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Full-Text Articles in Chemicals and Drugs
Exogenous Surfactant As A Delivery Vehicle For Intrapulmonary Therapeutics, Brandon J. Baer
Exogenous Surfactant As A Delivery Vehicle For Intrapulmonary Therapeutics, Brandon J. Baer
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
As an organ system, the lung has unique advantages and disadvantages for direct drug delivery. Its contact with the external environment allows for the airways to be easily accessible to intrapulmonary delivery. However, its complex structure, which divides into more narrow airways with each branch, can make direct delivery to the remote alveoli challenging. The objective of this thesis was to overcome this issue by using exogenous surfactant, a lipoprotein complex used to treat neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, as a carrier for pulmonary therapeutics. It was hypothesized that therapeutics administered with a surfactant vehicle would display enhanced delivery to the …
Saponin Penetration And Interactions With Membranes, Sarai Guerrero
Saponin Penetration And Interactions With Membranes, Sarai Guerrero
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
The saponin QS21 has been used and studied for years as an adjuvant agent to improve vaccines for both humans and animals. However, how the saponin interacts with the membrane and itself remains poorly understood. We studied the QS21-A majority isomer using all-atom classical molecular dynamics simulations in model bilayers composed of cholesterol and either DOPC or DPPC. As this is one of the few computational studies on QS21-A, we had very few resources to compare our results to. Nevertheless, we were able to gain insight into possible configurations that QS21-A takes after penetration, the effect of the bilayer on …
The Effects Of Ocean Acidification And Eutrophication On The Growth, Lipid Composition And Toxicity Of The Marine Raphidophyte Heterosigma Akashiwo., Julia Rose Matheson
The Effects Of Ocean Acidification And Eutrophication On The Growth, Lipid Composition And Toxicity Of The Marine Raphidophyte Heterosigma Akashiwo., Julia Rose Matheson
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Anthropogenic forcing, such as ocean acidification caused by rising carbon dioxide emissions, and eutrophication due to increased nutrient loadings in run-off, are causing major changes to the biogeochemistry of the oceans. As a consequence, coastal phytoplankton are susceptible to altered biogeochemical environments. This study examined the effect of a lower pH and increased levels of nutrients on the common coastal harmful alga, Heterosigma akashiwo. Growth rates, maximal cell yields, neutral lipid accumulation and toxicity of cells grown under various pH and nutrients regimes were measured. H. akashiwo growth was near maximal when grown at lower pH levels. There was …