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2023

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Articles 301 - 308 of 308

Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

In Silico Drug Discovery For Sars-Cov-2 Papain-Like Protease, Olivia Haskin Jan 2023

In Silico Drug Discovery For Sars-Cov-2 Papain-Like Protease, Olivia Haskin

Wayne State University Theses

SARS-CoV-2 Papain-like protease is an essential viral protein for viral replication. In our lab, we hypothesize that successful inhibition of this protease will stop viral replication and allow for clearance of the infection by the host. The work described here aimed to design and execute an in silico drug discovery workflow for successfully selecting PLpro inhibitors from the Mcule purchasable compound database. This work reports such a workflow and nine potential compounds for in vitro testing. This work also describes structural activity relationship analysis of a proprietary set of PLpro inhibitors synthesized by medicinal chemistry collaborators and makes recommendations for …


Unraveling The Regulatory Basis Of The Desiccation Tolerance Trait In Selaginella Lepidophylla, Madhavi Anuradha Ariyarathne Hewa Babarandhage Jan 2023

Unraveling The Regulatory Basis Of The Desiccation Tolerance Trait In Selaginella Lepidophylla, Madhavi Anuradha Ariyarathne Hewa Babarandhage

Dissertations and Theses

Desiccation tolerance was a crucial adaptation for plants during their transition to terrestrial environments. Some spike mosses, including S. lepidophylla, have evolved the remarkable ability to tolerate extreme desiccation, enabling survival in arid regions of the world. However, the regulatory basis of this trait remains unknown. This dissertation aims to unravel the genetic basis of desiccation tolerance in Selaginella lepidophylla and its potential for improving crop abiotic stress tolerance. To achieve this goal, three objectives were pursued. Objective 1 focused on determining the regulatory role of the SlbHLH transcription factor (TF) by overexpressing it in Arabidopsis thaliana to assess its …


Mitochondrial Division: Synergizing In Mitochondrial Divisome, Ao Liu Jan 2023

Mitochondrial Division: Synergizing In Mitochondrial Divisome, Ao Liu

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Mitochondria are the energy factories of the cell. The dynamic nature of cells demands routine changes in mitochondrial morphology by fusion and division. The dynamin GTPase Drp1 is a central mitochondrial division protein, driving constriction of the outer mitochondrial membrane via oligomerization. At least four regulatory factors control Drp1 activity on the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM): 1) receptor proteins (Mff, MiD49, MiD51, and Fis1); 2) actin filaments; 3) the mitochondrial phospholipid cardiolipin (CL); and 4) Drp1 post-translational modifications, of which two phosphorylation sites (S579 and S600) are the most well studied. However, the molecular mechanism of how these factors work …


Assessing The Biocatalytic Promiscuity Of Pep- Transformations For Geminal-Difluorination, Eloy Jose Torres Garcia Jan 2023

Assessing The Biocatalytic Promiscuity Of Pep- Transformations For Geminal-Difluorination, Eloy Jose Torres Garcia

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Fluorine is the most electronegative chemical element and can drastically change molecular properties, such as drug pharmacokinetics and agrochemical half-life. Although a great deal of progress is occurring in synthetic methods to access various organofluorines, these methods struggle with harsh conditions and limited substrate scope. Biocatalytic approaches offer the potential to access organofluorines that are difficult or impossible with the current methodology. Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) is a central metabolite and biosynthetic precursor for diverse molecules. Phosphoenol pyruvate mutase (Ppm) catalyses the interconversion of Phosphonopyruvate (PnPy) to Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP). This research successfully expressed and …


Characterization Of The Clostridioides Difficile Glycosyl Hydrolase Ccsz, Brian Lowrance Jan 2023

Characterization Of The Clostridioides Difficile Glycosyl Hydrolase Ccsz, Brian Lowrance

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Bacteria inhabit many of the harshest environments on Earth; persisting and thriving in conditions thought to be unsuitable for life. One common strategy to withstand these environments is the formation of a biofilm. Biofilm composition varies greatly, depending on the underlying community that produces it. Cellulose, a polymer consistently prevalent in biofilms, has been identified as a virulence factor in many pathogens and is suspected to be involved in pathogenesis by Clostridioides difficile. C. difficile is the #1 cause of hospital acquired diarrhea, which can range from mild to life-threatening infections. Biofilm formation is hypothesized to be involved in …


Natural Variation In Temperature-Modulated Immunity To Pseudomonas Syringae Pv. Tomato (Pst Dc3000) In Arabidopsis Thaliana Plants, Christina A. M. Rossi Jan 2023

Natural Variation In Temperature-Modulated Immunity To Pseudomonas Syringae Pv. Tomato (Pst Dc3000) In Arabidopsis Thaliana Plants, Christina A. M. Rossi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Studies conducted on the model plant-pathogen system Arabidopsis thaliana-Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) showed that elevated temperature suppresses the pathogen-induced production of salicylic acid (SA), which is a key plant defence hormone. This increased host vulnerability at higher temperatures is due to downregulated expression of CALMODULIN BINDING PROTEIN 60-LIKE G (CBP60g) and SYSTEMIC ACQUIRED RESISTANCE DEFICIENT 1 (SARD1), which encode master regulators of SA production. Collectively, these previous studies only focused on one natural accession of Arabidopsis called Columbia-0 (Col-0). However, the intraspecific variation in Arabidopsis immunity phenotypes under elevated temperature remains unknown. To fill this critical knowledge gap, my …


Functional Residues Of Cjpata, Robert Lamont Jan 2023

Functional Residues Of Cjpata, Robert Lamont

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria continues to challenge clinicians and threaten the lives of infected individuals. For this reason, new classes of antibiotics or new targets for antibiotic therapy are needed to circumvent this global health crisis. In Gram-negative bacteria, the enzymes peptidoglycan O-acetyltransferase A and B (PatA and PatB), are responsible for adding acetyl groups to the C-6 hydroxyl group of N-acetyl muramic acid (MurNAc) in peptidoglycan (PG). These acetyl groups are responsible for inhibiting the activity of lysozyme from host organisms that hydrolyze the β1-4 glycosidic linkage between MurNAc and N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). The acetyl groups …


Diversification Of Ergot Alkaloid Biosynthesis In Natural And Engineered Fungi, Kyle Austin Davis Jan 2023

Diversification Of Ergot Alkaloid Biosynthesis In Natural And Engineered Fungi, Kyle Austin Davis

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Ergot alkaloids are a complex family of tryptophan-derived mycotoxins produced by a diverse range of fungi that occupy a wide variety of ecological niches including soil saprotrophs, plant endophytes, pathogens of plants or insects, and opportunistic pathogens of humans and other mammals. Ergot alkaloids are a similarly diverse family of chemicals that elicit a variety of pharmacological activities in animals due to their resemblance to neurotransmitters and high binding affinity for neurological receptors, including those that bind adrenaline, dopamine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors. These structural similarities allow us to create medicines aimed at treating a range of neurological diseases and disorders …