Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 19 of 19

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Investigating The Pi3k/Akt/Atm Pathway, Telomeric Dna Damage, T Cell Death, And Crispr/Cas9-Mediated Gene Editing During Acute And Chronic Hiv Infection, Sushant Khanal Dec 2022

Investigating The Pi3k/Akt/Atm Pathway, Telomeric Dna Damage, T Cell Death, And Crispr/Cas9-Mediated Gene Editing During Acute And Chronic Hiv Infection, Sushant Khanal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection initiates major metabolic and cell- survival complications. Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) is the current approach to suppress active HIV replication to a level of undetected viral load, but it is not a curative approach. Newer and sophisticated gene editing technologies could indeed be a potent antiviral therapy to achieve a clinical sterilization/cure of HIV infection. Chronic HIV patients, even under a successful ART regimen, exhibit a low-grade inflammation, immune senescence, premature aging, telomeric DNA attrition, T cell apoptosis, and cellular homeostasis. In this dissertation, we investigated CD4 T cell homeostasis, degree of T cell apoptosis, an …


Sulforaphane Protects Against Ethanol-Induced Apoptosis And Teratogenesis Through Epigenetic Modulation Of Anti-Apoptotic Genes., Yihong Li May 2020

Sulforaphane Protects Against Ethanol-Induced Apoptosis And Teratogenesis Through Epigenetic Modulation Of Anti-Apoptotic Genes., Yihong Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background. Ethanol-induced excessive apoptosis in neural crest cells (NCCs), a multipotent progenitor cell population, is one of the major mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying FASD that results from maternal alcohol exposure during pregnancy are poorly understood. The overall goals of this study are to examine the mechanisms by which ethanol induces apoptosis and malformations in vitro and in vivo, and to develop a nutritional-based approach by using SFN and SFN-rich BSE to prevent FASD through epigenetic modulation. Results. This study demonstrates that ethanol exposure resulted in a significant increase …


Role Of Atm In T Cell Dysfunction During Chronic Viral Infections, Juan Zhao May 2019

Role Of Atm In T Cell Dysfunction During Chronic Viral Infections, Juan Zhao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection leads to a phenomenon of inflammaging, in which chronic infection or inflammation induces an immune aged phenotype with T cell dysfunction. Thus, HCV or HIV infection has been deemed as a model to study the mechanisms of T cell infammaging and viral persistence in humans. In this dissertation, T cell homeostasis, DNA damage and repair machineries were investigated in patients with chronic HCV or HIV infection at risk for inflammaging. We found a significant depletion in CD4 T cells, which was correlated with their apoptosis in chronically HCV/HIVinfected patients, compared …


Senecavirus A: Pathogenicity And Interactions With Host Cell Death Pathway, Maureen Hoch Vieira Fernandes Jan 2019

Senecavirus A: Pathogenicity And Interactions With Host Cell Death Pathway, Maureen Hoch Vieira Fernandes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Senecavirus A (SVA) is a positive sense single-strand RNA virus of the genus Senecavirus, family Picornaviridae. Senecavirus A is an emerging picornavirus of swine, which causes vesicular disease (VD) in pigs that is clinically indistinguishable from footand- mouth disease and other high consequence VDs of swine. There is evidence that SVA has been circulating in the US swine population since the late eighty’s, however, recently the virus emerged worldwide, and it has been associated with several VD outbreaks in pigs in many of the major swine producing countries. Despite the recent surge in the number of cases of …


Influences Of Porphyromonas Gingivalis On The Viability Of Esophageal Cancer Cells., Muddasir Mohammed Dec 2018

Influences Of Porphyromonas Gingivalis On The Viability Of Esophageal Cancer Cells., Muddasir Mohammed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A recent study demonstrated an association between the Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg)infection and the progression of ESCC (Gao et al., 2016). However, how Pg infection affects the nature of ESCC remains unknown. We examined the effects of Pg on the proliferation and chemotherapy drug-induced apoptosis of ESCC cells and elucidated the signaling molecules involved in these processes. Method: Apoptosis and cell proliferation were tested using Flow cytometry and Tetrazolium salt based proliferation assays respectively. Western Blot was utilized to detect the protein expression. CDK2 and Cyclin E were knocked down in the ESCC cells through transfection. Unpaired T-test and …


The Comparison Of Effects Of Synthetic And Natural Arachidin-3 On Rotavirus Infected Cells, Rebekah Napier-Jameson Aug 2018

