Biology Commons^™

Protective Effects Of Sphingomyelin Against Uv Photodamage In Human Keratinocytes, Kathleen De Guzman

Master's Theses

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation has been demonstrated in numerous studies to be a major risk factor for non-melanoma skin cancer development. Despite the emergence of current UV-preventative strategies, such as sunscreens and skin-protective clothing, the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer has continued to rise. This has encouraged investigations on alternative methods for UV prevention. In particular, bovine milk sphingomyelin has been studied for its potential in protecting human skin against UV photodamage. While the previous studies have suggested that sphingomyelin exhibits UV-protective properties in a human skin equivalent model, the exact mechanisms behind sphingomyelin’s photoprotective effects are yet unknown.

This thesis …

Effects Of Arsenic Responsive P21 On Innate Immunity And Apoptosis In Zebrafish, Gabriel O. Vachon

Honors College

Arsenic is a heavy metal that is frequently found in drinking water, especially well-water in the Northeastern United States. Arsenic is thought to be involved with numerous negative health conditions. This project examined the impact of this environmental toxicant, on the zebrafish innate immune system. Specifically, this project characterized the gene encoding for the protein p21. The particular gene is cdkn1a (will be referred to here by its product "p21" both for the protein and gene itself which will be italicized) and had increased expression as a result of arsenic exposure from a previously complete microarray analysis. In attempt to …