Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

Female Rats Display Enhanced Rewarding Effects Of Ethanol That Are Hormone Dependent, Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

Background: Ethanol (EtOH) abuse is a major health and economic concern, particularly for females who appear to be more sensitive to the rewarding effects of EtOH. This study compared sex differences to the rewarding and aversive effects of EtOH using place-conditioning procedures in rats. Methods: Separate groups of adult (male, female, ovariectomized [OVX] female) and adolescent (male and female) rats received EtOH (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 or 2.5 g/kg; i.p.) and were confined to their initially nonpreferred side of our conditioning apparatus for 30 minutes. On alternate days, they received saline and were confined to the other side. Following 5 …

Regulation Of The Glycine Transporter 1 (Glyt1) By Pkca-Dependent Ubiquitination, Susana Barrera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Glycine is one of the major inhibitory neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. It is implicated in the regulation of motor-sensory function such as; pain perception, reflex responses, and is essential for early development of the CNS. In addition to its inhibitory actions, it acts as an obligatory co-agonist for the activation of glutamatergic NMDARs, which are of pivotal importance in the process of learning and memory, its dysfunction leads to several neurodegenerative diseases. Two high affinity Na+/Cl- dependent transporters GlyT1 and GlyT2 tightly regulate the availability of glycine present at the synapse for the activation of NMDARs and GlyRs. …

Genetic Diversity In Populations Of Epiphanes Chihuahuaensis (Rotifera: Monogononta) In The Northern Chihuahuan Desert, Diego E. Reyes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

1. Cryptic speciation in zooplankton is a phenomenon that has been recently gaining much attention. This is due in part to advances in molecular techniques which help in the identification of morphologically indistinct species. Organisms that have been traditionally believed to have cosmopolitan distributions are being found to be composed of cryptic species complexes with high levels of genetic divergence among lineages.

2. Epiphanes chihuahuaensis is a member in the Epiphanes senta species complex. In a previous study by Schröder & Walsh (2007), genetic data, along with morphological and reproductive isolation data were employed to help delineate four species within …

Comparison Of Ectoparasitic Mite Loads Between Gonochoristic (Aspidoscelis Marmorata) And Parthenogenic (A. Tesselata) Syntopic Whiptail Lizards (Teiidae) From The Northern Chihuahuan Desert Of Trans-Pecos, Texas, William Dawson Lukefahr

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this study was to compare the ectoparasitic loads between two syntopic whiptail lizard species (Teiidae) that differ in their reproductive modes; Aspidoscelis marmorata (bisexual) and A. tesselata (unisexual). The study site was located on Indio Mountains Research Station (IMRS) in a Chihuahuan Desert Scrub landscape in Hudspeth County, Texas. Previous studies conducted at IMRS showed the two species having similar diets, morphology, and reproductive characteristics, but fluctuated in nematode loads. No comparative study of ecotoparasitic mites (Eutrombicula alfreddugesi) between the two species has ever been done.

Aspidoscelis marmorata (n = 141) and A. tesselata (n = 144) …

Novel Copper (Ii) Mediated Transfection Nano-Systems And Biological Properties Of Pyridinium Surfactants, Sarit Pal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Efficacy of gene therapy is relied upon the improvement of gene delivery vectors into mammalian cells. Although viral-based polynucleotide carriers are still considered as the most common method for gene delivery but the cost effectiveness, nonspecific lethal immune response has evoked the renaissance of non-viral synthetic delivery systems. An initial discovery by Felgnar et al showed Cationic Liposomes (CLs) (having an overall positive charge) when mixed with DNA to form CL-DNA complexes can enhance the transfer of polynucleotides into cells followed by its expression. Presently, a flurry of experimental works is taking place for the better understanding of structural characterization …

A Novel Fkbp52/Β-Catenin Complex Specifically Regulates Androgen Receptor Activity, Cheryl Lynne Storer

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The androgen receptor complex plays an essential role in prostate cancer progression due to exploitation of the androgen receptor (AR) as a transcription factor. The final stage of the receptor complex consists of a dimerized receptor, a dimeric heat shock protein (Hsp90), the cochaperone p23, and an immunophilin. Hormone-dependent prostate cancer progresses due to key interactions between the androgen receptor complex and its ligand α dihydrotestosterone (DHT). While current treatments focus on blocking the androgen receptor-ligand interactions, these therapies are no longer effective in advanced stage, hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC).

