Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Finding Biomarkers From Long-Non-Coding Rnas In Serum Of Patients With Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Nouran Yonis

Theses and Dissertations

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming a serious global public health problem as it is a highly prevalent condition, that begins as simple liver steatosis and develops into an inflammatory steatosis form known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NAFLD has been linked with multiple comorbidities, which in certain cases predisposes to mortality secondary to extrahepatic neoplasms and coronary diseases. On the other hand, NASH leaves patients at risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The incidence of NAFLD- based HCC is steadily increasing and is projected to surpass the incidence of HCC from viral origins. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been …

A Potential Role For Substance P In West Nile Virus Neuropathogenesis, Shannon E Ronca, Sarah M Gunter, Rebecca Berry Kairis, Allison Lino, Jonathan Romero, Robia G Pautler, Alan Nimmo, Kristy O Murray

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Of individuals who develop West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND), ~10% will die and >40% will develop long-term complications. Current treatment recommendations solely focus on supportive care; therefore, we urgently need to identify novel and effective therapeutic options. We observed a correlation between substance P (SP), a key player in neuroinflammation, and its receptor Neurokinin-1 (NK1R). Our study in a wild-type BL6 mouse model found that SP is upregulated in the brain during infection, which correlated with neuroinvasion and damage to the blood−brain barrier. Blocking the SP/NK1R interaction beginning at disease onset modestly improved survival and prolonged time to death in …

The Emerging Spectrum Of Cardiopulmonary Pathology Of The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19): Report Of 3 Autopsies From Houston, Texas, And Review Of Autopsy Findings From Other United States Cities, Manish Bodas, Bharathiraja Subramaniyan, Harry Karmouty-Quintana, Peter F Vitiello, Matthew S Walters

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The mammalian respiratory system or lung is a tree-like branching structure, and the main site of gas exchange with the external environment. Structurally, the lung is broadly classified into the proximal (or conducting) airways and the distal alveolar region, where the gas exchange occurs. In parallel with the respiratory tree, the pulmonary vasculature starts with large pulmonary arteries that subdivide rapidly ending in capillaries adjacent to alveolar structures to enable gas exchange. The NOTCH signalling pathway plays an important role in lung development, differentiation and regeneration post-injury. Signalling via the NOTCH pathway is mediated through activation of four NOTCH receptors …

Retinoic Acid Receptor Activation Reduces Metastatic Prostate Cancer Bone Lesions By Blocking The Endothelial-To-Osteoblast Transition, Guoyu Yu, Paul G Corn, Pengfei Shen, Jian H Song, Yu-Chen Lee, Song-Chang Lin, Jing Pan, Sandeep K Agarwal, Theocharis Panaretakis, Maurizio Pacifici, Christopher J Logothetis, Li-Yuan Yu-Lee, Sue-Hwa Lin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) in the bone induces bone-forming lesions that contribute to progression and therapy resistance. PCa-induced bone originates from endothelial cells (EC) that have undergone endothelial-to-osteoblast (EC-to-OSB) transition in response to tumor-secreted BMP4. Current strategies targeting PCa-induced bone formation are lacking. Here, we show that activation of retinoic acid receptor (RAR) inhibits EC-to-OSB transition and reduces PCa-induced bone formation. Treatment with palovarotene, an RARγ agonist being tested for heterotopic ossification in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, inhibited EC-to-OSB transition and osteoblast mineralization in vitro and decreased tumor-induced bone formation and tumor growth in several osteogenic PCa models, and similar effects …

Circadian Clock Controls Rhythms In Ketogenesis By Interfering With Ppar Alpha Transcriptional Network, Volha Mezhnina, Oghogho P. Ebeigbe, Nikkhil Velingkaar, Allan Poe, Yana I. Sandlers, Roman Kondratov

