Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (51)
- Plant Sciences (38)
- Plant Biology (31)
- Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology (24)
- Arts and Humanities (21)
-
- Biochemistry (18)
- Microbiology (18)
- Population Biology (18)
- Religion (17)
- Cell and Developmental Biology (16)
- Genetics and Genomics (16)
- Evolution (15)
- Behavior and Ethology (12)
- Cell Biology (12)
- Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology (10)
- Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology (8)
- Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering (6)
- Engineering (6)
- Microbial Physiology (6)
- Ethics in Religion (5)
- Genetics (5)
- Molecular Genetics (4)
- Bacteriology (3)
- Biophysics (3)
- Genomics (3)
- Physical Sciences and Mathematics (3)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (3)
- Anthropology (2)
- Keyword
-
- Biology (49)
- Bibliography (24)
- Genomics (23)
- Evolution (21)
- Cancer (20)
-
- Epigenetics (17)
- Cellular mechanotransduction (15)
- Microtubules (13)
- Development (12)
- Zebrafish (12)
- Diabetes (11)
- Genetics (11)
- Arabidopsis (10)
- Inflammation (10)
- Microbiome (10)
- Microbiota (10)
- DNA methylation (9)
- Hematopoiesis (9)
- Microglia (9)
- Cooperation (8)
- Ion channels (8)
- Macrophages (8)
- Mitochondria (8)
- RNA (8)
- Urinary tract infection (8)
- Antibiotic resistance (7)
- Arabidopsis thaliana (7)
- Bioinformatics (7)
- Community assembly (7)
- Immunotherapy (7)
- Publication Year
- Publication
- Publication Type
- File Type
Articles 1 - 30 of 1124
Full-Text Articles in Biology
Dissecting Tumor Evolution And Immune Composition In Prc2 Loss (H3k27me3 Loss) Vs Retained Mpnst, Kuangying Yang
Dissecting Tumor Evolution And Immune Composition In Prc2 Loss (H3k27me3 Loss) Vs Retained Mpnst, Kuangying Yang
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) are aggressive sarcomas that arise sporadically or in the setting of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Although benign plexiform neurofibromas (PNs) are common in NF1, only a subset undergo malignant transformation, and the molecular events that define high-risk progression remain incompletely understood. A major axis of biological heterogeneity in MPNST is loss of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), commonly detected through loss of H3K27me3 and frequently mediated by alterations in SUZ12 or EED. This dissertation integrates three manuscript-based studies to define genomic resources, tumor-intrinsic vulnerabilities, and immune microenvironmental remodeling in NF1-associated peripheral nerve sheath tumors, …
Beyond Autophagic Dysregulation: Vma21 Deficiency Reveals Altered Vesicle Trafficking And Broadens The Pathogenic Framework Of X-Linked Myopathy With Excessive Autophagy, Christian Suarez
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Maintenance of protein homeostasis is essential for cellular function and depends on the coordinated regulation of protein synthesis and degradation. The major intracellular pathways responsible for protein degradation are the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and autophagy. Disruption of these processes has been implicated in a broad range of diseases, including neuromuscular disorders. X-linked myopathy with excessive autophagy (XMEA) is a rare vacuolar myopathy caused by mutations in VMA21, which encodes an assembly chaperone required for proper assembly of the vacuolar H⁺-ATPase (V-ATPase), the primary proton pump responsible for acidifying intracellular compartments, including lysosomes. Although impaired lysosomal acidification and autophagic dysregulation have …
The Gut-Bladder Axis: How Symbiont Microbes Alter Urinary Tract Infections, Benjamin S. Olson
The Gut-Bladder Axis: How Symbiont Microbes Alter Urinary Tract Infections, Benjamin S. Olson
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections worldwide. Consequently, they are one of the leading indications for antibiotic prescription. Despite the typically successful treatment of an acute UTI, recurrent infections are exceedingly common, particularly among women. Nearly a quarter of otherwise healthy women will suffer recurrent UTIs (rUTI) after a primary UTI; why these select individuals are continually afflicted is unkown. There are no successful therapeutics to treat rUTI representing a gap not just in the medical toolkit but in our understanding of why rUTI is so prevalent. There are many hypotheses for the risk factors …
Investigating Tumor-Stromal Interactions That Drive Breast Cancer Angiogenesis And Metastasis, Alessandra Dimauro
Investigating Tumor-Stromal Interactions That Drive Breast Cancer Angiogenesis And Metastasis, Alessandra Dimauro
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Metastatic breast cancer remains one of the most difficult cancers to treat, with a five-year survival rate that drops from 99% for localized disease to just 33% once distant metastases are present. This disparity reflects a fundamental gap in our understanding of how breast tumors spread and highlights the urgent need to improve our understanding of breast cancer metastasis to aid in development of novel therapeutics. Emerging evidence establishes that metastasis requires interactions between tumor cells and non-tumor stromal cells within the tumor microenvironment. The first aim of this dissertation investigates the role of Discoidin Domain Receptor 2 (DDR2), a …
