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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Environmental Regulation Of The Heart: The Role Of Non-Coding Rna And Epigenetics In Influencing Mitochondrial And Cellular Health, Quincy Alexander Hathaway Jan 2019

Environmental Regulation Of The Heart: The Role Of Non-Coding Rna And Epigenetics In Influencing Mitochondrial And Cellular Health, Quincy Alexander Hathaway

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The mitochondrion, a small but ubiquitously distributed organelle in the cell, continues to be the focus of many disease pathogeneses, tissue and organ dysfunctions, and other morbidities that occur throughout the body. The purpose of this work was to understand how cardiac mitochondrion are altered in disease and pathological states, specifically in their adaptation to environmentally stimulated regulatory networks, such as epigenetic modifications and promotion/inhibition of non-coding RNAs. Acute stress to mitochondrial regulation (inhalation toxicology) as well as chronic (type 2 diabetes mellitus) was examined. Using a FVB transgenic microRNA-378a mouse knockout model, the cardiovascular impact derived from altering the …


Development Of Improved Acellular Pertussis Vaccines Through Inclusion Of The Rtx Antigen Or Induction Of Mucosal Immunity, Dylan Tyler Boehm Jan 2019

Development Of Improved Acellular Pertussis Vaccines Through Inclusion Of The Rtx Antigen Or Induction Of Mucosal Immunity, Dylan Tyler Boehm

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Pertussis is a human respiratory disease, primarily caused by the Gram-negative pathogen Bordetella pertussis. The infection is most severe and can be life-threatening in young children and infants where it manifests as a series of paroxysmal coughs. The disease is more commonly known as whooping cough, due to the whoop omitted during a massive inspiratory effort to bring air back into the lungs. Pertussis is a toxin-mediated disease that persists due to an early release of toxins that allow that bacteria to evade the cells of the innate immune response. The inhibition of the host response continues as toxin activity …


Role Of Sox9 In Cancer Stem Cell Regulation In Lung Cancer Chemoresistance And Particle-Induced Carcinogenesis, Maria Voronkova Jan 2019

Role Of Sox9 In Cancer Stem Cell Regulation In Lung Cancer Chemoresistance And Particle-Induced Carcinogenesis, Maria Voronkova

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Every year it claims more lives than other common malignancies, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers, combined. And despite recent improvements in disease diagnostics and treatment, drug resistance and tumor relapse remain major contributors to low patient survival. Both issues have been largely attributed to the existence of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) or tumor initiating cells (TICs). CSCs are a small cell population within heterogeneous tumors that is inherently resistant to apoptosis, chemo- and radiation therapy. Thus, it is critical to elucidate CSC-specific signaling pathways and identify early biomarkers for therapeutic …


Investigation Of Bovine Conceptus Galectins And The Effect Of Bovine Conceptus Secretory Proteins On The Endometrial Epithelial Transcriptome, Heather Lynn Baldwin Jan 2019

Investigation Of Bovine Conceptus Galectins And The Effect Of Bovine Conceptus Secretory Proteins On The Endometrial Epithelial Transcriptome, Heather Lynn Baldwin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Pregnancy loss in cattle is greatest in the first 30 days of gestation. Near d15 of gestation, bovine conceptuses elongate and express LGALS1, an immunosuppressive glycan-binding protein believed to be essential for implantation. However, other members of the bovine galectin family, including LGALS3, LGALS4, LGALS7, LGALS8, LGALS9 and a galectin-13-like gene (LGALS13L), also may be expressed by the elongating conceptus. Therefore, galectin expression in elongating, d16 bovine conceptuses and intercaruncular endometrium as well as elongating, d14 ovine conceptuses and intercaruncular endometrium was assessed by RT-qPCR. Angus heifer and Texel ewes underwent estrous cycle synchronization and either inseminated or not bred. …


Alternative Splicing In Vertebrate Photoreceptors And Mechanisms Underlying Retinitis Pigmentosa, Jesse C. Sundar Jan 2019

Alternative Splicing In Vertebrate Photoreceptors And Mechanisms Underlying Retinitis Pigmentosa, Jesse C. Sundar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

RNA binding proteins (RBPs) have emerged as important regulators of gene expression. RBPs typically contain RNA binding domains that recognize a specific sequence and/or structural motifs within the RNA. This allows them to modulate metabolism of RNAs in several possible ways including regulation of alternative splicing and processing, polyadenylation, translocation, localization, modification, stability, or translation. Previous studies have shown the Musashi (MSI) RBP family to be highly expressed in the retina, and more specifically, photoreceptors, but the importance of this expression remains largely unknown. We identified the MSI proteins as potential regulators of alternative exon splicing in murine photoreceptors. We …


A Biomimetic Approach To Controlling Restorative Robotics, Matthew T. Boots Jan 2019

A Biomimetic Approach To Controlling Restorative Robotics, Matthew T. Boots

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Movement is the only way a person can interact with the world around them. When trauma to the neuromuscular systems disrupts the control of movement, quality of life suffers. To restore limb functionality, active robotic interventions and/or rehabilitation are required. Unfortunately, the primary obstacle in a person’s recovery is the limited robustness of the human-machine interfaces. Current systems rely on control approaches that rely on the person to learn how the system works instead of the system being more intuitive and working with the person naturally. My research goal is to design intuitive control mechanisms based on biological processes termed …


The Impact Of Post Translational Modification On The Aggregation Of The Ss-Amyloid Peptide In The Presence Or Absence Of Lipids, Albert Walton Pilkington Iv Jan 2019

The Impact Of Post Translational Modification On The Aggregation Of The Ss-Amyloid Peptide In The Presence Or Absence Of Lipids, Albert Walton Pilkington Iv

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition afflicting 5.7 million Americans with no effective treatments. The pathology of AD is described by the formation of neurotoxic oligomers formed by the self-assembly of amyloid-β (Aβ). The affinity of oligomers for cellular membranes disrupts calcium homeostasis and is believed to be the underlying cause of neurotoxicity; however, due to the metastability of oligomers, it has been difficult to understand their role in membrane interactions and self-assembly. Here we utilize post translational modifications (PTM) to understand the role of specific amino acids on Aβ40-membrane interactions and self-assembly. We employ ThT, AFM, …