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

Ketone bodies are energy-rich metabolites and signaling molecules whose production is mainly regulated by diet. Caloric restriction (CR) is a dietary intervention that improves metabolism and extends longevity across the taxa. We found that CR induced high -amplitude daily rhythms in blood ketone bodies (beta-hydroxybutyrate [beta OHB]) that correlated with liver beta OHB level. Time-restricted feeding, another periodic fasting-based diet, also led to rhythmic beta OHB but with reduced amplitude. CR induced strong circadian rhythms in the expression of fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis genes in the liver. The transcriptional factor peroxisome-proliferator-activated-receptor alpha (PPAR alpha) and its transcriptional target hepatokine …

Helical Remodeling Augments 5-Lipoxygenase Activity In The Synthesis Of Proinflammatory Mediators, Eden M. Gallegos, Tanner D. Reed, Forge A. Mathes, Nelson V. Guevara, David B. Neau, Wei Huang, Marcia E. Newcomer, Nathaniel C. Gilbert

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

The synthesis of proinflammatory leukotrienes implicated in asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atherosclerosis is initiated by the enzyme 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX). The crystal structure of human Stable-5-LOX revealed a conformation where the catalytic iron was inaccessible to bulk solvent as two aromatic residues on a conserved helix-α2 (Hα2) plugged the substrate access portal. Whether 5-LOX can also adopt a more open conformation has not been resolved. Here, we present a new conformation of 5-LOX where Hα2 adopts an elongated conformation equivalent to that described in other animal lipoxygenase structures. Our observation of the sigmoidal kinetic behavior of 5-LOX, which is indicative of …

Methods For Bioconjugation Of Biochemical Sensors Based On Metallic Nanoparticles, Jacob Rolin

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Assessing Biochemistry Students’ Use Of Metabolic Pathway Entities, Nina Fortier

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Assessing Undergraduate Expression Of Biochemical Mechanisms, Lauren Richardson

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Cell-Intrinsic Melanin Fails To Protect Melanocytes From Ultraviolet-Mutagenesis In The Absence Of Epidermal Melanin, Tirzah J. Weiss, Emma R. Crawford, Valentina Posada, Hafeez Rahman, Tong Liu, Brandon M. Murphy, Tiffany E. Arnold, Shannon Gray, Zhexuan Hu, Rebecca C. Hennessey, Lianbo Yu, John August D'Orazio, Craig J. Burd, Jonathan H. Zippin, Douglas Grossman, Christin E. Burd

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Melanin is a free-radical scavenger, antioxidant, and broadband absorber of ultraviolet (UV) radiation which protects the skin from environmental carcinogenesis. However, melanin synthesis and UV-induced reactive melanin species are also implicated in melanocyte genotoxicity. Here, we attempted to reconcile these disparate functions of melanin using a UVB- sensitive, NRAS-mutant mouse model, TpN. We crossed TpN mice heterozygous for an inactivating mutation in Tyrosinase to produce albino and black littermates on a C57BL/6J background. These animals were then exposed to a single UVB dose on postnatal day three when keratinocytes in the skin have yet to be melanized. Approximately one-third (35%) …

Lifestyle Intervention Strategy To Treat Diabetes In Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Alessandra Celli, Yoann Barnouin, Bryan Jiang, Dean Blevins, Georgia Colleluori, Sanjay Mediwala, Reina Armamento-Villareal, Clifford Qualls, Dennis T Villareal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: Lifestyle intervention is recommended as first-line treatment of diabetes at all ages; however, little is known about the efficacy of lifestyle intervention in older adults with diabetes. We aimed to determine whether lifestyle intervention would improve glycemic control and age-relevant outcomes in older adults with diabetes and comorbidities.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 100 older adults with diabetes were randomly assigned to 1-year intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) (diet and exercise at a facility transitioned into community-fitness centers and homes) or healthy lifestyle (HL) group. The primary outcome was change in HbA1c. Secondary outcomes included glucoregulation, body composition, …

