Biochemistry Commons^™

Caught In Motion: Structural Studies Of Nucleic Acid Repair Enzymes, Brittany Carroll

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Cells synthesize proteins, the molecular instruments of all cellular processes, via

intermediate biomolecules that are susceptible to damage at every step. Known as the

central dogma of molecular biology, genes encoded in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are

transcribed, spliced, and matured into messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). These

nucleic acids direct protein synthesis by the pairing of nucleotide triplets with transfer

RNA (tRNA). tRNAs concomitantly decode the so-called codon, as they escort the

correct amino acid to the ribosome for extension of the nascent polypeptide chain.

Damage to any of these intermediate biomolecules can be highly damaging to protein

synthesis, leading to …

Maintenance Of Mammary Epithelial Phenotype By Transcription Factor Runx1 Through Mitotic Gene Bookmarking, Joshua Rose

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Breast cancer arises from a series of acquired mutations that disrupt normal mammary epithelial homeostasis and create multi-potent cancer stem cells that can differentiate into clinically distinct breast cancer subtypes. Despite improved therapies and advances in early detection, breast cancer remains the leading diagnosed cancer in women.

A predominant mechanism initiating invasion and migration for a variety of cancers including breast, is epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT— a trans-differentiation process through which mammary epithelial cells acquire a more aggressive mesenchymal phenotype—is a regulated process during early mammary gland development and involves many transcription factors involved in cell lineage commitment, proliferation, and …

Studies On The Molecular Mechanism Of S-Tide Mediated Activation Of Pkg-Iα, Joseph William Charles

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

cGMP-dependent protein kinases (PKG) are key players in intracellular second messenger signaling within many cellular systems throughout the body. Most notably PKG is known for its role in smooth muscle relaxation (Pfeiffer et.al, 1999). The Iα PKG isozyme has been identified as the primary effector of the nitric oxide pathway (and serves to be a novel drug target). To date the overall knowledge of structure and function of PKG is lacking in terms of the mechanisms of activation and the structural orientations that coordinate them. Recently, our laboratory has solved the crystal structure of the regulatory domain of PKG Iα, …