The Comparison Of Effects Of Synthetic And Natural Arachidin-3 On Rotavirus Infected Cells, Rebekah Napier-Jameson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rotavirus (RV) causes severe, life-threatening diarrhea, in infants, young children and immunocompromised adults. There are several effective vaccines for young children, however they are strain specific and are not protective against many RV strains in developing countries. Therefore, it is important to investigate anti-RV therapeutic agents. Our laboratory has shown arachidin-1 (A1) and arachadin-3 (A3) significantly inhibit RV replication in two cell lines, however the molecular mechanism(s) of action are not known. A synthetic molecule of A3 (sA3) has been produced, but its’ antiviral effects have not been examined. Our hypothesis is that sA3 produces the same effects on RV-infected …


The Regulation Of Rotavirus–Infected Ht29.F8 And Ma104 Cells Treated With Arachidin 1 Or Arachidin 3, Caleb M. Witcher May 2017

The Regulation Of Rotavirus–Infected Ht29.F8 And Ma104 Cells Treated With Arachidin 1 Or Arachidin 3, Caleb M. Witcher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rotavirus (RV) infections cause severe life threatening diarrhea in young children and immunocompromised individuals. Several effective vaccines have been developed for young children but are not protective against all strains of RV, and there are no anti-RV therapeutics. Our laboratory has discovered a decrease in the number of infectious simian RV particles (SA114f) in human intestinal cell line, HT29.f8 cells with the addition of either of two stilbenoids, arachidin-1 (A1) or arachidin-3 (A3). This suggests effects on the host cell and RV replication. We examined the cellular effects of human RV strain (Wa) on a human intestinal cell line (HT29.f8) …


Inhibition Of Chemotherapeutic-Induced Apoptosis In Esophageal Squamous Cancer Cells By The Keystone Periodontal Pathogen, Porphyromonas Gingivalis., Atul Kumar Agrawal May 2017

Inhibition Of Chemotherapeutic-Induced Apoptosis In Esophageal Squamous Cancer Cells By The Keystone Periodontal Pathogen, Porphyromonas Gingivalis., Atul Kumar Agrawal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent evidence has shown that P. gingivalis, a Gram-negative, anaerobic oral bacterium, is negatively associated with the presence and outcome of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). While potential underlying mechanisms are yet to be established, P. gingivalis infection is known to inhibit apoptosis in gingival epithelial cells. Therefore, we hypothesized that P. gingivalis may also inhibit of the induction of apoptosis in human ESCC cells exposed to the commonly employed anti-ESCC chemotherapeutic agent, cisplatin. The capacity of P. gingivalis, at variant multiplicities of infection, to suppress cisplatin-induced necrosis and apoptosis in EC9706 ESCC cells was established by lactate …


Investigation Of Novel Functions For Dna Damage Response And Repair Proteins In Escherichia Coli And Humans, Benjamin A. Hilton May 2016

Investigation Of Novel Functions For Dna Damage Response And Repair Proteins In Escherichia Coli And Humans, Benjamin A. Hilton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Endogenous and exogenous agents that can damage DNA are a constant threat to genome stability in all living cells. In response, cells have evolved an array of mechanisms to repair DNA damage or to eliminate the cells damaged beyond repair. One of these mechanisms is nucleotide excision repair (NER) which is the major repair pathway responsible for removing a wide variety of bulky DNA lesions. Deficiency, or mutation, in one or several of the NER repair proteins is responsible for many diseases, including cancer. Prokaryotic NER involves only three proteins to recognize and incise a damaged site, while eukaryotic NER …


Saffron Extract And Its Active Constituents As Preventative And/Or Treatment Agents For Prostate Cancer Using In Vitro And In Vivo Models, Faisal Fayih Albaqami Jan 2016

Saffron Extract And Its Active Constituents As Preventative And/Or Treatment Agents For Prostate Cancer Using In Vitro And In Vivo Models, Faisal Fayih Albaqami

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Saffron extract and its active constituents were evaluated as chemopreventatives and/or treatments for prostate cancer. Different models of prostate cancer (in vitro and in vivo) were used for studying saffron and its constituents’ mechanisms. In normal prostate cells, saffron extract, crocetin, and safranal, in non-toxic concentrations, possessed antioxidant properties against the reactive oxygen species induced by H2O2 which further supports saffron constituents as chemopreventative agents. Moreover, saffron and its active constituents produced cytotoxicity in prostate cancer cells through intrinsic apoptosis pathways. Potential efficacy in minimizing prostate cancer metastasis was also examined. Saffron extract, crocetin, and safranal decreased the migration and …


