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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Type Ix Secretion System : Characterization Of An Effector Protein And An Insight Into The Role Of C-Terminal Domain Dimeration In Outer Membrane Translocation., Lahari Koneru Dec 2017

Type Ix Secretion System : Characterization Of An Effector Protein And An Insight Into The Role Of C-Terminal Domain Dimeration In Outer Membrane Translocation., Lahari Koneru

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia are two of the primary pathogens that are associated in the etiology and progression of chronic periodontitis. In T. forsythia, KLIKK proteases are the recently identified group of proteolytic enzymes that are secreted through Type IX secretion system (T9SS). Among, these KLIKK proteases a synergistic relationship was observed between karilysin and mirolysin in invading the host complement system for the survival of the bacteria. Since, karilysin has been already characterized, in this study we propose to study about mirolysin through structural, biochemical and biological characterization. The obtained results from the experiments has shown the …


Sphingolipids In Models Of Kidney Disease And Injury., Tess V. Dupre Aug 2017

Sphingolipids In Models Of Kidney Disease And Injury., Tess V. Dupre

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acute kidney injury (AKI), resulting from cisplatin, remains an obstacle in the treatment of cancer. Cisplatin-induced AKI involves cell death pathways regulated by sphingolipids such as ceramide and glucosylceramide. Results indicate that cisplatin-treated mice had increased levels of ceramide and hexosylceramide. Pre-treatment of mice with inhibitors of ceramide synthesis prevented accumulation of ceramide and hexosylceramide in the renal cortex and attenuated cisplatin-induced AKI. To determine the role of ceramide metabolism to hexosylceramides in kidney injury, we treated mice with an inhibitor of glycosphingolipid synthesis. Inhibition of glycosphingolipid synthesis attenuated the accumulation of the hexosylceramide and exacerbated ceramide accumulation in the …


Exploring A Novel Nf-ĸb- Inhibiting Nanoparticle For Periodontitis Therapy., Kameswara Satya Srikanth Upadhyayula May 2017

Exploring A Novel Nf-ĸb- Inhibiting Nanoparticle For Periodontitis Therapy., Kameswara Satya Srikanth Upadhyayula

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Periodontitis is an infection-driven inflammatory disease characterized by gingival inflammation and bone loss. The NF-ĸB signaling pathway is pivotal in osteoclastogenesis and infection-induced pro-inflammatory responses. The use of nanoparticles as a vehicle to deliver drug increases stability, loading capacity, and facilitates transmembrane transportation. The hypothesis was that a novel nanoparticle carrying therapeutic NBD inhibitory peptides (NBD-nanoparticles) will inhibit measures of periodontal disease. In this project, we tested the nanoparticles for their ability to directly inhibit osteoclastogenesis and inflammation as an original strategy for periodontitis therapy. We also tested the capability of the nanoparticles to inhibit gingival inflammation and alveolar bone …


Enhancing Cell Therapy For Ischemic Cardiomyopathy., Michael J. Book May 2017

Enhancing Cell Therapy For Ischemic Cardiomyopathy., Michael J. Book

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cardiac cell therapy using cardiac mesenchymal cells (CMC) significantly reduces ventricular dysfunction in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Despite the improvement in function, a modest number of CMCs survive in the heart post-transplantation. In this study, we sought to improve the survival and retention of transplanted CMCs to prolong the therapeutic benefits afforded by cardiac cell therapy. To do this, we targeted the enzyme telomerase (TERT), known to be active in some highly proliferating cells (e.g. germ, stem). TERT is responsible for preventing telomere attrition, thereby allowing continued proliferation. TERT has also been shown to be protective, improve cell migration and …