin-GVIA-sensitive CaV channels or TTX-sensitive voltage-gated …

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Consumption Of High Ω-3 Fatty Acid Diet Suppressed Prostate Tumorigenesis In C3(1) Tag Mice, Juliana A. Akinsete, Gabriela Ion, Theodore R. Witte, W. Elaine Hardman Jan 2012

Consumption Of High Ω-3 Fatty Acid Diet Suppressed Prostate Tumorigenesis In C3(1) Tag Mice, Juliana A. Akinsete, Gabriela Ion, Theodore R. Witte, W. Elaine Hardman

Biochemistry and Microbiology

Prostate cancer incidence and mortality are high in the Western world and high ω-6/ω-3 PUFA in the Western diet may be a contributing factor. We investigated whether changing from a diet that approximates ω-6 fat content of the Western diet to a high ω-3 fat diet at adulthood might reduce prostate cancer risk. Female SV 129 mice that had consumed a high ω-6 diet containing corn oil for 2 weeks were bred with homozygous C3(1)Tag transgenic male mice. All male offspring were weaned to the corn oil diet (CO) until postpuberty when half of the male offspring were transferred to …

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Estrogen And Vitamin D Control Of Transcription In Mcf-7 Cells, John M. Schmitt, N. Magill Jan 2012

Estrogen And Vitamin D Control Of Transcription In Mcf-7 Cells, John M. Schmitt, N. Magill

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

Abstract The Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase (ERK) is part of a key, signaling pathway that regulates both transcription and translation in many cell types. Increases in intracellular calcium levels results in the CaM Kinase-dependent activation of ERK and cell growth in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. ERK has also been shown to play a role in the regulation of MCF-7 cell proliferation through control of downstream transcription factors including Elk-1. The hormone, Vitamin D has been suggested to play an inhibitory role on cancer cells by blocking ERK activation. Our goal was to evaluate the ability of E2 to activate Elk-1, through …

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Estrogen Receptor Activation Of Cam Kinase I And Erk, John M. Schmitt, Mikayla S. Todd Jan 2012

Estrogen Receptor Activation Of Cam Kinase I And Erk, John M. Schmitt, Mikayla S. Todd

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

Cell growth and development is regulated by the cell signaling second messenger, calcium, that regulates key enzymes and genes in cells including the Calcium/Calmodulin-dependent protein kinases (CaM Ks) and their downstream target ERK. In particular, CaM KK and its substrate CaM KI promote ERK and Elk-1 activation in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Estrogen (E2) may utilize CaM KK and ERK to promote breast cancer cell proliferation, however it is unclear which E2 receptor promotes cell proliferation through CaM Ks. Estrogen is a ligand for estrogen receptors (ER) of the alpha(α) and beta(β) forms, as well as G protein-coupled receptor 30 …

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Thoughts On Quorum Sensing And Fungal Dimorphism, Kenneth W. Nickerson, Audrey L. Atkin, Jessica C. Hargarten, Ruvini U. Pathirana, Sahar Hasim Jan 2012

Thoughts On Quorum Sensing And Fungal Dimorphism, Kenneth W. Nickerson, Audrey L. Atkin, Jessica C. Hargarten, Ruvini U. Pathirana, Sahar Hasim

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Farnesol has been best studied for its role in regulating fungal dimorphism. However, farnesol is also a lipid and in this review we analyze data relevant to farnesol’s function and synthesis from the perspective of farnesol and bacterial endotoxins acting as membrane active compounds. This analysis implicates the possible roles of: (1) endotoxins in the regulation of farnesol production by C. albicans; (2) farnesol in the interactions between C. albicans and the host during disseminated infections; and (3) ubiquinones in the mechanisms for unusually high resistance to farnesol by some C. albicans cell types. Finally we discuss the implications …

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Inhibition Of Voltage-Gated Na+ Current By Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field (Nspef) Is Not Mediated By Na+ Influx Or Ca²+ Signaling, Vasyl Nesin, Andrei G. Pakhomov Jan 2012

Inhibition Of Voltage-Gated Na+ Current By Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field (Nspef) Is Not Mediated By Na+ Influx Or Ca²+ Signaling, Vasyl Nesin, Andrei G. Pakhomov

Bioelectrics Publications

In earlier studies, we found that permeabilization of mammalian cells with nsPEF was accompanied by prolonged inhibition of voltage-gated (VG) currents through the plasma membrane. This study explored if the inhibition of VG Na+ current (INa) resulted from (i) reduction of the transmembrane Na+ gradient due to its influx via nsPEF-opened pores, and/or (ii) downregulation of the VG channels by a Ca2+ -dependent mechanism. We found that a single 300?ns electric pulse at 1.65.3?kV/cm triggered sustained Na+ influx in exposed NG108 cells and in primary chromaffin cells, as detected by increased fluorescence of a …

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The Role Of Ess1 In Survival, Morphogenetic Switching And Transcription In The Fungal Pathogen Candida Albicans, Dhanushki Poornima Samaranayake Jan 2012

The Role Of Ess1 In Survival, Morphogenetic Switching And Transcription In The Fungal Pathogen Candida Albicans, Dhanushki Poornima Samaranayake

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Candida albicans is a fungal pathogen that causes serious infections among immune-compromised patients and premature infants. C. albicans can become drug resistant, therefore, identifying new antifungal drug targets is an important goal. Here, we study a peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase called Ess1 as a potential drug target. Ess1 is conserved among pathogenic fungi, and therefore, potential inhibitors of Ess1 should display a broad spectrum of activity. We confirm that Ess1 is essential for growth in Candida albicans, but unlike the previously published find, deleting one copy of the C. albicans ESS1 gene did not affect morphogenetic switching. However, further reducing activity …

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Gld-1 Represses Its Puf Mrna Targets Prior To/At Initiation Of Translation In The C.Elegans Germline, Gautham Sarathy Jan 2012

Gld-1 Represses Its Puf Mrna Targets Prior To/At Initiation Of Translation In The C.Elegans Germline, Gautham Sarathy

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The C.elegans germline offers an ideal system to study posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression as it is a major mechanism through which the control over gene expression is achieved. GLD-1 (defective in GermLine Development) is a maxi-KH motif containing RNA binding protein that controls various aspects of germline development from decision over germcell proliferation vs. meiotic entry to the production of mature gametes suggesting that GLD-1 likely controls many mRNA targets.

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