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Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry

The Affect Of Dha Concentration On Lipid Membrane Fluidity, Elise Rezabeck Jan 2023

The Affect Of Dha Concentration On Lipid Membrane Fluidity, Elise Rezabeck

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My proposed project will be creating large unilaminar vesicles with varying concentrations of DHA in the vesicles. The diffusion in and out of these vesicles will be tracked by using singular lipid molecules. These singular lipid molecules will be tagged with fluorescence and viewed using an internal reflection fluorescence microscope. The data collected over the course of this project will then be analyzed using Matlab. The result of the project will be to find the specific lipid diffusion constant of these unilaminar vesicles. The relationship between the concentration of DHA and lipid diffusion and membrane fluidity will be found as …


Sequential Block Copolymers Of Polyisobutylene And Polyolefins, Manwel Labib Jan 2022

Sequential Block Copolymers Of Polyisobutylene And Polyolefins, Manwel Labib

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A two-step approach will be utilized to synthesize random polyolefin multiblock-copolymers. This strategy takes advantage of a,w-terminated telechelic polyolefins. Polypropylene (iPP)/polyethylene (PE) are picked because of their strength, and polyisobutylene (PIB) because of its hemocompatibility. This copolymer is theorized to make for robust bio-inert plastic, which can be used for surgical mesh implants.


The Influence Of Hydrogen Peroxide On The Enrichment Of Fe(Iii) Reducing Bacteria From Acid Mine Drainage, Susami Seth Jan 2022

The Influence Of Hydrogen Peroxide On The Enrichment Of Fe(Iii) Reducing Bacteria From Acid Mine Drainage, Susami Seth

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It is hypothesized that the ocean of Europa, a Jupiter moon, hosts bacteria on its oceanic floor. Understanding how Fe(III) reducing bacteria (FeRB) from AMD utilize organic materials within its surrounding environment outlines how FeRB could thrive and tolerate extreme conditions. FeRB are known to tolerate metals and highly reactive oxidants species (ROS), but in this experiment, H2O2 was the experimental factor to further test FeRB tolerance. H2O2 is a common ROS and is damaging to living material such as proteins, DNA, and RNA. A range of H2O2 concentrations were fed …


Synthesis Of Rna Nucleotides Under Probable Prebiotic Conditions, Ryan Stimson Jan 2022

Synthesis Of Rna Nucleotides Under Probable Prebiotic Conditions, Ryan Stimson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

RNA being composed of multiple covalently linked nucleotides is thought to have been a precursor to life circa 4.3-3.8 billion years ago. Non-enzymatically formed adenosine monophosphate (AMP), more specifically, is a vitally important subtopic of the self-assembly of the first RNA sequence. The goal of this study was to synthesize AMP non-enzymatically under benign conditions that are likely to have existed on early Earth. In this experiment, 3’,5’-cAMP was successfully formed using wet-dry cycles at 80°C paired with the minerals zeolite beta, hydroxyapatite, and aerosil 300 in the presence of adenosine, urea, and pyrophosphate. A nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer was …


Application Of Lipid Styryl Dye For Staining Intracytoplasmic Membranes In Gram-Negative Bacteria, Theodore J. Hammer Jan 2015

Application Of Lipid Styryl Dye For Staining Intracytoplasmic Membranes In Gram-Negative Bacteria, Theodore J. Hammer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Intracytoplasmic membranes are structures that form within cells which help facilitate a variety of different metabolic processes. This feature of intracellular membranes makes them particularly valuable for studying compartmentalization and cell dynamics in bacteria. In the past, transmission electron microscopy has been the primary method for imaging bacteria with intracytoplasmic membranes. Because transmission electron microscopy takes images of a cell in fixed slices, it’s impossible to follow a cell’s growth and development over time. Fluorescence microscopy is a particularly effective method of measurement that can combat these issues when evaluating live bacterial cells. Here, standard biochemical laboratory procedures were used …


Sharp Rna Recognition Motif Optimizations, Extensions, And Mutations For Use In 2d And 3d Nmr Experiments, Shaun M. Christie Jan 2015

Sharp Rna Recognition Motif Optimizations, Extensions, And Mutations For Use In 2d And 3d Nmr Experiments, Shaun M. Christie

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

SMRT/HDAC Associated Repressor Protein interacts with the long noncoding RNA, produced by SRA, by binding at the RRMs. Three projects were done to prepare the truncated proteins for use in 2D and 3D NMR experiments. The first focuses on RRM 3 and its optimization during the purification process. The second focuses on RRM 2-4, which was found to be missing two alpha helices that may be important for protein stability. These helices can also interact with RRM 3 as well due to the tight association of RRMs 3 and 4. The two step PCR extension of RRM 2-4 was assumed …