The Regulation And Mechanisms Of Egfr-Mediated Apoptosis In Mda-Mb-468 Cells., Nicole Marion Jackson Aug 2015

The Regulation And Mechanisms Of Egfr-Mediated Apoptosis In Mda-Mb-468 Cells., Nicole Marion Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) is a 170- kilodalton transmembrane protein that belongs to the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases. Upon ligand-mediated activation, the EGFR responsible for cell growth, proliferation, and tissue homeostasis in epithelial cells; however, the EGFR is overexpressed in many human malignancies including MDA-MB-468 cells, a metastatic breast epithelial cell line. Previous studies have indicated that within the MDA-MB-468 cell line, receptors at the cell surface promote cell growth when activated with Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) ligand. Activated receptors that are internalized to the endosomes however induce apoptosis. This contrasting response at different cellular …


The Physiological Stress Response Caused By Hypoxia And Reperfusion Injury In Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis) And Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus), Amanda C. Reynolds Jan 2015

The Physiological Stress Response Caused By Hypoxia And Reperfusion Injury In Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis) And Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus), Amanda C. Reynolds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Approximately five million people in the United States are affected by cardiovascular related diseases yearly contributing to 300,000 annual deaths, making CVD the leading cause of mortality worldwide. It has been suggested that apoptosis (programmed cell death) contributes to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. When blood flow is reduced or cut off from the heart, usually by a thrombus, this results in oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) to the cardiomyocytes (heart cells). In response to this hypoxic stress, cardiomyocytes will undergo apoptosis. Since many species of fish can survive levels of hypoxia that would be fatal to mammals, fish are an ideal …


Distinct Domains Of Bax Are Involved In Mitochondrial Bioenergetics And Apoptosis, Ge Zhang Jan 2011

Distinct Domains Of Bax Are Involved In Mitochondrial Bioenergetics And Apoptosis, Ge Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Apoptosis is essential for cellular homeostasis and is also a pathologic feature of various diseases. The balance between Bcl-2 family proteins determines whether a cell will live or die. Bax, a member of the BCL-2 family proteins, is a pro-apoptotic protein that exists in both a soluble, cytoplasmic form and a membrane-bound form. Upon apoptotic stimuli, Bax undergoes a conformational change and translocates to the mitochondria, initiating apoptotic events. However, little is known about whether Bax is involved in the regulation of mitochondrial function under non-apoptotic conditions, and how Bax binds to mitochondria to exert its activity. Here, we investigate …


Genetically Modified Es Cells Enhance Cardiac Repair And Regeneration In The Infarcted Heart, Carley E. Glass Jan 2011

Genetically Modified Es Cells Enhance Cardiac Repair And Regeneration In The Infarcted Heart, Carley E. Glass

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transplanted embryonic stem (ES) cells following myocardial infarction (MI) contribute to limited cardiac repair and regeneration with improved function. Therefore novel strategies are still needed to enhance the efficacy by which ES cells differentiate into cardiac cell types and inhibit adverse remodeling in the infarcted myocardium. Our studies evaluate whether genetic manipulation of transplanted ES cells employing miR- 1, a pro-cardiac microRNA, and TIMP-1, an anti-apoptotic and anti-fibrotic protein, will enhance cardiac myocyte differentiation, inhibit native cardiac apoptosis, and reduce fibrosis in the infarcted myocardium. Furthermore, we assess levels of associated pro- (caspase-3, PTEN) and anti-(Akt) apoptotic proteins as well …


Studies On A Novel Human Cardiospecific Transcription Factor And Its Involvement In Omi/Htra2 Mediated Cell Death, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan Jan 2010

Studies On A Novel Human Cardiospecific Transcription Factor And Its Involvement In Omi/Htra2 Mediated Cell Death, Meenakshi Puthucode Balakrishnan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Omi/HtrA2 is a mitochondrial serine protease that is known to translocate to the cytoplasm upon induction of apoptosis and to activate caspase-dependent and caspase-independent cell death. The molecular mechanism of Omi/HtrA2's function is not clear but involves degradation of specific substrates. These substrates include cytoplasmic, mitochondrial, as well as nuclear proteins. We have isolated a new Omi/HtrA2 interactor, the THAP5 protein. THAP5 is a fifth member of a large family of transcription factors that are involved in cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle control, chromosome segregation, chromatin modification and transcriptional regulation. THAP5 is an approximately 50kDa nuclear protein, with a restricted …


Transplantation Of Ips Cells Reduces Apoptosis And Fibrosis And Improves Cardiac Function In Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats, Sarah Elizabeth Neel Jan 2010

