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Medical Physiology Commons

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2017

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Articles 1 - 30 of 52

Full-Text Articles in Medical Physiology

Translating Genetic And Preclinical Findings Into Autism Therapies, Maria Chahrour, Robin Kleiman, M Chiara Manzini Dec 2017

Translating Genetic And Preclinical Findings Into Autism Therapies, Maria Chahrour, Robin Kleiman, M Chiara Manzini

Pharmacology and Physiology Faculty Publications

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social deficits and repetitive/restrictive interests. ASD is associated with multiple comorbidities, including intellectual disability, anxiety, and epilepsy. Evidence that ASD is highly heritable has spurred major efforts to unravel its genetics, revealing possible contributions from hundreds of genes through rare and common variation and through copy-number changes. In this perspective, we provide an overview of the current state of ASD genetics and of how genetic research has spurred the development of in vivo and in vitro models using animals and patient cells to evaluate the impact of genetic mutations …


Developmental Origins Of Health And Disease: Current Knowledge And Potential Mechanisms, Daniel J. Hoffman, Rebecca M. Reynolds, Daniel B. Hardy Dec 2017

Developmental Origins Of Health And Disease: Current Knowledge And Potential Mechanisms, Daniel J. Hoffman, Rebecca M. Reynolds, Daniel B. Hardy

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

Epidemiologic and clinical research has provided a large body of evidence supporting the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), but there has been a relative dearth of mechanistic studies in humans due to the complexity of working with large, longitudinal cohorts. Nonetheless, animal models of undernutrition have provided substantial evidence for the potential epigenetic, metabolic, and endocrine mechanisms behind DOHaD. Furthermore, recent research has explored the interaction between the environment and the gastrointestinal system by investigating how the gut microbial ecology may impact the capacity for nutrient processing and absorption in a manner that may limit growth. This review …


Dietary Intake And Energy Expenditure Of Pararescuemen During Routine Training, Andrea Woita Dec 2017

Dietary Intake And Energy Expenditure Of Pararescuemen During Routine Training, Andrea Woita

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Pararescuemen are one group of Air Force Special Operations Forces (SOF) who engage in vigorous physical training to achieve mission readiness. This type of training requires high energy expenditures and matching dietary intake to support basic physiological needs and to meet performance demands. However, few studies have investigated the energy expenditure and dietary intake of SOF and none have specifically examined these behaviors in Pararescuemen. The goal of this investigation was to determine the energy expenditure and dietary intake of Pararescuemen during routine training - a period when these operators receive supervision and guidance for performance improvements, recovery, and career …


Endothelin-1 And Hypoxic Vascular Remodeling In Ovine Fetal Cerebral Arteries, Jinjutha Silpanisong Dec 2017

Endothelin-1 And Hypoxic Vascular Remodeling In Ovine Fetal Cerebral Arteries, Jinjutha Silpanisong

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Intrauterine hypoxia resulting from decreased maternal oxygen uptake, insufficient oxygen carrying capacity, or compromised oxygen delivery to the fetus jeopardizes fetal oxygen delivery, detrimentally affecting growth and development of the immature vasculature. Hypoxia transiently increases Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α (HIF- 1α), which complexes with HIF-1β to form the active HIF-1 dimer that can affect transcription. This temporary rise in HIF-1 can promote gene transcription of ligands such as Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Endothelin-1 (ET-1), which rises and falls with HIF levels. The absence of chronic elevation of these ligands prompted the question of how long-term effects of hypoxia is …


Targeting Cancer Stem Cells In Recurrent Lung Cancer, Karen T. Udoh Nov 2017

Targeting Cancer Stem Cells In Recurrent Lung Cancer, Karen T. Udoh

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in the world. Five-year survivability still remains dismal due to drug resistance. The development of drug resistance with cisplatin or platinum/taxane combination chemotherapies has led patients to suffer from recurrent lung cancer. These chemotherapy treatments target cancer cells but leave behind cancer stem cells. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are stem-like tumor cells that have the potential to differentiate, self-renew, and proliferate. This allows the cancer to relapse even after initial elimination of the tumor. We hypothesize that Verrucarin J will inhibit cell proliferation in lung cancer cells and CSCs by inducing …


Disruption Of Hippocampal Multisynaptic Networks By General Anesthetics., Min-Ching Kuo, L Stan Leung Nov 2017

Disruption Of Hippocampal Multisynaptic Networks By General Anesthetics., Min-Ching Kuo, L Stan Leung

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed that synaptic transmission is affected by general anesthetics, but an anesthetic dose response in freely moving animals has not been done. The hippocampus provides a neural network for the evaluation of isoflurane and pentobarbital on multisynaptic transmission that is relevant to memory function.