Defining Replication-Driven Vulnerabilities In High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancers, Natasha Maya Ramakrishnan
Defining Replication-Driven Vulnerabilities In High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancers, Natasha Maya Ramakrishnan
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
High grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is an aggressive, highly lethal subtype of ovarian cancer. These cancers are typically diagnosed in later stages and are associated with poor patient prognosis. Additionally, HGSOC is characterized by numerous markers of genomic instability and defects in DNA repair pathways, vulnerabilities which have been exploited by the advancement of chemotherapy. Despite these clinical advancements, HGSOC remains a significant therapeutic challenge due to emergence of chemoresistance and limited targeted treatment options. Taken together, these factors highlight an ongoing need to study the development of HGSOC and its progression to identify more effective treatment opportunities. We …
Bap1 Loss Links Myc Activation, Stress Response Vulnerability, And Disease Progression In Kidney Cancer, Ilya Strunilin
Bap1 Loss Links Myc Activation, Stress Response Vulnerability, And Disease Progression In Kidney Cancer, Ilya Strunilin
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
BAP1, a chromatin modifier, is a frequently mutated tumor suppressor in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Mutations in BAP1 are associated with a more aggressive and lethal disease. However, the downstream mediators of BAP1 loss in ccRCC oncogenesis are not well understood. To better understand mechanisms of BAP1-mediated tumor suppression, I have extensively characterized the very early transcriptional mediators of BAP1 loss in a postnatal kidney-specific genetic knockout model. Because VHL loss is the initiating event in ccRCC, we modeled Bap1 loss in a Vhl-deficient background. I have found that Vhl/Bap1 double-knockout cells of PT segment S2 strongly activate …
Biology Department Publications: 2025, Sam Lindgren
Biology Department Publications: 2025, Sam Lindgren
Biology Department Bibliographies
This document is a non-comprehensive list of publications made by graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and faculty members in the Biology Department in 2024. It indexes those publications available through PubMed, and serves as an archival record of the Department's robust scholarly contributions.
Biomarker And Age At Onset Endophenotypes Offer New Insights Into The Genetic Etiology Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Joseph Bradley
Biomarker And Age At Onset Endophenotypes Offer New Insights Into The Genetic Etiology Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Joseph Bradley
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Introduction: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) remains among the top 10 causes of death in the United States and is projected to affect nearly 14 million people by 2050. To this point, studies of Alzheimer’s genetics and endophenotypes have yielded a bounty of results that culminated in the first disease-modifying drugs, lecanemab and donanemab, in 2022. Most of the genetic studies for Alzheimer’s disease to date have been focused on late-onset AD or Autosomal dominant AD, leaving a critical need for studying sporadic early-onset AD (EOAD; ~10% of cases). Furthermore, the demand for clinical portability has created a need for high-sensitivity proteomic …
Investigating The Role Of Cornichon-Homolog 3 (Cnih3) In Opioid Use, Contributing Risk Factors, And Associated Neural Substrates, Tania Lintz
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Opioid misuse remains rampant as potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl flood the market. Large-scale genetic tools like the GWAS identify previously unrecognized targets and biomarkers in opioid misuse with the hopes of combating the opioid epidemic and opioid use disorder (OUD). One such target is the AMPA receptor (AMPAR) auxiliary protein Cornichon Homolog-3 (CNIH3), which determines AMPAR subunit composition and kinetics. Though CNIH3 was identified as a gene of interest in OUD, its role in opioid use and accompanying risk factors has not been studied. Using mice with a CNIH3 deletion, we assess the role of CNIH3 in risk …
Understanding Pancreatic Islet Stress Responses And Developing Strategies To Improve Transplantation Grafts, Marlie Maria Maestas
Understanding Pancreatic Islet Stress Responses And Developing Strategies To Improve Transplantation Grafts, Marlie Maria Maestas
