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Articles 1 - 4 of 4

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

The Regulation Of Dna Methylation In Mammalian Development And Cancer, Nicolas Veland May 2018

The Regulation Of Dna Methylation In Mammalian Development And Cancer, Nicolas Veland

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

DNA methylation is an essential epigenetic modification in mammals, as it plays important regulatory roles in multiple biological processes, such as gene transcription, maintenance of chromosomal structure and genomic stability, genomic imprinting, retrotransposon silencing, and X-chromosome inactivation. Dysregulation of DNA methylation is associated with various human diseases. For example, cancer cells usually show global hypomethylation and regional hypermenthylation, which have been implicated in genomic instability and tumor suppressor silencing, respectively. Although great progress has been made in elucidating the biological functions of DNA methylation over the last several decades, how DNA methylation patterns and levels are regulated and dysregulated is …


The Role Of Thymine-Dna Glycosylase In Transcriptional Regulation, Bart Kolendowski Apr 2018

The Role Of Thymine-Dna Glycosylase In Transcriptional Regulation, Bart Kolendowski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Precise control over transcriptional regulation is required for normal cell function. Errors in transcriptional regulation underpin many diseases including cancer. Thymine DNA Glycosylase (TDG) is a base excision repair protein and a coregulator that has been implicated in a diverse set of fundamental biological processes including embryonic development, nuclear receptor signaling and Wnt signaling. Importantly, TDG has been shown to play an important role in transcriptional regulation in a wide variety of systems. Details surrounding the mechanism through which TDG acts remain unclear. In this thesis we explore the role of TDG in Estrogen Receptor (ER)-dependent signaling and in cellular …


Effectiveness And Mechanism Of Action Of Modified Porphyrins For Photodynamic Therapy Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Alex Abbott Jan 2018

Effectiveness And Mechanism Of Action Of Modified Porphyrins For Photodynamic Therapy Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Alex Abbott

Honors Theses

Triple negative breast cancer is an aggressive family of cancers that are extremely difficult to treat. Therefore, the prognosis for most patients with TNBC is poor. The goal of this research is to determine if photodynamic therapy could be a possible option for TNBC in the future using MDA-MB231 cells. MDA-MB231 cells were originally isolated from a patient with triple negative breast cancer and have been used for many studies, so they would work well for this study. Photodynamic therapy uses compounds called photosensitizing agents which are taken up by all tissues in the body and then activated by light. …


Studies Of Norspermidine Uptake In Drosophila Suggest The Existence Of Multiple Polyamine Transport Pathways, Michael Dieffenbach Jan 2018

Studies Of Norspermidine Uptake In Drosophila Suggest The Existence Of Multiple Polyamine Transport Pathways, Michael Dieffenbach

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Polyamines are a class of essential nutrients involved in many basic cellular processes such as gene expression, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. Without polyamines, cell growth is delayed or halted. Cancerous cells require an abundance of polyamines through a combination of synthesis and transport from the extracellular environment. An FDA-approved drug, D,L-α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), blocks polyamine synthesis but is ineffective at inhibiting cell growth due to polyamine transport. Thus, there is a need to develop drugs that inhibit polyamine transport to use in combination with DFMO. Surprisingly, little is known about the polyamine transport system in humans and other eukaryotes. Understanding the …