Therefore, we have been interested in targeting other members of …

Optimizing Protocols For The Derivation Of Primary Cultures From Mammalian Tissue, Eduardo Ramirez, Natzidielly Lerma, Paloma Valenzuela, Karla Parra, Courteny L. Becerril, Irving Miramontes, Howard West, Cynthia Rodriguez, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

The isolation of primary cell cultures from fresh mammalian tissue is a major interest of our laboratory. Thus, the ability to generate cancer cell lines from cancer tissue, or to generate non-malignant cultures form the host stroma surrounding a tumor, allows us to develop new laboratory models to study the behavior of cancer cells and its microenvironment. We report our proof of principle study on optimizing the derivation of primary culture, using rat tissues as a model. Thus, rat kidney and rat skin samples were isolated, minced with surgical blades, and then incubated with an enzyme digestion cocktail (Collagenase III- …

Inhibitors Of Polyisoprenylated Methylated Protein Methyl Esterase (Pmpmease) Cause Neurodegeneration By Altering Microtubules And Gβγ In Pc12 Cells, Jose A. Rivas Jr., Rebekah M. Bach, Jessica Martinez-Jurado, Jorge A. Siera-Fonseca, Sukla Roychowdhury

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Neurodegeneration, a progressive loss of nerve cells (neurons), occurs in many neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Schizophrenia and drug addiction. Disruption of Microtubules (MTs), a major component of cytoskeleton and aggregation of proteins associated with them is the hallmark of neurodegeneration. Gβγ, an important component of G protein signaling has been shown to induce neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells by interacting with microtubules. The goal of the present study is to understand whether interfering with Gβγ-MT mediated pathway causes neurodegeneration. Because prenylation of γ subunits is important for the interaction of Gβγ with MTs, we used inhibitors (L-23 …

Characterization Of The Infectivity Of Non-Replicating Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv)-Derived Viral Vectors., Vanessa E. Rodriguez, Manuel Llano, Luis Valdes

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

The ability of HIV-derived viral vectors to integrate genes of interest into the host genome causing permanent phenotypic modifications makes them excellent tools in gene therapy. However, integration also causes insertional mutagenesis and controlling integration site selection will increase the biosafety of these molecular tools. HIV DNA integration site selection is influenced by LEDGF/p75, a chromatin-bound cellular protein that interacts with the viral enzyme integrase through the integrase binding domain (IBD). Integrase catalyzes viral DNA integration and non-covalently associates with the HIV genome forming the pre-integration complex (PIC). Therefore, interaction of chromatin-bound LEDGF/p75 with the PIC-associated integrase tethers the HIV …

Gβγ-Microtubule Interaction And Neurodegeneration, Jane K. Martinez, Jorge Sierra, Sukla Roychowdhury Ph.D.

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Aberrant organization of microtubules (MTs) is known to be a feature of neurodegeneration, which occurs in many neurological disorder including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, neuropsychiatric illness such as schizophrenia, and drug addiction. Previously, Gβγ, an important component of G protein-coupled signaling pathways, has been shown to regulate neurite outgrowth by interacting with MTs. The aim of the present study is to understand the Gβγ regulation of MT assembly and its relation to neurodegeneration, using GRK-ct peptide (consists of the carboxy terminus of G protein-coupled-receptor kinase) which is known to inhibit Gβγ-dependent signaling by binding to and sequestering Gβγ. PC12 cells …

Messenger Mrna Analysis As A Means To Identify Mechanisms Of Cancer Drug Resistance, Courtney L. Becerril, Irving Miramontes, Jiselle Del Cid, Natzidielly Lerma, Karla Parra, Eduardo D. Ramirez, Howard West, Paloma Valenzuela, Cynthia Rodriguez, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

On principal approach to identify the mechanisms by which cancers escape from anti-cancer therapies is the analysis of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in those tumor cells that survive treatment. Thus, by studying Her-2 positive human breast tumor cells that survived anti-Her-2 based therapies (i.e., using anti-Her-2 antibody) we observed the 3-fold or greater overexpression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) mRNA. Similarly, by studying the mRNAs of tumor cell cultures resistant to chemotherapy (such as cisplatin), we found that low levels of mRNAs for DNA mismatch repair genes correlates with drug resistance. These results suggest that two possible strategies of sensitizing …