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder affecting millions worldwide, characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion or action. While current treatments range from pharmacotherapy to experimental cell-based therapies, progress remains hampered by donor scarcity and an incomplete understanding of islet stress responses. This dissertation investigates cellular stress responses in pancreatic islets and strategies to improve stem cell-derived islet (SC-islet) transplantation. The first chapter provides an overview of diabetes pathophysiology, modeling approaches, and treatment options. In the second chapter, we use single-cell RNA sequencing to investigate cell-type-specific responses to diabetes-associated stress in primary human islets exposed to endoplasmic …
Elucidating The Role Of Pbaf Chromatin Remodeling Subunit Arid2 In B Cell Development, Rachel Paolini
Elucidating The Role Of Pbaf Chromatin Remodeling Subunit Arid2 In B Cell Development, Rachel Paolini
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
B cells are key components of the adaptive immune system that mediate humoral immunity through the production of antigen-specific antibodies. The generation of functional B cells involves multiple stages of differentiation across distinct anatomical niches, requiring precise regulation of microenvironmental signals and intrinsic transcriptional networks. SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes have emerged as key regulators of B cell lineage commitment by modulating the accessibility of transcriptional programs required for differentiation and maturation. However, the specific roles of individual SWI/SNF subunits and distinct complexes within early B cell differentiation remain poorly understood. In this thesis, I investigated the function of Arid2, an …
Understanding Outer Membrane Vesicle Biogenesis In Bacteroides Thetaiotaomicron, Evan J. Pardue
Understanding Outer Membrane Vesicle Biogenesis In Bacteroides Thetaiotaomicron, Evan J. Pardue
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are small proteoliposomes generated by active protrusion of the outer membrane (OM) in Gram-negative bacteria during growth. Over 60 years of experimentation has ascribed numerous functions to OMVs produced by different bacteria. However, the mechanism(s) by which OMVs are produced is poorly understood. Due to this, the field remains controversial because many regard OMVs as byproducts of cell lysis and question their physiological relevance. Previous studies in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and related species confirmed that these microbes undergo programmed cell death that results in the stochastic release of vesicles and cellular contents. On the contrary, Bacteroides spp. …
Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter Regulates Itam-Dependent Platelet Activation, Jehiel Abigail Ajanel Gomez
Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter Regulates Itam-Dependent Platelet Activation, Jehiel Abigail Ajanel Gomez
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Thromboembolic conditions are the leading cause of disability and death in the United States. Platelets play an important role in the pathophysiology of thrombus formation by aiding in the formation and stabilization of the clot. Central to platelet activation is cytoplasmic calcium, which increases after platelet activation through ITAM (Immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif) or GPCR (G-protein-coupled receptor) receptors. Platelet mitochondria rely on cytoplasmic calcium for mitochondrial calcium influx, which is critical for ATP formation and regulation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. In other cells, mitochondrial calcium entry is regulated by the multimeric protein complex, mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU). Deletion of …
Predicting, Culturing, And Characterizing Beneficial And Detrimental Strains Associated With Plant Phenotypes., Anastasiia Onyshchenko
Predicting, Culturing, And Characterizing Beneficial And Detrimental Strains Associated With Plant Phenotypes., Anastasiia Onyshchenko
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Modern agriculture’s reliance on chemical fertilizers has greatly increased crop yields but has also contributed to soil degradation, environmental pollution, and unsustainable resource use. Plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria offer a sustainable alternative, enhancing plant growth through mechanisms such as nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, siderophore production, and phytohormone modulation, while also protecting plants against pathogens and abiotic stresses. However, soil microbial communities are highly diverse and structurally complex, making the isolation of individual beneficial strains challenging. Traditional approaches rely on selective media and labor-intensive phenotypic screening, which often capture only a small fraction of soil diversity. To overcome these limitations, we combined …
Mechanisms Of Antibody-Mediated Protection In Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection, Samantha Mackin
Mechanisms Of Antibody-Mediated Protection In Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection, Samantha Mackin
