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Full-Text Articles in Genetics and Genomics
Phosphorylation Impairs Dicer1 Function To Accelerate Aging And Tumorigenesis In Vivo, Neeraj Aryal
Phosphorylation Impairs Dicer1 Function To Accelerate Aging And Tumorigenesis In Vivo, Neeraj Aryal
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Altered DICER1 protein levels are associated with developmental disorders, infertility, macular degenerative blindness, aging, and cancer in humans. Recently, post-translational regulation of Dicer1 via phosphorylation has been described in C. elegans. Oscillation of Dicer1 phosphorylation to regulate its activity is essential for germ cell development and embryogenesis in worms. These observations led us to posit that Dicer1 protein levels and activity are under tight regulation for normal mammalian homeostasis. To test whether phosphorylation of Dicer1 regulates its activity in mammals, I generated phospho-mimetic knock-in mouse models by replacing Serines 1712 and 1836 with Aspartic acids individually or together (dual …
The Role Of T-Box Proteins In Vertebrate Germ Layer Formation And Patterning, Sushma Teegala
The Role Of T-Box Proteins In Vertebrate Germ Layer Formation And Patterning, Sushma Teegala
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
All of the tissues in triploblastic organisms, with the exception of the germ cells, arise from the three germ layers, ectoderm, mesoderm and the endoderm. The identification of the genes that underlie the differentiation of these layers is crucial to our understanding of development. T-box family proteins are DNA-binding transcriptional regulators that play important roles during germ layer formation in the early vertebrate embryo. Well-characterized members of this family, including the transcriptional activators Brachyury and VegT, are essential for the proper formation of mesoderm and endoderm, respectively. To date, T-box proteins have not been shown to play a role in …
The Dlk1-Meg3 Locus In Malignant Cells Of Proposed Primordial Germ Cell Origins., Zachariah Payne Sellers
The Dlk1-Meg3 Locus In Malignant Cells Of Proposed Primordial Germ Cell Origins., Zachariah Payne Sellers
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are hypothesized to deposit hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) along their migration route through the embryo during the early stages of embryogenesis. PGCs also undergo global chromatin remodeling, including the erasure and reestablishment of genomic imprints, during this migration. While PGCs do not spontaneously form teratomas, their malignant development into germ cell tumors (GCTs) in vivo is often accompanied by the retention of hypomethylation at the IGF2-H19 imprinting control differentially methylated region (DMR). Previous studies in bimaternal embryos determined that proper genomic imprinting at two paternally imprinted loci was necessary for their growth and development: Igf2-H19 and …
Investigating The Essential Roles Of Dprl-1 In Drosophila Melanogaster, Alex Lee
Investigating The Essential Roles Of Dprl-1 In Drosophila Melanogaster, Alex Lee
Summer Research
Phosphatase of Regenerating Liver (PRL) proteins regulate a number of important cellular processes, including cell growth and division. Humans have three PRL proteins: PRL-1, PRL-2, and PRL-3. An accumulation of evidence has shown that elevated levels of PRLs are strongly correlated with uncontrollable growth and metastasis of tumors. However, contradictory findings have arisen indicating that PRLs instead function to halt cell division thereby preventing uncontrollable tumor growth. In light of these results, the underlying mechanisms regarding how PRLs function within cellular processes remains unclear. To investigate the functions of PRLs, we will create transgenic fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) …
Environmental Stimuli And Intragenerational Epigenetics, Nicholas J. Napier
Environmental Stimuli And Intragenerational Epigenetics, Nicholas J. Napier
Student Scholarship
Epigenetics is the study of any change in gene expression that is not mediated by DNA sequence. The effects of environmental stimuli on epigenetic changes have been studied extensively in recent years. Multiple reviews have provided comprehensive summations of the effects of environmental stimuli on transgenerational epigenetic changes, but few reviews have focused upon environment-induced intragenerational epigenetic changes. This review will summarize current knowledge of the intragenerational epigenetic changes that are induced by two groups of well-studied environmental stimuli: nutritional deficiencies and carcinogens. This survey of intragenerational epigenetic changes will focus upon the mechanisms behind them, the disorders associated with …
Examining The Functional Role Of Dprl-1 In Drosophila Melanogaster, John Valenzuela
Examining The Functional Role Of Dprl-1 In Drosophila Melanogaster, John Valenzuela
Summer Research
The Phosphatase of Regenerating Liver (PRL) family of proteins control cell growth, motility and proliferation. They have been shown to elevate the levels of these functions, leading to an increase in cancer metastasis (“malignancy”), when they are overexpressed. The goal of this experiment is to knockout PRL gene expression to examine the general function of PRL proteins. Drosophila melanogaster have only one copy of the PRL gene (dPRL-1), as opposed to humans and other mammals, which have 3. Thus, using P-element imprecise excision to create mutant strains either fully lacking or with decreased function of the dPRL-1 protein, …