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Full-Text Articles in Physiology
Facilitative Glucose Transporter And Its Regulation By Insulin/Igf-Like Signaling In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Shun Kitaoka
Facilitative Glucose Transporter And Its Regulation By Insulin/Igf-Like Signaling In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Shun Kitaoka
Graduate College Dissertations and Theses
In humans, the functional regulation of facilitative glucose transporters (GLUTs) by insulin plays a central role in the maintenance of glucose homeostasis. The insensitivity of tissues to this regulation results in diabetes mellitus, however, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. To establish Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) as a model system to study the mechanisms of insulin regulation of GLUTs because of the well-conserved insulin/IGF-like signaling (IIS) and many unique advantages of this organism, we functionally characterized 9 candidate genes of human GLUT homologues in C. elegans based on their sequence homologies to GLUTs. We found that FGT-1 is the only …
Traumatic Brain Injury Causes Endothelial Dysfunction In Mesenteric Arteries 24 Hrs After Injury, Ivette Ariela Nunez
Traumatic Brain Injury Causes Endothelial Dysfunction In Mesenteric Arteries 24 Hrs After Injury, Ivette Ariela Nunez
Graduate College Dissertations and Theses
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the most frequent cause of death in children and young adults in the United States. Besides emergency neurosurgical procedures, there are few medical treatment options to improve recovery in people who have experienced a TBI. Management of patients who survive TBI is complicated by both central nervous system and peripheral systemic effects. The pathophysiology of systemic inflammation and coagulopathy following TBI has been attributed to trauma-induced endothelial cell dysfunction; however, there is little knowledge of the mechanisms by which trauma might impact the functions of the vascular endothelium at sites remote from the injury. The …
Carnitine And O-Acylcarnitines In Pseudomonas Aerguinosa: Metabolism, Transport, And Regulation, Jamie Meadows
Carnitine And O-Acylcarnitines In Pseudomonas Aerguinosa: Metabolism, Transport, And Regulation, Jamie Meadows
Graduate College Dissertations and Theses
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is found in numerous environments and is an opportunistic pathogen affecting those who are immunocompromised. Its large genome encodes tremendous metabolic and regulatory diversity that enables P. aeruginosa to adapt to various environments. We are interested in how P. aeruginosa senses and responds to the host-derived compounds, carnitine and acylcarnitines. Acylcarnitines can be hydrolyzed to carnitine, where the liberated carnitine and its catabolic product glycine betaine can be used as osmoprotectants, for induction of the virulence factor phospholipase C, and as sole carbon, nitrogen, and energy sources. P. aeruginosa is incapable of de novo synthesis of carnitine and …