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Biochemistry Commons

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Theses/Dissertations

Louisiana State University

2019

Articles 1 - 12 of 12

Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry

Iron-Sulfur Cluster Assembly; In Vivo Analysis Of The Methanogenic Suf System, Evan Dunkle Aug 2019

Iron-Sulfur Cluster Assembly; In Vivo Analysis Of The Methanogenic Suf System, Evan Dunkle

LSU Master's Theses

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are among the most ancient and prevalent of all biological cofactors. Their assembly into associated proteins is a tightly regulated process with many organisms employing multiple cluster assembly pathways. Much is known about Fe-S cluster assembly in aerobic organisms such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) but little is known in regards to cluster assembly in more ancient organisms such as methanogens. Methanogens are members of the domain of Archaea and are defined by their ability to generate methane as a byproduct of their main energy generating pathway. Methanogens also have significantly higher Fe-S cluster content …


Electron Transfer Activity Of Mitochondria Neet-Proteins, Yiming Wang Jul 2019

Electron Transfer Activity Of Mitochondria Neet-Proteins, Yiming Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mitochondrial NEET proteins are recently discovered iron-sulfur proteins that are localized within mitochondria. There are three NEET proteins: mitoNEET, a type II diabetes drug pioglitazone binding target, a mitoNEET related protein 1 (Miner1 or NAF-1), and a mitoNEET-related protein 2 (Miner2). While both mitoNEET and Miner1 are mitochondrial outer membrane proteins, Miner2 is a mitochondrial matrix protein. All three NEET proteins bind at least one [2Fe-2S] cluster via CDGSH (Cys-Asp-Gly-Ser-His) motif. In this work, we have investigated the electron transfer activity of mitoNEET, and found that the CDGSH-type [2Fe-2S] clusters of mitoNEET can be reduced by the reduced flavin mononucleotide …


Iron-Sulfur Cluster Biosynthesis In Methanogens, Cuiping Zhao Jun 2019

Iron-Sulfur Cluster Biosynthesis In Methanogens, Cuiping Zhao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Methanogens live in a syntrophic consortium with bacteria, taking advantage of the metabolic abilities of their syntrophic partners to overcome energetic barriers and break down compounds that they cannot digest by themselves. Interspecies electron transfer, which is a major type of microbial communication in syntrophic processes, improves methanogenesis and anaerobic oxidization of methane (AOM) processes involved in syntrophic consortia. These processes have a significant impact on the global carbon cycle. Most of the essential enzymes involved in methanogenesis are iron-sulfur proteins. Iron-sulfur clusters are one of the oldest and most versatile cofactors present in all domains of life. To date, …


Divergent Transcriptional Regulation Of Suppressors Of Cytokine Signaling Genes In Adipocytes, Paula Mota De Sa Jun 2019

Divergent Transcriptional Regulation Of Suppressors Of Cytokine Signaling Genes In Adipocytes, Paula Mota De Sa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Janus Kinase - Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling pathway transduces several signals crucial for development and homeostasis. Suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins control JAK-STAT signaling via a negative feedback loop. The transcription factor STAT5 is known to play a significant role in fat cell development and function, and several studies suggest that acetylation may affect STAT5 transcriptional activity. To test this hypothesis, we treated 3T3-L1 adipocytes with growth hormone (GH) to activate STAT5 in the presence or absence of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. STAT5 acetylation levels were low in adipocytes and mostly unchanged by the …


In Vitro Evaluation Of Ovarian Cancer Tumorigenesis As A Function Of Quinone Oxidoreducatse-1 And Cell Phenotype, Milcah S. Jackson Jun 2019

In Vitro Evaluation Of Ovarian Cancer Tumorigenesis As A Function Of Quinone Oxidoreducatse-1 And Cell Phenotype, Milcah S. Jackson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In vitro multicellular spheroids are attractive model systems for assessing genetic and epigenetic changes that occur in diseased tissues. Understanding how such alterations in gene and subsequent protein expression affect disease progression and metastasis, drug resistance, and recurrence is of great interest in cancer research. In this regard, examining expression and activity of proteins, such as those with cytoprotective ability that are overexpressed in cancer cells, in addition to cell phenotype (i.e., stem-like, epithelial, mesenchymal, or mixed), are two ways to evaluate genetic and epigenetic changes. Moreover, determining the impact that cytoprotective proteins and cell phenotype have on tumor formation …


Maximizing And Modeling Malonyl-Coa Production In Escherichia Coli, Tatiana Thompson Silveira Mello Jun 2019

Maximizing And Modeling Malonyl-Coa Production In Escherichia Coli, Tatiana Thompson Silveira Mello

