Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Study Of The Structure And Function Of Cxc Chemokine Receptor 2, Hae Ryong Kwon

Masters Theses

It has been shown that the amino terminus and second extracellular loop (EC2) of CXCR2 are crucial for ligand binding and receptor activation. The lack of an ionic lock motif in the third intracellular loop of CXCR2 focuses an investigation of the mechanism by which these two extracellular regions contribute to receptor recognition and activation.

The first objective of this investigation was to predict the structure of CXCR2 based on known structures of crystallized GPCRs. Rhodopsin, β2-adrenergic receptor, CXCR4 were used for homology modeling of CXCR2 structure. Highly conserved motifs found in sequence alignments of the template GPCRs were helpful …

Regional Differences In Adipose Tissue Of The Sinclair Minipig, Suzanne Lauren Booker

Masters Theses

Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ, and its homeostatic mechanisms in normal weight, overweight and obese subjects must be elucidated. We sought to determine the basal adipose tissue biology of visceral (VIF) and subcutaneous (SQF) fat depots in 8 month old Sinclair minipigs, an animal that has been shown to be physiologically similar to humans.

Metabolic analysis showed a decrease in LDL, white blood cells (WBC), and lymphocyte percentages as the minipigs aged from 6 to 8 months (p <0.0001 and = 0.0046 and 0.0165 respectively). There were no significant changes in triglycerides, HDL, VLDL, and neutrophil percentages. There was a trend in insulin increase (P=0.0722).

Microarray analysis was performed to determine transcriptome differences between VIF and SQF. When VIF was compared to SQF, expression of a …