Transplantation Of Ips Cells Reduces Apoptosis And Fibrosis And Improves Cardiac Function In Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats, Sarah Elizabeth Neel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes leads to various complications including cardiomyopathy. Recent data suggests transplanted bone marrow stem cells improve cardiac function in diabetic cardiomyopathy. However, whether modified ES, iPS cells, or factors released from these cells can inhibit apoptosis and fibrosis remains completely unknown. The present study was designed to determine the effects of transplanted ES cells overexpressing pancreatic transcription factor 1 a (Ptf1a), a propancreatic endodermal transcription factor, iPS cells, or their respective conditioned media (CM) on diabetic cardiomyopathy. Methods: Experimental diabetes was induced in male Sprague Dawley rats (8-10 weeks old) by intraperitoneal STZ injections (65 mg/kg …


Role Of Macrophage Apoptosis In Atherosclerosis., June Liu Dec 2004

Role Of Macrophage Apoptosis In Atherosclerosis., June Liu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The presence of apoptotic cells in atherosclerotic lesions has been broadly reported in the past ten years. The majority of these apoptotic cells are macrophages. However, the pathogenic role of macrophage apoptosis in the development of atherosclerosis remains to be elucidated. Elevated expression of Bax, one of the pivotal pro-apoptotic proteins of the Bcl-2 family, has been found in human atherosclerotic plaques. Activation of Bax also occurs in free cholesterol-loaded and oxysterol treated mouse macrophages. In this study, we evaluated the influence of Bax deficiency on apoptosis in macrophage-like P388D1 cells by using small interfering RNA (siRNA) to suppress Bax …


Protection Of Pifithrin-Α And Melatonin Against Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity., Xuwan Liu May 2003

Protection Of Pifithrin-Α And Melatonin Against Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity., Xuwan Liu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current studies were designed to explore the protective effects of pifithrin-α and melatonin against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. Doxorubicin was injected at a dose of 22.5 mg/kg (i.p.) in mice to induce cardiotoxic effects. Meanwhile, doxorubicin caused a significant increase of cardiac cell apoptosis following injection (14.2 ± 1.1% for doxorubicin-5 d vs. 1.8 ± 0.12% for control, P < 0.01). Ribonuclease protection assays and Western blot analyses revealed that doxorubicin upregulated the p53-dependent genes Bax, BclxL, and MDM2 at least 2-fold. p53 was phosphorylated at Ser 15 in mouse hearts 1 h following doxorubicin injection, and p38 and ERK1/2 MAPKs mediated the phosphorylation of p53. In addition, caspases-3 and -9 were activated 24 h after doxorubicin injection. A p53 inhibitor, pifithrin-α, inhibited doxorubicin-induced apoptosis when administered at a dose of 2.2 mg/kg. Pifithrin-α abolished p53 transactivation activity, but did not influence doxorubicin-induced phosphorylation at Ser 15. By effectively inhibiting the expression of p53-dependent genes, pifithrin-α blocked doxorubicin-induced activation of caspases-3 and -9, thereby preventing cardiac apoptosis. In addition, pifithrin-α attenuated doxorubicin-induced structural and functional damages, without diminishing its anti-tumor efficacy on p53-null PC-3 cancer cells. The protective effects of melatonin and its metabolite 6-hydroxymelatonin on doxorubicin-induced cardiac dysfunction were evaluated in an isolated perfused mouse hearts and in vivo doxorubicin-treated mice. While perfusion of mouse hearts with 5 μM doxorubicin for 60 min resulted in a 50% suppression of HRxLVDP and a 50% reduction of coronary flow, pre-exposure of hearts to 1 μM melatonin or 6-hydroxymelatonin eased the cardiac …


The Signaling Pathway Of Oxysterol Induced Apoptosis In Chinese Hamster Ovary (Cho)-K1 Cells., Lin Yang Aug 2002

The Signaling Pathway Of Oxysterol Induced Apoptosis In Chinese Hamster Ovary (Cho)-K1 Cells., Lin Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Apoptosis, a form of genetically programmed cell death, plays a key role in regulation of cellularity of the arterial wall. During atherogenesis, improper apoptosis may cause abnormalities of arterial morphogenesis, wall structural stability, and metabolisms. It has been well established that vascular cells undergo apoptosis after uptake of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL). Thus, an analysis of the signaling pathway of apoptotic induction by oxLDL is of value in understanding the development of atherosclerotic plaque. In order to elucidate the signaling pathway of apoptosis induced by oxLDL, we have used Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 cells treated with a potent oxysterol, 25-hydroxycholesterol …