METHODS: Male Long-Evans rats were implanted with multichannel and single electrodes in the hippocampus. Spontaneous local field potentials and evoked field potentials were recorded in freely behaving rats before (baseline) and after various doses of isoflurane (0.25 to 1.5%) and sodium pentobarbital (10 mg/kg intraperitoneal).

RESULTS: Monosynaptic population excitatory postsynaptic potentials at the …


Finasteride As A Model For Personalized Medicine, Ion G. Motofei, David L. Rowland, Ioana Păunică, Octavian C. Tănăsescu, Petrişor Banu, Stana Păunică Oct 2017

Finasteride As A Model For Personalized Medicine, Ion G. Motofei, David L. Rowland, Ioana Păunică, Octavian C. Tănăsescu, Petrişor Banu, Stana Păunică

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

The side effects of Finasteride are currently a subject of controversy. Some studies report minor or acceptable adverse effects, which decrease after a variable period of time so that they do not necessitate terminating Finasteride administration. However, several clinical and neuro-endocrine studies show that some adverse effects persist indefinitely in the form of post-Finasteride syndrome, even after the drug cessation. This paper presents a possible explanation for these inconsistent findings. First, the study design of either informing or not informing patients prior therapy about possible adverse effects can influence the incidence and magnitude of reported adverse effects. Second, structural and …


Direct Antioxidant Properties Of Methotrexate: Inhibition Of Malondialdehyde-Acetaldehyde-Protein Adduct Formation And Superoxide Scavenging., Matthew C. Zimmerman, Dahn L. Clemens, Michael J. Duryee, Cleofes Sarmiento, Andrew Chiou, Carlos D. Hunter, Jun Tian, Lynell W. Klassen, James R. O'Dell, Geoffrey M. Thiele, Ted R. Mikuls, Daniel R. Anderson Oct 2017

Direct Antioxidant Properties Of Methotrexate: Inhibition Of Malondialdehyde-Acetaldehyde-Protein Adduct Formation And Superoxide Scavenging., Matthew C. Zimmerman, Dahn L. Clemens, Michael J. Duryee, Cleofes Sarmiento, Andrew Chiou, Carlos D. Hunter, Jun Tian, Lynell W. Klassen, James R. O'Dell, Geoffrey M. Thiele, Ted R. Mikuls, Daniel R. Anderson

Journal Articles: Cellular & Integrative Physiology

Methotrexate (MTX) is an immunosuppressant commonly used for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Recent observations have shown that patients treated with MTX also exhibit a reduced risk for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although MTX reduces systemic inflammation and tissue damage, the mechanisms by which MTX exerts these beneficial effects are not entirely known. We have previously demonstrated that protein adducts formed by the interaction of malondialdehyde (MDA) and acetaldehyde (AA), known as MAA-protein adducts, are present in diseased tissues of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or CVD. In previously reported studies, MAA-adducts were shown to be highly immunogenic, …


Peptidyl-Prolyl Isomerase 1 Regulates Ca(2+) Handling By Modulating Sarco(Endo)Plasmic Reticulum Calcium Atpase And Na(2+)/Ca(2+) Exchanger 1 Protein Levels And Function, V Sacchi, B Wang, D Kubli, A Martinez, J Jin, R Alvarez, N Hariharan, C Glembotski, T Uchida, J Malter, Y Yang, P Gross, C Zhang, S Houser, Marcello Rota, M Sussman Oct 2017

Peptidyl-Prolyl Isomerase 1 Regulates Ca(2+) Handling By Modulating Sarco(Endo)Plasmic Reticulum Calcium Atpase And Na(2+)/Ca(2+) Exchanger 1 Protein Levels And Function, V Sacchi, B Wang, D Kubli, A Martinez, J Jin, R Alvarez, N Hariharan, C Glembotski, T Uchida, J Malter, Y Yang, P Gross, C Zhang, S Houser, Marcello Rota, M Sussman

NYMC Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Aberrant Ca(2+) handling is a prominent feature of heart failure. Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms responsible for aberrant Ca(2+) handling is essential for the development of strategies to blunt pathological changes in calcium dynamics. The peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase peptidyl-prolyl isomerase 1 (Pin1) is a critical mediator of myocardial hypertrophy development and cardiac progenitor cell cycle. However, the influence of Pin1 on calcium cycling regulation has not been explored. On the basis of these findings, the aim of this study is to define Pin1 as a novel modulator of Ca(2+) handling, with implications for improving myocardial contractility and potential for …


