Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Influences Of Post-Fledging Protein Supplementation On Growth And Reactive Stress Response In Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia Castanotis), Gabrielle Morris, Mary Lindley Tharp

Honors Theses

Protein needs of non-poultry birds, like Zebra Finches (ZF) are understudied. ZFs consume proteinaceous half-ripe seeds during breeding and chicken eggs are recommended supplements for captive ZFs; but developmental needs are unclear. Eggs contain essential amino acids that impact the “stress” hormone, corticosterone (CORT). Diet and corticosterone influence avian growth and stress management. Juvenile egg-fed ZFs outgrow seed-fed birds. Juvenile egg-supplementation boosts adult male attractiveness due to cheek patch augmentation compared to seed-only birds. Across studies, timing of diet (nestling Vs. fledgling) varies, both sexes have not been included, and simultaneous measures of growth and corticosterone are lacking. We are …

Nutrition Practices And Body Composition In Infants Born Preterm, Maggie Jerome

All ETDs from UAB

Adequate nutrition and optimal growth are critical goals of clinical care for premature infants in the NICU due to rapid brain growth and development that occur during this time. Emerging evidence suggests that body composition in preterm infants is predictive of neurodevelopmental and metabolic outcomes later in childhood. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate factors affecting premature infant growth and body composition, including high enteral protein supplementation, nutrition during the first two weeks of life, and race of infants born at 22-32 weeks gestational age admitted to the UAB NICU. In a pilot study, 56 preterm infants were …

Macronutrient Intake: A Multi-Sport Study Of Female Division I Collegiate Athletes, Ffion Price

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Macronutrients play a critical role within collegiate athletes’ performance and health, with carbohydrates providing most of the energy needs for most athletes. There is little research examining the macronutrient intake of healthy collegiate female athletes across sports. The aim of the present study was to compare macronutrient intakes of female collegiate athletes within different sports and compare their intakes to recommendations. Methods: An observational study was conducted to determine whether a sample of female collegiate athletes (n=26) consumed the IOC nutritional recommendations. Sports included within the study were soccer, basketball, volleyball, and cross-country. Athletes were asked to complete a …

The Role Of Nutrition And Hormone Signaling In Extended Larval Development And Obesity In Starvation-Selected Drosophila Melanogaster, Jennifer M. Clark

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Brief periods of starvation are a common stressor that most animals encounter in the wild and must be able to survive in order to maximize their fitness. Starvation resistance of the adult fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is thought to be primarily conferred by adult fat stores, body size, metabolic rate, behavior, and activity levels. Additionally, flies selected for starvation resistance also often show delayed pupariation, which is usually indicative of altered hormone signaling. How starvation selection extends development and if it contributes to adult starvation resistance remains incompletely studied. Identifying the targets of starvation selection that cause extended development and …

Covid-19 Serological Diagnostic Development Using A Sars-Cov-2 Rbd Foldon Fusion, Joey Emery Breckenridge Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Serological tests are conducted to assess humoral response against viral protein antigens, to assess viral exposure and protection from pathogens. The rapid development and modularity of serological assays have proven critical to managing the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 is within the trimeric Spike protein and serves as a highly immunogenic target for potentially neutralizing antibodies. Current receptor binding domain serological assays use recombinant monomers or dimers of the receptor binding domain. The receptor binding domain is presented to the immune system natively in the context of the Spike protein trimer. Therefore, a recombinant trimeric receptor …

Development Of An Immunoblot To Detect Human Antibodies Against Sars-Cov-2 Virus Proteins, Shivum Desai

Honors Theses

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that infects cells in the lungs, nasal passages, and intestines via the ACE2 receptors of the host, and leads to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Since the occurrence of the pandemic in December 2019, there have been 114 million cases worldwide in which 2.5 million lives have unfortunately been taken away.

