Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology
An Investigation Of Epigenetic Mechanisms Driving The Biology Of Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Scot Carson Callahan
An Investigation Of Epigenetic Mechanisms Driving The Biology Of Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Scot Carson Callahan
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the 6th most common cancer worldwide and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. To date, the majority of work in the field has focused on genomic alterations such as mutations and copy number alterations. However, the clinical success of targeted therapies that exploit known genomic alterations, such as EGFR mutations, has remained mixed. Over the past decade, the importance of epigenetic regulators has come to the forefront, with the realization that many of these genes are mutated in cancer. Despite this realization, the role of epigenetics in regulating tumorigenesis, progression and …
Unveiling Global Roles Of G-Quadruplexes And G4-22 In Human Genetics, Ruth Barros De Paula
Unveiling Global Roles Of G-Quadruplexes And G4-22 In Human Genetics, Ruth Barros De Paula
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
G-quadruplexes are non-B DNA structures formed by four or more runs of repeated guanines that confer unique features to living organism’s genomes. These sequences are enriched in regulatory regions, such as promoters and 5’ UTRs, and have distinct regulatory roles in both health and disease states. Even though previous studies showed the impact of G4 in gene expression, none of them summarized the location-specific effect of G4. Also, there is no broad understanding about the most common G4 repeat in the human genome, named here as G4-22, and how it links to the evolution of mammals and their biology. In …
Development Of Computational Tools To Target Microrna, Luo Song
Development Of Computational Tools To Target Microrna, Luo Song
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
MicroRNAs (a.k.a, miRNAs) play an important role in disease development. However, few of their structures have been determined and structure-based computational methods remain challenging in accurately predicting their interactions with small molecules. To address this issue, my thesis is to develop integrated approaches to screening for novel inhibitors by targeting specific structure motifs in miRNAs. The project starts with implementing a tool to find potential miRNA targets with desired motifs. I combined both sequence information of miRNAs and known RNA structure data from Protein Data Bank (PDB) to predict the miRNA structure and identify the motif to target, then I …
Investigating The Interaction Of Aurka And Ube2c In Colorectal Cancer Cells, Apurva M. Hegde
Investigating The Interaction Of Aurka And Ube2c In Colorectal Cancer Cells, Apurva M. Hegde
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US. Among the many genomic aberrations previously implicated in colorectal cancer, recurrent amplification of chromosome 20q is frequently associated with liver metastasis. Previous research in our lab identified a gene signature on chromosome 20q associated with colorectal cancer progression. In this study, one of the genes in the signature, the ubiquitin conjugating enzyme UBE2C, was identified through preliminary bioinformatics analysis as a candidate for further examination of its role in CRC progression. Co-expression analysis of UBE2C in tumor-normal datasets from the public database Oncomine revealed all the …
Genome-Wide Profiling Unveils Criticial Functions Of P53 In Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Kadir C. Akdemir
Genome-Wide Profiling Unveils Criticial Functions Of P53 In Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Kadir C. Akdemir
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) possess two unique characteristics: infinite self-renewal and the potential to differentiate into almost every cell type (pluripotency). Recently, global expression analyses of metastatic breast and lung cancers revealed an ESC-like expression program or signature, specifically for cancers that are mutant for p53 function. Surprisingly, although p53 is widely recognized as the guardian of the genome, due to its roles in cell cycle checkpoints, programmed cell death or senescence, relatively little is known about p53 functions in normal cells, especially in ESCs. My hypothesis is that p53 has specific transcription regulatory functions in human ESCs (hESCs) that …