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Developmental Biology

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College of Natural Science and Mathematics

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

Rab35 Centered Membrane Trafficking Pathway Directs Apical Constriction During Drosophila Gastrulation, Hui Miao Jan 2021

Rab35 Centered Membrane Trafficking Pathway Directs Apical Constriction During Drosophila Gastrulation, Hui Miao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Force generation in epithelial tissues is often pulsatile, with actomyosin networks generating high-tension contractile forces at the cell cortex before cyclically disassembling. This pulsed nature of cytoskeletal forces implies that there must be cellular processes to extract unidirectional changes that drive processive transformations in cell shape. During Drosophila melanogastergastrulation, the invagination of the prospective mesoderm is driven by the pulsed constriction of apical surfaces. Here, we address the mechanisms by which the irreversibility of pulsed events is achieved while also permitting uniform epithelial behaviors to emerge. We use MSD-based analyses to identify contractile steps and find that when a …


Characterization Of The Whale Shark (Rhincodon Typus) Melanocortin-2 Receptor, Brianne Hoglin Jan 2021

Characterization Of The Whale Shark (Rhincodon Typus) Melanocortin-2 Receptor, Brianne Hoglin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Among bony vertebrates, the melanocortin-2 receptor ortholog is unique among the family of five melanocortin receptors on the basis that it is dependent on its accessory protein, MRAP1, for trafficking and activation, and is selective for activation by ACTH alone. Previous studies on the MC2R orthologs of select cartilaginous fish, the elephant shark (Callorhinchus milii) and the red stingray (Dasyatis akajei), revealed divergent traits in a less obligatory relationship on MRAP1 and its ability to be activated by ACTH or the MSH-sized peptides. However, observed traits were not consistent between these two cartilaginous fish species, posing …