Being diagnosed with a past infection stems questions among those that have tested positive through antibody testing. The problem here is that patients were notified that they have antibodies resulting from a SARS-CoV-2 infection, but in fact they may not …

Biophysical Characterization Of The Par-4 Tumor Suppressor: Evidence Of Structure Outside The Coiled Coil Domain And Interactions With Platinum Chemotherapeutics, Andrea Megan Clark

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) is an apoptosis-inducing tumor suppressor protein. Full-length Par-4 has previously been shown to be a predominantly intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) under neutral conditions, with significant regular secondary structure evident only within the C-terminal coiled coil domain. However, IDPs can gain ordered structure through the process of induced folding, which often occurs under non-neutral conditions. Previous work has shown that the Par-4 leucine zipper, which is a subset of the C-terminal coiled coil domain, is disordered under neutral conditions, but forms a dimeric coiled coil at acidic pH. Increase in ionic strength was also shown to increase …

Potential Role Of The Large Protein Titin In The Development Of Heart Failure, Mary M. Prickett

Senior Theses

I will be exploring the impact of the large protein Titin on heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). It was hypothesized that myocardial Titin plays a significant role in the progression of HFpEF through isoform, N2BA and N2B, changes. It was hypothesized that an increase in the quantity of N2B Titin, less compliant, and a decrease in N2BA Titin, more compliant, will be observed as HF progresses, contributing to an increase in passive stiffness involved in heart contraction. I will cover a detailed report on the role of Titin in HFpEF and propose research methods to explore further.

Single Molecule Fluorescence Studies Of Protein Structure And Dynamics Underlying The Chloroplast Signal Recognition Particle Targeting Pathway, Dustin R. Baucom

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The work presented in this dissertation explores the structural dynamics in the chloroplast signal recognition particle pathway. Findings include cpSRP shows scanning functionality similar to that in the cytosolic SRP with the ribosome. The intrinsically disordered C-terminal tail of the Albino3 protein has some transient secondary structure. Upon binding to cpSRP43 in solution, separate secondary structure formation was identified in the C-terminal tail of Albino3. Finally, to increase efficiency of analyzing fluorescence time traces for this work, a modular software was produced.

Deepcon-Pre: Improved Protein Contact Map Prediction Using Inverse Covariance And Deep Residual Networks, Nachammai Palaniappan

Theses

As with most domains where machine learning methods are applied, correct feature engineering is critical when developing deep learning algorithms for solving the protein folding problem. Unlike the domains such as computer vision and natural language processing, feature engineering is not rigorously studied towards solving the protein folding problem. A recent research has highlighted that input features known as precision matrix are most informative for predicting inter-residue contact map, the key for building three-dimensional models. In this work, we study the significance of the precision matrix feature when very deep residual networks are trained. Using a standard dataset of 3456 …

Development Of A Prolyl Endopeptidase Expression System In Lactobacillus Reuteri To Reduce The Clinical Manifestation Of Celiac Disease, Kara Lynn Jew

Master's Theses

Celiac Disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder that emerges due to the ingestion of gluten, a protein found in a variety of common grains such as wheat, rye, and barley. Approximately 1 in 100 individuals in the US suffer from CD, making it the most commonly diagnosed gastrointestinal disorder (Ciclitira et. al., 2005). These proline-rich gluten peptides are resistant to proteolysis and accumulate in the duodenum of the small intestine. Once in the duodenum, these peptides illicit an autoimmune response resulting in villous atrophy. Current treatment for CD requires a rigorous adherence to a gluten-free diet. Nevertheless, gluten-containing grains are …

The Master Synaptic Regulator: Activity Regulated Cytoskeleton Associated Protein, Arc, In Normal Aging And Diseases With Cognitive Impairment, Amber Khan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with complex underlying pathogenic mechanisms. Epidemiological studies have forecasted that in the next 3 decades, the number of AD cases will rise to epidemic proportions with enormous medical, emotional and financial burdens impacting individuals affected and society. Among many risk factors for AD, advancing age is clearly essential and necessary. Revelation of molecular changes in synaptic activities leading to the prodromal, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage may help illuminate the course of pathogenic progression and its cause-effect relationship with various targets thereby enabling target-driven disease-modifying therapeutic agents for AD.

Activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated (Arc) …

Total Salivary Protein Concentration And Its Correlation To Dental Caries, Emyli Peralta

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, dental cavities are the number one chronic disease in children. Saliva coats the teeth all day and can serve many functions to maintain and protect teeth. Saliva has many proteins that can be both detrimental and essential to the preservation of tooth enamel. The purpose of this study is to determine if a correlation exists between the total protein concentration in saliva and the prevalence of cavities in the mouth. We hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation with total salivary protein concentration and the prevalence of cavities in the participant. Methods: …

The Effects Of Habitual Protein Consumption On Vasodilation In Young Adults, Natalie O'Neal, Jordan Rezac

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Introduction: Blood pressure is a critical indicator for a number of health risks and conditions, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), heart failure, and stroke. Decreasing blood pressure occurs by vasodilation (relaxation) of blood vessels. The consumption of high amounts of protein is hypothesized to have a correlation with the vasodilation of vessels, thus creating a decrease in blood pressure. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to relate blood vessel diameter to habitual protein consumption. Our findings have the power to make individuals more aware of the effect their habitual protein intake can have on cardiovascular health. Methods: This …

The N-Terminal Methyltransferase Homologs Nrmt1 And Nrmt2 Exhibit Novel Regulation Of Activity Through Heterotrimer Formation., Jon David Faughn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Protein, DNA, and RNA methyltransferases have an ever-expanding list of novel substrates and catalytic activities. Even within families and between homologs, it is becoming clear the intricacies of methyltransferase specificity and regulation are far more diverse than originally thought. In addition to specific substrates and distinct methylation levels, methyltransferase activity can be altered through formation of complexes with close homologs. This work involves the N-terminal methyltransferase homologs NRMT1 and NRMT2. NRMT1 is a ubiquitously expressed distributive trimethylase. NRMT2 is a monomethylase expressed at low levels and in a tissue-specific manner. They are both nuclear methyltransferases with overlapping target consensus sequences …

Validation Of A Revised Food Frequency Questionnaire In A Population Of Elderly Men And Women With Fragility Fractures And Correlation With Bone Mineral Density And Biochemical Markers, Laura Graeff-Armas

Theses & Dissertations

Assessing food intake is important to estimate nutrient intake and counsel patients regarding their diet patterns and supplement use. The purpose of this study was to revise a validated Block Calcium/Vitamin D Screener to include protein for use in elderly patients with a history of fragility fracture. The Block Calcium/Vitamin D Screener food list was refined by adding protein foods and culling the calcium and vitamin D food items based on 2003-2006 NHANES survey. A nutrient database for the revised FFQ was developed from the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service National Nutrient Database. Validation of the revised …

Dopamine Levels In The Brain Of Rat Models Of Human Rheumatoid Arthritis, Amelia Stinson

Theses & Dissertations

Research Focus. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, debilitating, autoimmune disease that causes the destruction of bone tissue and the articular structures of joints. At least 30% of RA patient populations have cognitive impairment. Acidic dopamine (DA) is the principal neuroimmunotransmitter that links the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system together. The aim of the present study was to determine the levels of DA and its two acidic metabolites: 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA) in arthritic induced rats, and whether their levels vary across four different parts of the brain: amygdala (AMG), front cerebral cortex (CX), hippocampus …

Green Chemistry Oxidative Modification Of Peptoids Utilizing Bleach And Tempo, Jesse Leland Roberts

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biotherapeutic drugs, derived from biological molecules such as proteins and DNA, are becoming an integral and exceptionally critical aspect of modern medicine. Compared to common pharmaceutical drugs, biotherapeutics are much larger in size and have greater target specificity, allowing them to treat many chronic diseases ranging from cancer to rheumatoid arthritis. The major issue with protein based therapeutics is that they readily undergo proteolysis, or enzymatic degradation, when administered through subcutaneous injections. Traditionally, biotherapeutic modification procedures have centered on the use of PEG derivatives. This process, called PEGylation, is unfavorable due to the increases in molecular weights of the proteins …

Assessing The Effect Of Nutritional Interventions On Body Composition Changes During Pregnancy In Moderately Malnourished Malawian Women, Megan K. Kitagawa

Master's Theses

Background: Malnutrition can affect the body composition changes that occur in healthy pregnancy, resulting in adverse effects to both the mother and infant. Supplementary foods with high quality protein may result in more favorable changes in lean mass and fat mass in pregnant malnourished women.

