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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Historical Development Of The Linear Nonthreshold Dose-Response Model As Applied To Radiation, Ronald L. Kathren Dec 2002

Historical Development Of The Linear Nonthreshold Dose-Response Model As Applied To Radiation, Ronald L. Kathren

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "Despite the nearly universal adoption of the linear nonthreshold dose response model (LNT) as the primary basis for radiation protection standards for the past half century, the LNT remains highly controversial and a contentious topic of discussion among health physicists, radiation biologists, and other radiological scientists. Indeed, it has been pointed out that the LNT has assumed the status of a paradigm, synonymous with an ideal, standard, or paragon or perhaps to some, a sacred cow. Reduced to its very basics, the LNT postulates that every increment of ionizing radiation dose, however small, carries with it a commensurate increase …


A Reduced Model Clarifies The Role Of Feedback Loops And Time Delays In The Drosophila Circadian Oscillator, Paul Smolen, Douglas A. Baxter, John H. Byrne Nov 2002

A Reduced Model Clarifies The Role Of Feedback Loops And Time Delays In The Drosophila Circadian Oscillator, Paul Smolen, Douglas A. Baxter, John H. Byrne

Journal Articles

Although several detailed models of molecular processes essential for circadian oscillations have been developed, their complexity makes intuitive understanding of the oscillation mechanism difficult. The goal of the present study was to reduce a previously developed, detailed model to a minimal representation of the transcriptional regulation essential for circadian rhythmicity in Drosophila. The reduced model contains only two differential equations, each with time delays. A negative feedback loop is included, in which PER protein represses per transcription by binding the dCLOCK transcription factor. A positive feedback loop is also included, in which dCLOCK indirectly enhances its own formation. The model …


Coupling Of Termination, 3′ Processing, And Mrna Export, C. M. Hammell, Stefan Gross, Daniel Zenklusen, Catherine V. Heath, Francoise Stutz, Claire Moore, C. N. Cole Sep 2002

Coupling Of Termination, 3′ Processing, And Mrna Export, C. M. Hammell, Stefan Gross, Daniel Zenklusen, Catherine V. Heath, Francoise Stutz, Claire Moore, C. N. Cole

Dartmouth Scholarship

In a screen to identify genes required for mRNA export in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we isolated an allele of poly(A) polymerase (PAP1) and novel alleles encoding several other 3′ processing factors. Many newly isolated and some previously described mutants (rna14-48, rna14-49, rna14-64, rna15-58, and pcf11-1 strains) are defective in polymerase II (Pol II) termination but, interestingly, retain the ability to polyadenylate these improperly processed transcripts at the nonpermissive temperature. Deletion of the cis-acting sequences required to couple 3′ processing and termination also …


Remodeling Of Organelle-Bound Actin Is Required For Yeast Vacuole Fusion, Gary Eitzen, Li Wang, Naomi Thorngren, William Wickner Aug 2002

Remodeling Of Organelle-Bound Actin Is Required For Yeast Vacuole Fusion, Gary Eitzen, Li Wang, Naomi Thorngren, William Wickner

Dartmouth Scholarship

Actin participates in several intracellular trafficking pathways. We now find that actin, bound to the surface of purified yeast vacuoles in the absence of cytosol or cytoskeleton, regulates the last compartment mixing stage of homotypic vacuole fusion. The Cdc42p GTPase is known to be required for vacuole fusion. We now show that proteins of the Cdc42p-regulated actin remodeling cascade (Cdc42p --> Cla4p --> Las17p/Vrp1p --> Arp2/3 complex --> actin) are enriched on isolated vacuoles. Vacuole fusion is dramatically altered by perturbation of the vacuole-bound actin, either by mutation of the ACT1 gene, addition of specific actin ligands such as latrunculin …


Fibroblast Growth Factor–Specific Modulation Of Cellular Response By Syndecan-4, Arie Horowitz, Eugene Tkachenko, Michael Simons May 2002

Fibroblast Growth Factor–Specific Modulation Of Cellular Response By Syndecan-4, Arie Horowitz, Eugene Tkachenko, Michael Simons