LSU Master's Theses

In E. coli, fatty acid synthesis is catalyzed by the enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), which converts acetyl-CoA into malonyl-CoA. Malonyl-CoA is a major building block for numerous of bioproducts. Multiple parameters regulate the homeostatic cellular concentration of malonyl-CoA, keeping it at a very low level. Understanding how these parameters affect the bacterial production of malonyl-CoA is fundamental to maximizing it and its bioproducts. To this end, competing pathways consuming malonyl-CoA can be eliminated, and optimal nutritional and environmental conditions can be provided to the fermentation broth. Most previous studies utilized genetic modifications, expensive consumables, and high-cost quantification methods, making …


Role Of The Drosophila Beaf Protein In Chromatin Domain Insulator And Promoter Function, Mukesh Maharjan May 2019

Role Of The Drosophila Beaf Protein In Chromatin Domain Insulator And Promoter Function, Mukesh Maharjan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Proper folding of eukaryotic genomes is required to allow correct interactions between different parts of chromosomes. Precise and timely interactions among different parts of a chromosome allow proper functioning inside a nucleus, including gene regulation, DNA replication and DNA repair. Eukaryotic regulatory elements that facilitate folding and interactions include enhancers, promoters and insulator elements. Insulator elements and their binding proteins play an important role in regulating correct chromatin structure and function. The Drosophila melanogaster special chromatin structure (scs’) is one such insulator. The Boundary Element Associated Factor (BEAF) binds to scs’. BEAF is a 32 kDa protein that has two …


Characterization Of Iron-Sulfur Cluster Proteins From Methanococcus Maripaludis, Melody Salmanian Apr 2019

Characterization Of Iron-Sulfur Cluster Proteins From Methanococcus Maripaludis, Melody Salmanian

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Environmental Controls On Dissolved Carbon Export And River Geochemistry - A Case Study In The Mississippi-Atchafalaya System, Jeremy Reiman Mar 2019

Environmental Controls On Dissolved Carbon Export And River Geochemistry - A Case Study In The Mississippi-Atchafalaya System, Jeremy Reiman

LSU Master's Theses

Rivers serve as an important medium for the exchange of elements between land, ocean, and atmosphere. This thesis consists of three interconnected studies with the overarching goal of analyzing the environmental factors influencing dissolved carbon dynamics and river geochemistry in large rivers. These studies utilized river water samples and in-stream measurements collected from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers at hourly to monthly intervals between 2013 to 2018, along with ambient river and meteorological data downloaded from public-access databases. Results indicate substantially higher dissolved organic carbon concentrations (DOC, 611 ±181 µmol L-1) but lower concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon …


Improving Coupled Enzyme Assays With Capillary Electrophoresis, Thu Hoai Nguyen Mar 2019

Improving Coupled Enzyme Assays With Capillary Electrophoresis, Thu Hoai Nguyen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this project is to address limitations of coupled enzyme assays using capillary electrophoresis (CE). In some enzyme assays, it is ineffective to directly detect products and substrates spectroscopically (absorption or fluorescence). Coupling the enzyme-catalyzed reaction of interest with another enzyme-catalyzed reaction allows for indirect detection of product formation or substrate depletion for the target enzyme. While conventional coupled enzyme assays are facile for kinetic measurements, they can be problematic for inhibition screening due to spectral and inhibitor interferences. To address these limitations of coupled assays, CE has been used to develop enzyme assays for acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase …


Identification And Characterization Of Novel Transporters Involved In The Co2 Concentrating Mechanism Of Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Ananya Mukherjee Mar 2019

Identification And Characterization Of Novel Transporters Involved In The Co2 Concentrating Mechanism Of Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Ananya Mukherjee

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii possesses a CO2 concentrating mechanism (CCM) which helps in successful acclimation to low CO2 conditions. One of the main aspects of the CCM is bringing in inorganic carbon (Ci) into the cell as bicarbonate using Ci transporters. Current models of the CCM postulate that a series of ion transporters bring HCO3- from outside the cell to the thylakoid lumen where the carbonic anhydrase, CAH3, dehydrates accumulated HCO3- to CO2, raising the CO2 concentration for Rubisco. Previously, HCO3- transporters have been identified at both the …


The Drosophila Neuroblasts: A Model System For Human Ribosomopathies, Sonu Shrestha Baral Mar 2019

The Drosophila Neuroblasts: A Model System For Human Ribosomopathies, Sonu Shrestha Baral

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation describes the use of Drosophila neuroblasts (NBs) to model human ribosomopathies; the overall goal is to understand why specific stem cell and progenitor cell populations are the primary targets in nucleolar stress as seen in the ribosomopathies. Chapter 1 provides an overview of relevant literature. Chapter 2 describes nucleolar stress in Drosophila neuroblasts as a model for human ribosomopathies. For this, we induce nucleolar stress by using the UAS-GAL4 system to express RNAi that depletes Nopp140 transcripts, and we also employ homozygous, CRISPR-Cas9-generated Nopp140 gene disruptions with a systemic null phenotype (Nopp140-/-). Embryonic lethality was observed …