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Rita Dolan - Msc Healthcare Ethics & Law Rcsi 2016-18 - Dissertation (Final).Pdf, Rita Dolan

Rita Dolan

Silencing Of The Pink1 Gene Expression By Conditional Rnai Does Not Induce Dopaminergic Neuron Death In Mice., Hongxia Zhou, Björn H Falkenburger, Jörg B Schulz, Kim Tieu, Zuoshang Xu, Xu Gang Xia

Kim Tieu

Transgenic RNAi, an alternative to the gene knockout approach, can induce hypomorphic phenotypes that resemble those of the gene knockout in mice. Conditional transgenic RNAi is an attractive choice of method for reverse genetics in vivo because it can achieve temporal and spatial silencing of targeted genes. Pol III promoters such as U6 are widely used to drive the expression of RNAi transgenes in animals. Tested in transgenic mice, a Cre-loxP inducible U6 promoter drove the broad expression of an shRNA against the Pink1 gene whose loss-of-functional mutations cause one form of familial Parkinson's disease. The expression of the shRNA …

Segregation Of A Latent High Adiposity Phenotype In Families With A History Of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Implicates Rare Obesity-Susceptibility Genetic Variants With Large Effects In Diabetes-Related Obesity, Arthur B. Jenkins, Marijka Batterham, Dorit Samocha-Bonet, Katherine Tonks, Jerry R. Greenfield, Lesley V. Campbell

Dr Marijka Batterham

Background We recently reported significantly greater weight gain in non-diabetic healthy subjects with a 1st degree family history (FH+) of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) than in a matched control group without such history (FH−) during voluntary overfeeding, implying co-inheritance of susceptibilities to T2DM and obesity. We have estimated the extent and mode of inheritance of susceptibility to increased adiposity in FH+. Methods Normoglycaemic participants were categorised either FH+ (≥1 1st degree relative with T2DM, 50F/30M, age 45±14 (SD) yr) or FH− (71F/51M, age 43±14 yr). Log-transformed anthropometric measurements (height, hip and waist circumferences) and lean, bone and fat mass …

Ace And Ucp2 Gene Polymorphisms And Their Association With Baseline And Exercise-Related Changes In The Functional Performance Of Older Adults, Justin W. Keogh, Barry Palmer, Denise Taylor, Andrew Kilding

Justin Keogh

Maintaining high levels of physical function is an important aspect of successful ageing. While muscle mass and strength contribute to functional performance in older adults, little is known about the possible genetic basis for the heterogeneity of physical function in older adults and in how older adults respond to exercise. Two genes that have possible roles in determining levels of muscle mass, strength and function in young and older adults are angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2). This study examined whether polymorphisms in these two individual genes were associated with baseline functional performance levels and/or the training-related …

Genetic Adult Lactase Persistence Is Associated With Risk Of Crohn's Disease In A New Zealand Population, Deborah Nolan, Dug Yeo Han, Wen Jiun Lam, Angharad R. Morgan, Alan G. Fraser, Linda C. Tapsell, Lynnette R. Ferguson

L. C. Tapsell

Background Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is an infective agent found in ruminants and milk products, which has been suggested to increase the risk of gastrointestinal inflammation in genetically susceptible hosts. It is hypothesized that lactase persistence facilitates exposure to such milk products increasing the likelihood of adverse outcomes. Individuals either homozygous or heterozygous for the T allele of DNA variant, rs4988235, located 14kb upstream from the LCT locus, are associated with having lactase persistence. The aim of this study was to determine whether lactase persistence as evident by the T allele of rs4988235 is associated with Crohn’s Disease (CD) …

Serotonin Transporter Promoter Polymorphism Genotype Is Associated With Behavioral Disinhibition And Negative Affect In Children Of Alcoholics, Geoffrey R. Twitchell, Gregory L. Hanna, Edwin H. Cook, Scott F. Stoltenberg, Hiram E. Fitzgerald, Robert A. Zucker