Protein Expression Analysis Of Cell Lines Derived From Drug Resistant Tumors, Paloma Valenzuela, Karla Parra, Natzidielly Lerma, Courtney Becerril, Eduardo Ramirez, Irving Miramontes, Howard West, Cynthia Rodriguez, Yang Li, Jianying Zhang, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

There are a number of effective treatments for breast cancer, including chemotherapy and targeted strategies such as the use of the Her-2 targeting drugs lapatinib and trastuzumab. However, in a number of cases, tumors that initially respond to therapy eventually develop drug resistance, leading to the relapse of the disease. By studying protein levels in different drug resistant variants, we have observed two mechanisms by which drug resistance may develop. Thus, some Her-2 human breast cancer cells (e.g., MDA-MB-231H2N) treated with the clinically used trastuzumab agent, can escape therapy by shedding, or losing, the target Her-2 protein. Similarly, EMT-6 mouse …

Evaluating Ceramide Analogs, 5-Lipoxygenase Expression, And Lipid Raft Biology In Breast Cancer, Jiselle Del Cid, Debarshi Roy, Atasi De Chatterjee, Karla Parra, Howard West, Guido Bocci, Cynthia Rodriguez, Siddhartha Das, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

To investigate the role of lipid rafts in the biology of breast cancer cells, we designed a human breast cancer cell line panel (using MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and HCC1419 cells) to test the anti-tumor impact of new ceramide analogs. Our aim is to use such a screening to ultimately develop a project to investigate the role of 5-lipoxygenase enzyme on the behavior of breast cancer cells, including MDA-MB231 that express 5-lipoxygenase and MCF-7 which do not, and to ask whether ceramide analogs can have an impact on this behavior.

To date, we have evaluated three ceramide analogs, termed C2, C6 and …

Development Of New Models To Study Human Her-2 Positive Breast Cancer, Howard J. West, Karla Parra, Natzidielly Lerma, Paloma Valenzuela, Eduardo Ramirez, Courtney L. Becerril, Irving Miramontes, Elizabeth Gamez, Cynthia Rodriguez, Guido Bocci, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

To study the evolution of human Her-2 positive breast cancer, we evaluated a model of three dimensional spheroid co-culture using H2N human breast cancer cells that express high amounts of Her-2 protein, with the Her-2 negative MDA-231 cells. Human HCC1419, which can form compact spheroids, were used as controls. In tissue culture plates, H2N cells were found to have a doubling rate of about 48 hours, compared to around 144 hours for MDA231. Since H2N cells were engineered to express a fluorescent protein, we could note that these cells did not immediately overgrow the non-fluorescent MDA231 cells in a mixed …

Insights Into The Role Of The N-Terminus Of The Neuronal Glycine Transporter 2, Diego A. Escobar-Garcia, Ana Garibay, Miryam Pando, Manuel Miranda

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Hyperekplexia is distinguished by exaggerated muscle tension, sudden shock and even death in response to touch/acoustic stimuli. Genetic analysis showed that mutations on glycinergic proteins on the presynaptic neurons are responsible for the attacks. Mutations in the Glycine Transporter 2 (GlyT2) have been suggested to be the second major cause of hyperekplexia. The GlyT2 consist of twelve transmembrane domains, a 201 amino acid long N-terminus and a shorter C-terminus, both intracellular. Dysfunction of this transporter prevents the intake of glycine from the synapse back to the presynaptic neuron. Our goal is to better understand the role of N-terminus on protein …

Cytotoxic Effects Of Creosote (Larrea Tridentata) Plant Extracts On Human Lymphoma Cells Lines, Emanuel Cordero, Yahaira Santiago, Carolina Lema, Armando Varela-Ramirez, Renato J Aguilera

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Larrea tridentata also known as Creosote is a North American shrub, whose leave extracts are proposed to contain anti-cancer properties. The main metabolite in this plant is the nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) has been shown to have anti-neoplastic, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. NDGA is a strong anti-oxidant that can scavenge or inhibit reactive oxygen spices production, stimulate nitric oxide production, increase immune function, enhance central nervous system function, and prevent cardiovascular or other diseases. Although extracts from this plant are currently used in Mexico as an herbal medicine, the Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada have issued health hazard warming …

In Vitro Evaluation Of Human Her2-Positive Breast Cancer Cells, Karla Parra, Howard West, Paloma Valenzuela, Eduardo D. Ramirez, Natzidielly Lerma, Courtney Becerril, Irving Miramontes, Cynthia M. Rodriguez, Guido Bocci, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