Sustained Deep-Tissue Voltage Recording Using A Fast Indicator Evolved For Two-Photon Microscopy, Zhuohe Liu, Xiaoyu Lu, Vincent Villette, Yueyang Gou, Kevin L Colbert, Shujuan Lai, Sihui Guan, Michelle A Land, Jihwan Lee, Tensae Assefa, Daniel R Zollinger, Maria M Korympidou, Anna L Vlasits, Michelle M Pang, Sharon Su, Changjia Cai, Emmanouil Froudarakis, Na Zhou, Saumil S Patel, Cameron L Smith, Annick Ayon, Pierre Bizouard, Jonathan Bradley, Katrin Franke, Thomas R Clandinin, Andrea Giovannucci, Andreas S Tolias, Jacob Reimer, Stéphane Dieudonné, François St-Pierre

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Genetically encoded voltage indicators are emerging tools for monitoring voltage dynamics with cell-type specificity. However, current indicators enable a narrow range of applications due to poor performance under two-photon microscopy, a method of choice for deep-tissue recording. To improve indicators, we developed a multiparameter high-throughput platform to optimize voltage indicators for two-photon microscopy. Using this system, we identified JEDI-2P, an indicator that is faster, brighter, and more sensitive and photostable than its predecessors. We demonstrate that JEDI-2P can report light-evoked responses in axonal termini of Drosophila interneurons and the dendrites and somata of amacrine cells of isolated mouse retina. JEDI-2P …

Limited Utility Of Structural Mri To Identify The Epileptogenic Zone In Young Children With Tuberous Sclerosis, Maaike Nijman, Edward Yang, Camilo Jaimes, Anna K Prohl, Mustafa Sahin, Darcy A Krueger, Joyce Y Wu, Hope Northrup, Scellig S D Stone, Joseph R Madsen, Aria Fallah, Jeffrey P Blount, Howard L Weiner, Leslie Grayson, E Martina Bebin, Brenda E Porter, Simon K Warfield, Sanjay P Prabhu, Jurriaan M Peters, Tacern Study Group

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The success of epilepsy surgery in children with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) hinges on identification of the epileptogenic zone (EZ). We studied structural MRI markers of epileptogenic lesions in young children with TSC.

METHODS: We included 26 children with TSC who underwent epilepsy surgery before the age of 3 years at five sites, with 12 months or more follow-up. Two neuroradiologists, blinded to surgical outcome data, reviewed 10 candidate lesions on preoperative MRI for characteristics of the tuber (large affected area, calcification, cyst-like properties) and of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) features (cortical malformation, gray-white matter junction blurring, …

Novel Therapeutic Strategies For Alzheimer’S Disease: Prostaglandin D2 Signaling And Its Human Polymorphisms As Well As A Polypharmacological Approach, Charles H. Wallace

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age related neurodegenerative disease with pathology that includes amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and non-resolving neuroinflammation. Non-resolving neuroinflammation lasts the entire course of the disease and has deleterious effects and is often thought to accelerate AD pathology. Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) have commonly been used as therapeutics to treat pain, inflammation and vascular. NSAIDs work by altering the cyclooxygenase (COX) mediated biosynthesis of prostaglandins which are lipid mediators that have many physiological functions, for example nociception, inflammation and vasodilation. Epidemiological studies support the notion that NSAIDs could be used to treat AD. Yet, clinical trials using …

Novel Therapeutic Strategies For Alzheimer’S Disease: Targeting Toll-Like Receptor Signaling And A Multi-Target Approach, Giovanni Oliveros

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is multifactorial, and its hallmarks include the formation of amyloid-beta (Ab) plaques and neurofibrillary tau tangles, accompanied by an increase in glial cell activation, culminating in neurodegeneration, chronic neuroinflammation, and cognitive decline in human patients. AD will cost the United States over $300 million this year alone and is projected to cost over $1 trillion by 2050, AD is a serious concern for the aging population, and efforts need to be redirected towards more effective therapeutic intervention strategies. Drugs aimed at halting AD progression have so far proven unsuccessful due to the development of pharmaceuticals that target …