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Mechanisms of Antibody-Mediated Protection in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection by Samantha Rae Mackin Doctor of Philosophy in Biology and Biomedical Sciences Immunology Washington University in St. Louis, 2025 Professor Michael S. Diamond, Chair Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped, non-segmented, positive-sense RNA viruses belonging to the Coronaviridae family. The subfamily Coronavirinae includes four genera: alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and deltacoronaviruses. While gamma- and deltacoronaviruses primarily circulate in wild or domestic birds and have shown the potential for cross-species transmission, alpha- and betacoronaviruses mainly infect mammals, resulting in respiratory illnesses that can be mild or severe. Over …
Plant-Microbe Interactions Across Scales: Diversity, Disease, And Stress In Herbaceous Plant Communities, Philippa Tanford
Plant-Microbe Interactions Across Scales: Diversity, Disease, And Stress In Herbaceous Plant Communities, Philippa Tanford
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Plants interact consequentially with microbes spanning mutualism to pathogenicity, with broader effects on large-scale plant community structure. These plant communties, in turn, shape below and aboveground microbial communities through a variety of mechanisms. However, plant diversity-microbial diversity relationships remain broadly inconsistent across environments and among different plant and microbial assemblages. In my dissertation, I work to bridge some of these gaps in plant-microbial ecology in three experimental chapters assessing relationships between plant diversity and microbial diversity, including the influence of belowground-aboveground microbiome interactions, the influence of drought stress, and incorporating different spatial and experimental scales. First, I explore the microbial …
Mechanism Of Unconventional Il-33 Release In Airway Disease, Omar Osorio
Mechanism Of Unconventional Il-33 Release In Airway Disease, Omar Osorio
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
The alarmin cytokine IL-33 is a strong inducer of type two inflammation and has been implicated in various chronic lung diseases. Although much work has been done to understand the inflammatory effects of extracellular IL-33, there is still a knowledge gap in understanding how this cytokine is secreted by airway epithelial cells in steady-state conditions. In the work laid out in this document, a COPD-disease associated isoform of IL-33, that has exons 3 and 4 (IL-3334) spliced out and is tonically secreted at baseline conditions. This IL-33 isoform is secreted from airway epithelial cells alongside, or as part of, extracellular …
Dominant Tree Species As A Driver Of Forest Herb Community Assembly: The Peculiar Case Of Pawpaw (Asimina Triloba), Anna Wassel
Dominant Tree Species As A Driver Of Forest Herb Community Assembly: The Peculiar Case Of Pawpaw (Asimina Triloba), Anna Wassel
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Understanding the drivers of community assembly is a key goal in ecology and conservation. One way to better understand community assembly is to understand how the presence or absence of dominant species– highly abundant species with a proportionally large effect on the ecosystem–affects assembly. This approach allows for a more generalized understanding of community assembly based on the presence or abundance of one species rather than pairwise interactions among all species in a community. In forests, studies on dominant tree species have focused on how they affect patterns of species diversity. In contrast, surprisingly little is known about how dominant …
Mechanisms Of Ssdna Gap Resection In Brca1-Proficient And -Deficient Cells, Isabelle Seppa
Mechanisms Of Ssdna Gap Resection In Brca1-Proficient And -Deficient Cells, Isabelle Seppa
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Single-stranded (ss) DNA gaps are potentially genome-destabilizing structures that require prompt repair (or filling) to prevent DNA breakage and genome instability. We previously showed that gap repair is defective in cancer cells with deficiencies in the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1. These findings explain why ssDNA gaps accumulate in BRCA1-deficient cells in response to therapies that target DNA, such as platinum-based compounds, or therapies that inhibit specific repair pathways, such as PARP inhibitors (PARPi). We also discovered that gap repair can be restored in BRCA1-deficient cells by inhibiting MRE11 nuclease activity, indicating that nuclease processing plays a central role in …
Structure And Function Of Type 1 Pilus Assembly Machinery In Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli, Ryan Bitter
Structure And Function Of Type 1 Pilus Assembly Machinery In Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli, Ryan Bitter