One in four cases of breast cancer shows over expression of the Her-2 protein, and there is an urgent need to improve therapies for this disease. We have evaluated two Her-2 positive human breast cancer cell lines, MDA-231H2N and HCC1419. MDA-231 human breast cancer cell, which are Her-2 negative, were used as a control. The cell lines were evaluated in vitro for their relative growth rate, their growth under reduced (i.e. 3% serum) conditions, or as spheroid cultures, and for their sensitivity to drugs such as ceramide analogs and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (i.e. CLM3, CLM29, and CLM94) that are being …

Identification Of Two Functional Sumo Interacting Motifs (Sims) In The Non-Structural Protein Of Influenza A Virus Ns1a, Lorellie M. Lewis, German Rosas-Acosta

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

We have previously shown that the non-structural protein of Influenza A virus NS1A is post-translationally modified by conjugation of the Small Ubiquitin-like MOdifier (SUMO). Our functional studies have also demonstrated that SUMO conjugation (SUMOylation) affects NS1A's ability to neutralize the cellular interferon response of the host cell and other functions associated to NS1A. Importantly, we have also shown that influenza infections trigger a global increase in cellular SUMOylation and have recently demonstrated that such an increase is mediated by NS1A. This observation led us to investigate the molecular mechanism endowing NS1A with the ability to increase global cellular SUMOylation. Sequence …

Analysis Of Her-2 Positive Breast Cancer Cell Lines, Natzidielly Lerma^, Paloma Valenzuela, Karla Parra, Eduardo Ramirez, Courtney L. Becerril, Irving Miramontes, Cynthia M. Rodriguez, Elizabeth Gamez, Giulio Francia*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2012

No abstract provided.

Systematics Of Leptopelis (Anura: Arthroleptidae) From The Itombwe Plateau, Eastern Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Francisco Portillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Leptopelis, a genus of Central African treefrogs, includes 51 species that live in tropical forests and savannas. Currently, only two species of Leptopelis are known from the poorly explored Itombwe Plateau in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Itombwe is renowned among conservationists for its rich and endemic amphibian fauna, including: Xenopus itombwensis, Chrysobatrachus cupreonitens, Laurentophryne parkeri, Hyperolius leleupi and at least three species of Arthroleptis. Evolutionary relationships of Itombwe Leptopelis were examined by sequencing two mitochondrial genes (16S: 557 bp [base pairs], cyt b: 620 bp) and one nuclear gene (RAG1: 761 bp). Results recovered strong support for …

Microelement Localization In Leaves Of Populus Spp. And Tolerance Mechanisms To Boron-Salt Toxicity, Daniel Arriaga

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Phytoremediation has been proposed as a low-cost, environmentally friendly alternative to clean highly contaminated sites. Phytoremediation using trees offer the advantage of metal immobilization (phytostabilization), high hydraulic pumping pressures, produce large plant biomass, absorption of total dissolved salts within their tissue, long life spans, less frequent irrigation and, a massive root system that helps soil attachment. Hybrid poplar varieties are long-lived, perennial, fast growing, and produce a large amount of foliage to harvest. Boron is an essential micronutrient for plants. Certain locations, such as California and Turkey, have suffered from high boron efflux from irrigation waters. It has been identified …

Jak3/Stat5 Signaling Cascade Represents A Therapeutic Target To Treat Select Hematologic Malignancies, Damaris Rosado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Tyrosine kinases are an essential component of cell signal transduction pathways, many of which promote cellular proliferation. However, when a tyrosine kinase is aberrantly activated or its negative regulation is lost, the result can be malignancy. In humans, 90 tyrosine kinases are present and of these, 51 have been linked to a malignancy through mutation or overexpression. Janus kinase 3 (JAK3) is one such kinase that upon hyperactivation, due to a somatic mutation, has been linked to cancer including its substrate, signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT5). Few studies have investigated the role of JAK3/STAT5 pathways in hematopoietic cancers …

Arachidonic Acid Signaling In Invasive And Non-Invasive Breast Cancer Cells, Debarshi Roy

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Breast cancer is the second largest cause of cancer-related deaths in women all over the world. Epidemiological studies suggest that the consumption of high-fat diets can promote the incidence of breast cancers in both developed and developing countries. In particular, the lipid-rich diet contains arachidonic acid (AA, a C20:4 polyunsaturated fatty acid), which has been shown to be associated with tumor formation in breast tissues. Nevertheless, the actual mechanism by which AA induces the metastatic transformation and malignancy is not well understood. The goal of my dissertation, therefore, is to identify the molecules and unravel the pathways that participate in …