Prenatal Choline Supplementation During Maternal Obesity Alters Offspring Response To Western Diets, Hunter W. Korsmo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Maternal obesity has led to an increase in adverse offspring developmental outcomes and a greater risk for long-term metabolic diseases. Choline, a semi-essential nutrient, can be incorporated into phosphatidylcholine (PC) as well as sphingomyelin (SM) and donate its labile methyl group for the remethylation of homocysteine after choline is oxidized to betaine. Prenatal choline insufficiency has been related to maternal obesity and metabolic diseases, such as metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). Choline may interact with maternal obesity to influence the programming offspring.

Chapter 1 presents an introduction of choline and the various clinical outcomes associated with choline supplementation during …

Role Of Nuclear Lamins In Oligodendrocyte Lineage Cells, Camila Yattah

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Differentiation of oligodendrocytes from progenitor cells is a highly regulated process characterized by a series of molecular changes, resulting in nuclear and morphological features unique to the mature oligodendrocyte state. Heterochromatin formation starting at the nuclear periphery, as well as increased nuclear rigidity are characteristically observed. The nuclear periphery is characterized by the presence of the nuclear lamina and it has been implicated in higher-order genome organization in cells. Lamins are the protein components of the nuclear lamina, and their expression is dependent upon the cell differentiation stage of the cells. While Lamin B1 (LMNB1) expression is high in progenitors …

Isolation And Characterization Of Fluorescent Proteins And Small Molecules From Marine Vertebrates, Sara Rose Krivoshik

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fluorescence is a phenomenon in which a wavelength of light excites a fluorophore and then emits light at a higher, longer wavelength. This occurs throughout the biological world, in both the terrestrial and marine realms. Encompassing a diverse set of mechanisms from small molecules to large protein complexes; fluorescence has been used as a biological tool with a wide range of applications to study molecular and cellular biology for decades. This dissertation looks to identify and characterize novel fluorescent proteins and small molecules to allow for more efficient translation in developing new biotechnologies. Using a combination of RNA-Seq, Mass-Spec, protein …

Determining The Roles Of The Oligomerization And C-Terminal Domains In Mutant P53 Gain-Of-Function Activities, George K. Annor

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The tumor suppressor p53 (TP53) gene is often mutated in cancer, with missense mutations found in the central DNA binding domain, and less often in the oligomerization domain (OD) and C-terminal domain (CTD). The OD and CTD have been found to be critical for the tumor suppressor functionality of wild-type p53 (wtp53). Specific missense mutations in the DNA binding domain have been found to confer new gain-of-function (GOF) activities. Mutations that destabilize tetramer formation, or deletion of key lysine residues within the CTD, downregulate the ability of wtp53 to transactivate (increase the rate of transcription of) its target …

Biochemical And Biophysical Characterization Of Replicative Helicase Loading By Vibrio Cholerae Dcia, Crystal Structure Of A Monoclonal Antibody Bound To A C-Terminal Fragment Of Ebna-1 From Epstein Barr Virus, Nicholas Gao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

DNA replication initiation is mediated by the binding of an initiator protein to genomic origins of replication to begin the process of loading replicative helicases onto the genome. The loading of the helicase requires the action of an accessory protein, named a “loader”. Studies on well-characterized loaders have outlined how the bacterial DnaB replicative helicase is loaded via mechanisms of “Ring-Breaking” by E. coli DnaC (EcDnaC)/protein P from bacteriophage lambda (LP) and “Ring-Making” by B. subtilis DnaI. Mounting evidence points to a recently discovered candidate loader, named DciA, that shows a more widespread distribution throughout bacteria than DnaC and DnaI …

Mechanism Of Activation And Regulation Of By-Kinases, A Unique Family Of P-Loop Enzymes, Fatlum Hajredini