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Gram-negative bacteria produce chaperone-usher pathway (CUP) pili, which are extracellular adhesive protein fibers critical for host-pathogen interactions. An outer-membrane usher protein, together with a periplasmic chaperone, assembles thousands of pilin subunits into a pilus fiber. Each pilus is tipped by an adhesin that mediates host and tissue tropisms by binding to receptors with stereochemical specificity. Type 1 pili expressed by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are essential virulence factors in urinary tract infections (UTIs) and facilitate attachment to mannosylated glycoproteins on bladder epithelial cells. Although type 1 pili have been extensively studied, critical gaps remain in our understanding of the molecular …
Diverse Cell Types Establish A Pathogenic Immune Environment In Peripheral Neuropathy, Julie Choi
Diverse Cell Types Establish A Pathogenic Immune Environment In Peripheral Neuropathy, Julie Choi
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Neuroinflammation plays a complex and context-dependent role in many neurodegenerative diseases. We identified a key pathogenic function of macrophages in a mouse model of a rare human congenital neuropathy in which SARM1, the central executioner of axon degeneration, is activated by hypomorphic mutations in the axon survival factor NMNAT2. Macrophage depletion blocked and reversed neuropathic phenotypes in this sarmopathy model, revealing SARM1-dependent neuroimmune mechanisms as key drivers of disease pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the impact of chronic subacute SARM1 activation on the peripheral nerve milieu using single cell/nucleus RNA-sequencing (sc/snRNA-seq). Our analyses reveal an expansion of immune cells …
Bclaf1 Is A Novel Regulator Of Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Stephanie Crowley
Bclaf1 Is A Novel Regulator Of Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Stephanie Crowley
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) maintain both a self-renewal capacity to persist throughout life and an ability to differentiate into mature cell lineages. HSC self-renewal programs are often ectopically activated in leukemia cells to sustain developmental arrest and neoplastic proliferation. Recently, the transcriptional regulator Bclaf1 (Bcl2 associated transcription factor 1) was shown to support proliferation and block differentiation of AML blasts. Bclaf1 is ubiquitously expressed in hematopoietic cells but its function in normal hematopoiesis has not been elucidated. Our data demonstrate that BCLAF1 promotes HSC development and function. To study the role of BCLAF1 in normal HSCs, we used murine models …
The Role Of The Poly-N Repeat In The Plasmodium Falciparum Histone Acetyltransferase Protein, Pfgcn5, Kely Johana Rubiano Cardona
The Role Of The Poly-N Repeat In The Plasmodium Falciparum Histone Acetyltransferase Protein, Pfgcn5, Kely Johana Rubiano Cardona
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
P. falciparum possesses the most AT-rich genome sequenced to date, with long AAT repeats coding for asparagines (N) in intragenic regions. As a result, nearly a quarter of its proteome is composed of proteins with poly-N repeats. Since the discovery of its genome, the function of these repeats has remained as one of the biggest mysteries in the biology of this parasite. Furthermore, it has long been known that proteins with N-rich domains aggregate easily, particularly during heat stress (HS). Given that the hallmark of this disease is recurrent febrile episodes, it is not well understood how the parasite survives …
Computational And Mathematical Modeling Of Microbial Community And Host Responses To Microbiota-Directed Complementary Foods Administered To Children With Acute Malnutrition., Steven J. Hartman
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Globally, millions of children suffer from undernutrition, with stunting affecting 150 million and wasting nearly 50 million under five years old. Current interventions have shown limited effectiveness in mitigating long-term consequences such as stunted growth, cognitive deficits, and immune dysfunction. Through this body of work, I investigated the efficacy of a microbiota- directed complementary food (MDCF-2) as a next generation therapeutic food to combat childhood stunting. Across two randomized controlled trials involving Bangladeshi children with either moderate acute malnutrition or post-severe acute malnutrition, MDCF-2 significantly outperformed standard ready-to-use supplementary foods (RUSF), leading to significantly improved ponderal and sustained linear growth …
Understanding The Effects Of Genetic Variation On Maize And Pennycress Root System Architectures And Their Interaction With Nitrogen, Alexander Euway Liu
Understanding The Effects Of Genetic Variation On Maize And Pennycress Root System Architectures And Their Interaction With Nitrogen, Alexander Euway Liu