Structural Study Of Mcry2: A Circadian Rhythm Regulator, Brenda L. Rodarte^, Gustavo A. Avila, Adrian S. Enriquez, Nicolas D. Silva, Tiffany H. Blankenship, Erquan Eric Zhang*, Chuan Xiao*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2011

A circadian clock is a 24 hour biological rhythm that regulates physiological, psychological and behavioral processes in living organisms. Understanding the regulation mechanism of such circadian rhythms can have great impact in certain diseases such as sleeping disorders and cancers. There are many genes regulating circadian rhythms in different species. Cryptochromes (CRY) are photosensory receptors mediating light regulation of growth and development in certain species. Mouse cryptochrome protein mCRY2 has been found to encode a blue light photoreceptor and is important for mice circadian rhythm. The main goal of the project is to determine the atomic structure of mCRY2, via …

Leptin Protects Dendritic Cells From Chemically-Induced Cell Death, Yadira Arellano^, Jeffrey Charles Sivils, Kristine Marie Garza*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2011

Leptin is a pleiotropic adipokine that exerts its physiological effects by binding to its receptor, which is expressed in many immune cells including T cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) is a transmembrane transporter commonly associated with cancer cells conferring resistance to chemotherapy. The purpose of this study is to determine if leptin supersedes the cytotoxic death signal in dendritic cells. We further hypothesize that the mechanism underlying leptin protection is a result of over expression of MRPs. To address this question, we examined the effect of leptin on monocytes treated with cytotoxic drugs in vitro.  Bone …

Identification And Characterization Of Fkbp52-Specific Inhibitors For The Treatment Of Prostate Cancer, Johanny Tonos De Leon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Steroid hormone receptors require the ordered assembly of various chaperone and cochaperone proteins in order to reach a functional state. The final stage in the receptor maturation process requires the formation of a mutimeric complex consisting of Hsp90 dimer, p23, and one of several large immunophilins. Studies conducted previously demonstrated that the large immunophilin FKBP52 acts to potentiate glucocorticoid, androgen, and progesterone receptor signaling pathways. The aim of these studies was to identify and characterize FKBP52-specific inhibitors that would not only serve as tools for the pharmacological analysis of FKBP52-receptor interactions, but may also lead to novel drugs with significant …

Phosphorylation Of The Glycine Transporter 1, Javier Vargas Medrano

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The extracellular levels of the neurotransmitter glycine in the brain are tightly regulated by the high-affinity glycine transporter 1 (GlyT1) and the clearance of glycine depends on its rate of transport and the levels of cell surface GlyT1. Over the past years, it has been shown that PKC activation diminishes the activity and promoted phosphorylation of several neurotransmitter transporters including the dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine transporters however, its role is unknown for the glycine transporter. To get insights into the role of PKC activation on GlyT1 regulation, we used three N-terminus GlyT1 isoforms stably expressed in porcine aortic endothelial (PAE) …

The Role Of Ledgf/P75 In Transcriptional Regulation, Jeffrey Ryan Kugelman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Lens Epithelial Derived Growth Factor p75 (LEDGF/p75) is a chromatin bound protein whose cellular function is not yet clearly known. A role in transcriptional regulation had been previously proposed based on its interaction with the basal transcriptional machinery and on its effects on the expression of genes involved in the cellular response to environmental stresses. To further elucidate the function of LEDGF/p75, we conducted a global and unbiased evaluation of the role of this protein in gene expression. To that aim, we performed a microarray analysis of cellular gene expression in cells that are severely depleted of LEDGF/p75. To …

The Effect Of Exogenous Leptin On Murine Dendritic Cell Morphology And Function, Christine Delgado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Leptin is a pleiotropic hormone primarily secreted by white adipose tissue. Although originally found to regulate food intake and energy expenditure, it is now known to also significantly affect the immune system. In this study we assessed the effect of leptin on bone marrow derived dendritic cell (BM-DC) cytoskeletal structure and functionality. Our preliminary data demonstrates that the addition of physiological concentrations of exogenous leptin to BM-DC causes cytoskeletal rearrangement specifically that of actin as evidenced by increased number of llamelopodia/dendrites and increased staining for actin within the llamelopodia/dendrite region. This suggests that leptin is a necessary component of DC …