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The bacterial tyrosine kinases (BY-kinase) represent a class of membrane-bound enzymes that utilize a cycle of auto-phosphorylation and de-phosphorylation to drive the synthesis and export of exopolysaccharides in both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The catalytic domain of BY-kinases utilizes a P-loop nucleoside triphosphatase (NTPase) fold that is commonly used by NTPases and small molecule kinases, being the only protein kinase to do so. In the work presented in this thesis, we aimed to obtain an understanding of the mechanisms of the BY-kinases’ unconventional deployment of P-loop scaffold to phosphorylate on tyrosine. We used the BY-kinase of Escherichia coli (K12) as …

Generation Of Mycobacterium Smegmatis Model Systems For Testing Inhibitors Of The Mycobactin Siderophore Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Gabrielle A. Germain

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the pathogenic bacterium causative of tuberculosis. According to the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report, there were approximately 5.8 million TB cases in 2020, and 1.3 million TB deaths among HIV negative people in that year. The rise of multi-drug resistant Mtb strains has increased the need for more potent microbials against this pathogen. Biosynthesis of iron scavenging molecules, known as siderophores (e.g., mycobactin and carboxymycobactin), has been identified as a potential drug target candidate since iron acquisition has been directly linked to the survival and virulence of Mtb. Salicyl-AMS (Sal-AMS) is …

Conformation Of The U12-U6atac Snrna Complex Of The Minor Spliceosome And Binding By Ntc-Related Protein Rbm22, Joanna Ciavarella

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Splicing of precursor messenger (pre-m)RNA is a critical process in eukaryotes in which the non-coding regions, called introns, are removed and coding regions, or exons, are ligated to form a mature mRNA. This process is catalyzed by the spliceosome, a multi-mega Dalton ribonucleoprotein complex assembled from five small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNP) in the form of small nuclear (sn)RNA-protein complexes (U1, U2, U4, U5 and U6) and >100 proteins. snRNA components catalyze the two transesterification reactions while proteins perform critical roles in assembly and rearrangement. U2 and U6 snRNAs are the only snRNAs directly implicated in catalyzing the splicing of pre-mRNA. …

Transcriptional Mechanisms Of Neuroprotection In Excitotoxicity Driven Neurodegeneration In C. Elegans, Zelda Z. Mendelowitz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Excitotoxicity is notorious for triggering neuronal cell death in both developmental and adult-onset neurodegenerative diseases. In excitotoxicity, excessive concentrations of Glutamate in the synapse overstimulate Glutamate Receptors (GluRs) on postsynaptic neurons. While GluR mediated degenerative mechanisms remain obscure, GluR activation was surprisingly found to also have a neuroprotective effect through activation of specific transcriptional programs. To identify evolutionarily conserved transcriptional programs in neuroprotection we use a C. elegans model of excitotoxic necrosis (glt-3;nuIs5). We have identified that non-canonical activation of the transcription factor CRH-1/CREB mediates neuroprotection in our excitotoxicity model. We found the Histone Acetyl Transferase, MYS-1/KAT6, and the neuronal …

Mechanisms Of Substrate Selectivity And Transport By Escherichia Coli Atp- Binding Cassette (Abc) Transporter Metni, Yuchun Chen

Master's Theses

ABC transporters are central in many cellular functions including nutrient uptake, signal transduction membrane assembly, and cellular detoxification. Both structural and functional studies have revealed insights into the high-affinity uptake mechanism of the MetNI methionine ABC transporter. Using the energy from ATP binding and hydrolysis, the MetNI-Q system can import L-Met, D-Met, and other methionine derivatives against concentration gradients. Many mechanistic studies of ABC transporter propose a model in which cognate binding proteins sequester substrates in the periplasm and deliver them to the transporter. In contrast, recent in vivo and crystallographic studies of MetNI-Q suggest that some substrates may be …