Objective: To retrospectively assess changes in body composition in moderately malnourished pregnant Malawian women in response to one of three nutritional interventions.

Methods: Height, weight, MUAC, and TSF were measured in pregnant women with MUAC >20.6 cm and19) were compared using ANOVA. If differences were detected, differences between groups were tested using the Tukey HSD …

Recombinant Expression And Purification Of Amyloid-Β In E. Coli, Wisam M. Beauti

Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder that affects people older than 65 years 1,2,5. It is characterized by the presence of extracellular plaque deposits that are seen specifically in the brains of AD patients 4,5. These plaques are mainly comprised of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide aggregates. Aβ plaque production and deposition is believed to drive AD pathogenesis. Studying these proteins is crucial to understanding aspects of AD in order to develop possible therapeutic treatments. Recombinant expression of Aβ can also provide a handle to introduce mutations in the protein to further study their structure-function relationships. However, synthetic Aβ monomer …

Network Exploration Of Correlated Multivariate Protein Data For Alzheimer's Disease Association, Matthew J. Lane

Theses

Alzheimer Disease (AD) is difficult to diagnose by using genetic testing or other traditional methods. Unlike diseases with simple genetic risk components, there exists no single marker determining as to whether someone will develop AD. Furthermore, AD is highly heterogeneous and different subgroups of individuals develop the disease due to differing factors. Traditional diagnostic methods using perceivable cognitive deficiencies are often too little too late due to the brain having suffered damage from decades of disease progression. In order to observe AD at early stages prior to the observation of cognitive deficiencies, biomarkers with greater accuracy are required. By using …

Hemp: A Composition Review Plus, Agustin Gonzalo Miguel Garcia

Food Science and Nutrition

Hemp has been utilized by many societies around the world yet is currently absent in U.S. food production. The paper described and assessed various sources to aggregate hemp seed composition data and to decipher hemp seed consumption effect on health. There are copious components in hemp seeds that are discussed; some beneficial to human health as well as some anti-nutritional components that interfere. Numerous articles were analyzed and aspects of each were compiled to provide a source to assess the effectiveness of hemp seed as a nutritious source. Many components found in hemp seeds are found to be beneficial to …

Expression Of Fam171b Protein In Mouse Brain Tissue, Quan Tran

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases are inherited fatal neurodegenerative disorders caused by expansion of trinucleotide cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats, encoding abnormally long glutamine tracts in respective disease proteins. Currently, there are nine polyQ diseases- including Huntington’s disease and a number of Spinocerebellar ataxias. Interestingly, expanded polyQ proteins are prone to aggregate, and this aggregation may underlie neurodegeneration. In this study, we investigate the expression and localization of FAM171B (a novel polyQ protein) in the brain. Western blotting reveals that FAM171B protein is indeed expressed in the developing and adult mouse brain. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analyses suggests widespread localization of FAM171B to many brain regions …

A Biorelevant In Vitro Model To Characterize In Vivo Release Of Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (Rhbmp-2), Deblina Biswas

Theses and Dissertations

Biorelevant in vitro release/dissolution tests are designed to predict the in vivo behavior of a drug and are crucial in understanding its in vivo performance. Currently, there is no standardized compendial in vitro release testing methods or regulatory guidance’s for release/dissolution testing of implants due to their complex physiological locations.Furthermore, existing compendial methods do not capture the local release profile of ‘novel’ parenterals in physiological low fluid volume surrounding areas.