Scott F. Stoltenberg

Background: Serotonergic (5-HT) dysfunction has been implicated in the etiology of both behavioral disinhibition (BD) and negative affect (NA). This work extends our previous finding of relationships between whole blood 5-HT and both BD and NA in pubescent, but not prepubescent, children of alcoholics and continues examination of a hypothesized role of 5-HT dysfunction in alcoholism risk. The long and short (L and S) variants of the 5-HT transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) are responsible for differing transcriptional efficiencies in 5-HT uptake. Although associations have been found between the SS 5-HTTLPR genotype and severe alcoholism and neuroticism, recent reports describe …

Transcriptional Regulatory Network Analysis During Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transformation Of Retinal Pigment Epithelium., Craig H Pratt, Rajanikanth Vadigepalli, Praveen Chakravarthula, Gregory E Gonye, Nancy J Philp, Gerald B Grunwald

Rajanikanth Vadigepalli

PURPOSE: Phenotypic transformation of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells contributes to the onset and progression of ocular proliferative disorders such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). The formation of epiretinal membranes in PVR may involve an epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) of RPE cells as part of an aberrant wound healing response. While the underlying mechanism remains unclear, this likely involves changes in RPE cell gene expression under the control of specific transcription factors (TFs). Thus, the purpose of the present study was to identify TFs that may play a role in this process. METHODS: Regulatory regions of genes that are differentially regulated during …

Medical Sequencing Of Candidate Genes For Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip And Palate, A. R. Vieira, J. R. Avila, Sandra Daack-Hirsch, E. Dragan, T. M. Felix, F. Rahimov, J. Harrington, R. R. Schultz, Y. Watanabe, M. Johnson, J. Fang, S. E. O'Brien, I. M. Orioli, E. E. Castilla, D. R. Fitzpatrick, R. Jiang, M. L. Marazita, J. C. Murray

Sandra Daack-Hirsch

Nonsyndromic or isolated cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) occurs in wide geographic distribution with an average birth prevalence of 1/700. We used direct sequencing as an approach to study candidate genes for CL/P. We report here the results of sequencing on 20 candidate genes for clefts in 184 cases with CL/P selected with an emphasis on severity and positive family history. Genes were selected based on expression patterns, animal models, and/or role in known human clefting syndromes. For seven genes with identified coding mutations that are potentially etiologic, we performed linkage disequilibrium studies as well in 501 …

Medical Sequencing Of Candidate Genes For Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip And Palate, A. R. Vieira, J. R. Avila, Sandra Daack-Hirsch, E. Dragan, T. M. Felix, F. Rahimov, J. Harrington, R. R. Schultz, Y. Watanabe, M. Johnson, J. Fang, S. E. O'Brien, I. M. Orioli, E. E. Castilla, D. R. Fitzpatrick, R. Jiang, M. L. Marazita, J. C. Murray

Sandra Daack-Hirsch

Nonsyndromic or isolated cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) occurs in wide geographic distribution with an average birth prevalence of 1/700. We used direct sequencing as an approach to study candidate genes for CL/P. We report here the results of sequencing on 20 candidate genes for clefts in 184 cases with CL/P selected with an emphasis on severity and positive family history. Genes were selected based on expression patterns, animal models, and/or role in known human clefting syndromes. For seven genes with identified coding mutations that are potentially etiologic, we performed linkage disequilibrium studies as well in 501 …

Cloning And Expression Of Toxoplasma Gondii Dense Granular Protein 4 (Gra4) In Pichia Pastoris, Init Ithoi

Init Ithoi

GRA4 of Toxoplasma gondii has been shown to prompt IgG, IgM and IgA responses in previous studies and is thus considered one of the major immunogenic proteins from T. gondii that can be used for both diagnostics purposes and vaccine development. This study seeks to clone and express the GRA4 in Pichia pastoris, which has numerous advantages over other systems for expression of eukaryotic proteins. In order to achieve this, the gene was cloned into the pPICZ alpha A expression vector, which was then incorporated into the P. pastoris genome via insertional integration for expression of the recombinant protein, under …