Genetics and Genomics Commons^™

Targeted Knockout Of Beclin-1 Reveals An Essential Function In Ovary And Testis, Thomas R. Gawriluk

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

An estimated 12% of couples worldwide are infertile. The contributing factor is approximately equal between men and women with nearly 25% diagnosed as idiopathic. Despite the increasing numbers of couples seeking assistance from infertility clinics, few molecular mechanisms have been identified for treatment. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved cellular process for bulk degradation and recycling of cytosolic components through the lysosome to maintain homeostasis. Several studies have observed increased levels of autophagy during ovarian folliculogenesis and gonadal steroidogenesis; however, no genetic studies to determine the significance of autophagy exist.

To investigate the function of autophagy in the ovary and testis, …

A Process Similar To Autophagy Is Associated With Cytocidal Chloroquine Resistance In Plasmodium Falciparum, David Gaviria, Michelle F. Paguio, Lindsey B. Turnbull, Asako Tan, Amila Siriwardana, Debasish Ghosh, Michael T. Ferdig, Anthony P. Sinai, Paul D. Roepe

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Resistance to the cytostatic activity of the antimalarial drug chloroquine (CQ) is becoming well understood, however, resistance to cytocidal effects of CQ is largely unexplored. We find that PfCRT mutations that almost fully recapitulate P. falciparum cytostatic CQ resistance (CQR(CS)) as quantified by CQ IC50 shift, account for only 10-20% of cytocidal CQR (CQR(CC)) as quantified by CQ LD50 shift. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of the progeny of a chloroquine sensitive (CQS; strain HB3)×chloroquine resistant (CQR; strain Dd2) genetic cross identifies distinct genetic architectures for CQR(CS) vs CQR(CC) phenotypes, including identification of novel interacting chromosomal loci that influence CQ …