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Roots are a critical yet hidden part of plants, providing physical support and access to resources such as nutrients and water. The development of a plant’s root system across time and space is referred to as root system architecture, which influences the effectiveness of resource capture. In modern agriculture, applications of nitrogen fertilizers are critical to maintain high yield. However, up to 70% of applied nitrogen is not utilized by the plant and escapes into waterways and the atmosphere, causing environmental harm. Efficient nitrogen uptake is limited by the ability of the plant to access and absorb nitrogen through its …
Lysosomes As Gatekeepers: How Lic1-Mediated Trafficking Regulates Angiogenesis And Vascular Morphogenesis, Dymonn Johnson
Lysosomes As Gatekeepers: How Lic1-Mediated Trafficking Regulates Angiogenesis And Vascular Morphogenesis, Dymonn Johnson
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Dynein cytoplasmic 1 light intermediate chain 1 (LIC1, DYNC1LI1) is a core subunit of the dynein motor complex that plays a critical role in cytoplasmic cargo trafficking, including Rab-mediated endosomal recycling and lysosomal degradation. LIC1 interacts with various cargo adaptors, such as RILPL1 and RILPL2, to regulate these processes, and defects in this gene are predicted to impair dynein motor function, Rab binding, and lysosomal trafficking. Here, we identified a dync1li1 zebrafish mutant with a premature stop codon at the exon 12/13 splice acceptor site, that exhibits increased angiogenesis. In vitro, LIC1-deficient human endothelial cells show elevated cell surface levels …
Sex, Stress And Hormones : The Role Of Modifiable Risk Factors In The Kinetics Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Hannah Marie Edwards
Sex, Stress And Hormones : The Role Of Modifiable Risk Factors In The Kinetics Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Hannah Marie Edwards
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease hallmarked by the presence of amyloid- plaques and tau tangles in the brain. The process of the disease begins decades prior to the onset of symptoms and is thought to be driven first by a buildup of amyloid- peptide in the extracellular space, triggering a cascade of pathology and symptomology culminating in loss of cerebral volume and cognitive impairment. Women are diagnosed with AD at a rate 2/3 higher than their male counterparts, even when controlling for age. While most driving factors of the disease are thought to be genetic, roughly 40% of …
Dissecting Macrophage Metabolism In Metabolic Liver Disease, Mandy Mei-Ying Chan
Dissecting Macrophage Metabolism In Metabolic Liver Disease, Mandy Mei-Ying Chan
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease around the globe; however, the mechanisms that lead to the progression of metabolic liver disease are poorly understood. Liver-resident macrophages, known as Kupffer cells (KCs), are the largest population of macrophage in the human body, playing a critical role in immune sensing and tissue homeostasis. In the context of MASLD, KCs undergo cell death through an unclear mechanism, and monocytes enter the liver where they differentiate into macrophages. Next-generation sequencing and spatial-omics studies have revealed significant, heterogeneity in the recruited macrophage populations in both human …
Examining Light-Circadian Interactions In Regulation Of Amyloid Plaque Pathology, Melvin William King
Examining Light-Circadian Interactions In Regulation Of Amyloid Plaque Pathology, Melvin William King
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Circadian disruption has long been appreciated as a downstream consequence of Alzheimer’s Disease in humans. However, an upstream role for circadian disruption in regulating AD pathology remains an open question. The mammalian circadian system is hierarchical, with cellular clocks – driven largely by BMAL1 – synchronized by the hypothalamic SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus) via a combination of hormonal and synaptic cues. To assess the relative contributions of each component to Alzheimer’s Disease pathology, we crossed mice harboring either microglial (Cx3cr1/Lyz2-Cre) or GABAergic (VGAT-iCre, expressed in more than 95% of the SCN) BMAL1-knockout to mouse models of Aβ aggregation (5xFAD; APP/PS1-21), which …
Efficient Packaging Of Hiv-1 Genomes Via Recognition Of Its Adenosine-Rich Content By A Heterologous Rna-Binding Domain, Hung Ryan Vuong
Efficient Packaging Of Hiv-1 Genomes Via Recognition Of Its Adenosine-Rich Content By A Heterologous Rna-Binding Domain, Hung Ryan Vuong
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
RNA-protein interactions underlie many key processes in viral replication and antiviral immune responses. In this thesis, I reported our investigations on the roles of two RNA-binding proteins, Gag and IFIT1, in mediating HIV-1 genome packaging and regulating innate immune gene expression, respectively. The HIV-1 genome comprises a dimer of unspliced, positive sense mRNA (gRNA) that is packaged with high efficiency, with more than 90% of viral particles containing two copies of gRNA. Gag is the major HIV-1 structural protein that coordinates all steps of virion assembly and possesses a nucleocapsid domain (NC) required for gRNA binding and genome packaging. In …