Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Characterization Of Wilms' Tumour 1 (Wt1) As A Biomarker For Fibrosis In Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Patrick Murphy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common inherited pediatric muscle dystrophy. It is characterized by muscle degeneration, resulting in fibrosis that is a significant impediment to both endogenous muscle repair and any potential regenerative strategy. At present, there are few therapies that specifically address fibrosis and microenvironment improvement, but one possibility rests in targeting the Wilms’ tumour 1 (Wt1) protein. Wt1 is a zinc finger transcription factor, recently shown to be expressed in fibrotic conditions such as Dupuytren’s disease and pulmonary fibrosis. This thesis examines the expression pattern of Wt1 in several mouse models of DMD, through both histological …

Modulation Of Inflammation Driven Wound Healing After Glaucoma Surgery, James J. Armstrong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Dysregulated wound healing contributes to most currently unanswered ophthalmological morbidity. Opacification and structure altering contractures compromise the delicate ocular anatomy upon which ocular function and healthy vision are reliant. Glaucoma filtration surgery, corneal stromal injury, proliferative vitreoretinopathy and age-related macular degeneration are major contributors to ocular morbidity – all with myofibroblast transdifferentiation and pathognomonic scarring activity at their core.

This thesis aims to revaluate the means by which dysregulated ocular wound healing is combated with evidence describing a novel strategy to mitigate its effects. A translational approach was used. An initial retrospective analysis of over ten thousand glaucoma surgeries found …

Novel Mechanisms And Biomarkers In Alcohol-Induced Organ Injury., Christine E. Dolin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background. Ethanol (EtOH) consumption is known to affect multiple organs; this is unsurprising, as the concentration of EtOH in the blood at relevant doses reaches the millimolar range. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to elucidate mechanisms of alcohol-induced organ injury, specifically the effects of alcohol on the hepatic extracellular matrix (ECM) proteome, the alcoholic hepatitis (AH) plasma peptidome, and the effects of alcohol on the renal cortex proteome and transcriptome. Methods. Mice were pair-fed ethanol-containing liquid diet chronically, and then some mice were administered lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Liver sections from these mice were processed in a series of increasingly …