Long acting and in situ forming implants with orthobiologic proteins and peptides have increased over the past few decades due to a better understanding of genetic engineering. One of these …

Structure-Function Investigation Of Proteins Involved In Cellulose Biosynthesis By Escherichia Coli, Thomas Brenner

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Bacteria thrive within multicellular communities called biofilms consisting of a self-produced matrix. Biofilm matrices improve bacterial adherence to surfaces while creating a barrier from host immune responses, disinfectants, antibiotics and other environmental factors. Persistent colonization by the widely distributed pathogens, Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp., has been linked to production of biofilms composed of the exopolysaccharide cellulose. Cellulose-containing biofilms are also important to Acetobacter, Sarcina, Rhizobium and Agrobacterium species to form symbiotic and pathogenic interactions. In Enterobacteriaceae, two operons (bcsABZC and bcsEFG) are proposed to encode for proteins that form a cellulose biosynthetic complex that spans the …

Point Mutations Of The Putative Follitropin Receptor Caveolin Interaction Motif Do Not Disrupt Receptor Function, Stanley Soroka

Honors Theses

Human follicle stimulating hormone (hFSH) is a hormone found in humans that is synthesized and secreted by the anterior pituitary and targets the ovaries and testes. This specificity of targeting is accomplished by the interaction of hFSH with its receptor (hFSHR) on target cells. hFSHR is a G protein-coupled receptor that localizes to domains in the cell membrane known as lipid rafts. The mechanism of translocation of the hFSHR into lipid rafts is unknown. Our hypothesis is that translocation occurs through interaction of hFSHR with the protein caveolin via a specific sequence in the hFSHR; a putative caveolin interaction motif …

Macronutrient Supplementation For Endurance Athletes, Jonathan B. Hurst

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Purpose: The present study addressed two questions related to macronutrient supplementation during endurance exercise. Firstly, the effects of carbohydrate and protein co-ingestion on time trial (TT) performance were compared to carbohydrate alone. Secondly, the effects of isolated protein ingestion on TT performance were compared to a placebo.

Methods: Six trained cyclists (Age: 22 ± 1 years; Height: 167 ± 12 cm; Weight: 60 ± 10 kg; VO_2max: 62 ± 7 ml/kg/min) completed four experimental trials, consisting of constant-load cycling for two hours (55% W_max) immediately followed by a 30-km simulated time trial. During the trials, subjects …

Comparison: Perception And Knowledge Of Protein Consumption In Female Athletes For Post Weight Lifting Recovery, Samantha Jane Lofton

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

A study was conducted on James Madison University’s campus to assess the knowledge, beliefs, perceptions and habits of protein consumption post resistance training in female student athletes. Sixty-two female athletes who regularly partake in resistance training filled out a recovery-cue questionnaire containing 10 statements/questions on the subject of protein consumption. The data was analyzed using IBM SPSS, Version 21.0 and Microsoft Office Excel. Eight percent of respondents stated they are aware of how much protein they should be consuming post workout, and 21% feel what they consume post workout is an adequate amount of protein for muscle recovery. Forty-six percent …

Differential Regulation Of Iress In The Aurora A Mrna By Bfgf Through The Mtor Complex Torc2 Modulates Aurora A Kinase Expression, Roy L. Voice Iii

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Identifying the mechanisms that contribute to tumorigenesis is a major area of focus in our fight against cancer. Epithelial malignant tumors, such as breast, colon, ovarian and pancreatic cancers have been shown to overexpress proteins that control cell mitosis, growth, and proliferation. One of those proteins is the Aurora A kinase. Aurora A kinase is a member of a small family of kinases that contribute to mitotic events such as centrosome duplication, separation, and maturation. Aurora A overexpression leads to genomic instability, which can contribute to tumorigenesis, on the other hand, inhibiting Aurora A expression leads to apoptosis, making it …

Protein Aggregation Through Acoustic Cavitation, John A. Giarratano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Therapeutic proteins represent an essential piece of a health management plan for diseases such as diabetes, cancer, hemophilia, Crohn's Disease, and myocardial infarction. These proteins, however, must be maintained in their correct, biologically active conformation throughout processing, transportation, and delivery. This requirement poses serious engineering challenges because of a protein's susceptibility to thermodynamic instabilities resulting from the weak bonds driving the tertiary structure of the molecule. A particularly problematic type of protein degradation is aggregation. Administration of aggregated proteins, a particularly problematic degradation form, can have dire consequences, including blocking a patient's responsiveness to therapy, inducing immunogenicity, and even anaphylactic …