Atg23 Dimerization Drives Membrane Tethering In Yeast Autophagy, Kelsie A. Leary

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

All cells undergo stress throughout their lifetime, including single-celled bacterium or a single cell from a plant or a human. This stress can result in damage that can be detrimental to the cell if it is not removed. Thus, healthy cells require a tight balance between clearing damaged cellular material and its replenishment. Autophagy is a highly conserved process evolved by cells to encapsulate damaged material in a double membrane vesicle for its delivery to the lysosome (in mammals) or the vacuole (in yeast). Upon lysosomal delivery, the contents are degraded and returned to the cell for reuse. Autophagy can …

Ncoa4 Regulates Iron Recycling And Responds To Hepcidin Activity And Lipopolysaccharide In Macrophages, Cole A. Guggisberg, Juyoung Kim, Jaekwon Lee, Xiaoli Chen, Moon-Suhn Ryu

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Macrophages, via erythrophagocytosis, recycle iron from effete erythrocytes to newly developing red blood cells. Conversion of potentially cytotoxic levels of iron from its heme into nonheme form during iron recycling is safely accomplished via coordinated regulations of cellular iron transport and homeostasis. Herein, we demonstrate the roles and regulation of NCOA4 (nuclear receptor coactivator 4)-mediated ferritinophagy in macrophages after erythrophagocytosis using the mouse macrophage cell line J774 cells. Ferritin in J774 cells increased with the rise of nonheme iron by erythrocyte ingestion and declined when total cellular iron contents subsequently decreased. NCOA4, a selective autophagic cargo receptor for ferritin, was …

Design Of Novel Metalloenzymes And Investigation Of Protein-Metal Interactions, Alona Kulesha

Dissertations - ALL

Metalloproteins are the proteins that utilize metals or metal complexes as cofactors and exhibit a wide range of functions from oxygen transport and regulation of transcription to hydroxylation of alkanes and water splitting, even though they employ a limited set of metals and metal-binding ligands. The investigation of metalloprotein amino acid sequence, structure and function relationships can uncover the principles behind natural metalloprotein design and opens the possibility of their implication as scaffolds for the design of novel catalysts and biomaterials. Protein engineering is a set of techniques that allows to install new functionalities into existing proteins or to design …

Redundancy And Developmental Coordination In Myxococcus Xanthus: Insights From The Phenome, Jessica A. Comstock

Dissertations - ALL

Genotype-to-phenotype mapping can typically involve disrupting the function of a gene and observing the impact of mutation on phenotype. While this can be a powerful tool for uncovering gene function, complicating factors such as influences between genes and the environment, epistatic interactions with other genes, and genetic redundancy could all potentially mask the phenotype of a mutation such that functional inferences cannot be made. On the level of the single gene, this may not be particularly informative, but it is possible that studying phenotype in this way at a genome scale might allow for the observation of patterns between genes …

Compositionally And Density Stratified Igneous Terrain In Jezero Crater, Mars, Roger C. Wiens, Arya Udry, Olivier Beyssac, Cathy Quantin-Nataf, Nicolas Mangold, Agnès Cousin, Lucia Mandon, Tanja Bosak, Olivier Forni, Scott M. Mclennan, Violaine Sautter, Adrian Cousin, Karim Benzerara, Jeffrey R. Johnson, Lisa Mayhew, Sylvestre Maurice, Ryan B. Maurice, Ryan B. Anderson, Samuel M. Clegg, Larry Crumpler, Stanley M. Angel

Faculty Publications

Before Perseverance, Jezero crater's floor was variably hypothesized to have a lacustrine, lava, volcanic airfall, or aeolian origin. SuperCam observations in the first 286 Mars days on Mars revealed a volcanic and intrusive terrain with compositional and density stratification.The dominant lithology along the traverse is basaltic, with plagioclase enrichment in stratigraphically higher locations. Stratigraphically lower, layered rocks are richer in normative pyroxene. The lowest observed unit has the highest inferred density and is olivine-rich with coarse (1.5 millimeters) euhedral, relatively unweathered grains, suggesting a cumulate origin. This is the first martian cumulate and shows similarities to martian meteorites, which also …