Dartmouth Scholarship

Proteoglycans participate in growth factor interaction with the cell surface through their heparan sulfate chains (HS), but it is not known if they are otherwise involved in growth factor signaling. It appears now that the syndecan-4 core protein, a transmembrane proteoglycan shown previously to bind phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)) and activate PKC alpha, participates in mediating the effects of fibroblast growth factor (FGF)2 on cell function. Mutations in the cytoplasmic tail of syndecan-4 that either reduced its affinity to PIP(2) (PIP(2)(-)) or disrupted its postsynaptic density 95, disk large, zona occludens-1 (PDZ)-dependent binding (PDZ(-)) produced a FGF2-specific dominant negative phenotype in …


Triplet Repeat Dna Structures And Human Genetic Disease: Dynamic Mutations From Dynamic Dna., Richard R. Sinden, Vladimir N. Potaman, Elena A. Oussatcheva, Christopher E. Pearson, Yuri L. Lyubchenko, Luda S. Shlyakhtenko Feb 2002

Triplet Repeat Dna Structures And Human Genetic Disease: Dynamic Mutations From Dynamic Dna., Richard R. Sinden, Vladimir N. Potaman, Elena A. Oussatcheva, Christopher E. Pearson, Yuri L. Lyubchenko, Luda S. Shlyakhtenko

Journal Articles: Pharmaceutical Sciences

Fourteen genetic neurodegenerative diseases and three fragile sites have been associated with the expansion of (CTG)n (CAG)n, (CGG)n (CCG)n, or (GAA)n (TTC)n repeat tracts. Different models have been proposed for the expansion of triplet repeats, most of which presume the formation of alternative DNA structures in repeat tracts. One of the most likely structures, slipped strand DNA, may stably and reproducibly form within triplet repeat sequences. The propensity to form slipped strand DNA is proportional to the length and homogeneity of the repeat tract. The remarkable stability of slipped strand DNA may, in part, be due to loop-loop interactions facilitated …


Staphylococcus Aureus Agr And Sara Functions Are Required For Invasive Infection But Not Inflammatory Responses In The Lung, Geoffrey Heyer, Shahryar Saba, Robert Adamo, William Rush, Grace Soong, Ambrose Cheung, Alice Prince Jan 2002

Staphylococcus Aureus Agr And Sara Functions Are Required For Invasive Infection But Not Inflammatory Responses In The Lung, Geoffrey Heyer, Shahryar Saba, Robert Adamo, William Rush, Grace Soong, Ambrose Cheung, Alice Prince

Dartmouth Scholarship

Staphylococcus aureus strains lacking agr- and sarA-dependent gene products or specific MSCRAMM (microbial surface components recognizing adhesive matrix molecules) adhesins were compared for the ability to activate inflammatory responses in the lung. The mutants were evaluated for virulence in a mouse model of pneumonia and by quantifying their ability to stimulate interleukin-8 (IL-8) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) expression in respiratory epithelial cells. In a neonatal mouse, only strains with intact agr and sarA loci were consistently associated with invasive, fatal pulmonary infection (P < 0.001) and sarA was specifically required to cause bacteremia (P < 0.001). The agr and/or sarA mutants were, nonetheless, fully capable of producing pneumonia and were as proficient as the wild-type strain in stimulating epithelial IL-8 expression, a polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemokine, in airway cells. In contrast, agr and especially sarA mutants induced less epithelial GM-CSF expression, and MSCRAMM mutants lacking fibronectin binding proteins or clumping factor A, a ligand for fibrinogen, were unable to stimulate epithelial GM-CSF production. The ability to induce IL-8 expression was independent of the adherence properties of intact bacteria, indicating that shed and/or secreted bacterial components activate epithelial responses. While conserved staphylococcal components such as peptidoglycan are sufficient to evoke inflammation and cause pneumonia, the agr and sarA loci of S. aureus are critical for the coordination of invasive infection of the lungs.


Mutation Detection For Genotype/Phenotype Correlation Studies In Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease, Marie Mccluskey Jan 2002

Mutation Detection For Genotype/Phenotype Correlation Studies In Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease, Marie Mccluskey

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is one of the most common genetic disorders (Gabow, 1993), with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 400 to 1 in 1000 (Dalgaard, 1957; Gabow, 1993). The disease is the fourth leading cause of renal failure with more than 10 million people affected worldwide (Grantham, 1997). Mutations in at least two genes (PKD1, PKD2) can lead to the disease (European PDK Consortium, 1994; Mochizuki, et al, 1996). This project deals with autosomal dominant PKD, caused by mutations in the PKD1 gene, which account for 85% of reported cases.