Retinoic Acid Pathway Inhibition To Expand Human Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells With Islet Regenerative Capacity, Ruth Elgamal Sep 2017

Retinoic Acid Pathway Inhibition To Expand Human Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells With Islet Regenerative Capacity, Ruth Elgamal

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Cellular therapy to induce islet regeneration is emerging as a novel treatment strategy for diabetes. Umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) isolated by high aldehyde dehydrogenase activity (ALDHhi) reduce hyperglycemia after transplantation into streptozotocin (STZ)-treated NOD/SCID mice. However, UCB-derived ALDHhi cells are rare and expansion without the loss of regenerative function is required. We hypothesized that BMS 493, an inverse retinoic acid receptor agonist, will prevent HSPC differentiation of HSPC during expansion, generating more ALDHhi cells for therapy. ALDHhi cells expanded for 6 days with BMS 493 showed a 2.70-fold-increase in ALDHhi …


Temporal Changes In Cortical And Hippocampal Expression Of Genes Important For Brain Glucose Metabolism Following Controlled Cortical Impact Injury In Mice, June Zhou, Mark Burns, Linda Huynh, Sonia Villapol, Daniel D. Taub, Juan M. Saavedra, Marc R. Blackman Sep 2017

Temporal Changes In Cortical And Hippocampal Expression Of Genes Important For Brain Glucose Metabolism Following Controlled Cortical Impact Injury In Mice, June Zhou, Mark Burns, Linda Huynh, Sonia Villapol, Daniel D. Taub, Juan M. Saavedra, Marc R. Blackman

Pharmacology and Physiology Faculty Publications

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes transient increases and subsequent decreases in brain glucose utilization. The underlying molecular pathways are orchestrated processes and poorly understood. In the current study, we determined temporal changes in cortical and hippocampal expression of genes important for brain glucose/lactate metabolism and the effect of a known neuroprotective drug telmisartan on the expression of these genes after experimental TBI. Adult male C57BL/6J mice (n = 6/group) underwent sham or unilateral controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury. Their ipsilateral and contralateral cortex and hippocampus were collected 6 h, 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after injury. …


Overexpressed Somatic Alleles Are Enriched In Functional Elements In Breast Cancer., Paula Restrepo, Mercedeh Movassagh, Nawaf Alomran, Christian Miller, Muzi Li, Chris Trenkov, Yulian Manchev, Sonali Bahl, Stephanie Warnken, Liam Spurr, Tatiyana Apanasovich, Keith Crandall, Nathan Edwards, Anelia Horvath Aug 2017

Overexpressed Somatic Alleles Are Enriched In Functional Elements In Breast Cancer., Paula Restrepo, Mercedeh Movassagh, Nawaf Alomran, Christian Miller, Muzi Li, Chris Trenkov, Yulian Manchev, Sonali Bahl, Stephanie Warnken, Liam Spurr, Tatiyana Apanasovich, Keith Crandall, Nathan Edwards, Anelia Horvath

Pharmacology and Physiology Faculty Publications

Asymmetric allele content in the transcriptome can be indicative of functional and selective features of the underlying genetic variants. Yet, imbalanced alleles, especially from diploid genome regions, are poorly explored in cancer. Here we systematically quantify and integrate the variant allele fraction from corresponding RNA and DNA sequence data from patients with breast cancer acquired through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We test for correlation between allele prevalence and functionality in known cancer-implicated genes from the Cancer Gene Census (CGC). We document significant allele-preferential expression of functional variants in CGC genes and across the entire dataset. Notably, we find frequent …


Carotid Body-Mediated Chemoreflex Drive In The Setting Of Low And High Output Heart Failure., Rodrigo Del Rio, David C. Andrade, Camilo Toledo, Hugo S. Diaz, Claudia Lucero, Alexis Arce-Alvarez, Noah J. Marcus, Harold D. Schultz Aug 2017

Carotid Body-Mediated Chemoreflex Drive In The Setting Of Low And High Output Heart Failure., Rodrigo Del Rio, David C. Andrade, Camilo Toledo, Hugo S. Diaz, Claudia Lucero, Alexis Arce-Alvarez, Noah J. Marcus, Harold D. Schultz

Journal Articles: Cellular & Integrative Physiology

Enhanced carotid body (CB) chemoreflex function is strongly related to cardiorespiratory disorders and disease progression in heart failure (HF). The mechanisms underlying CB sensitization during HF are not fully understood, however previous work indicates blood flow per se can affect CB function. Then, we hypothesized that the CB-mediated chemoreflex drive will be enhanced only in low output HF but not in high output HF. Myocardial infarcted rats and aorto-caval fistulated rats were used as a low output HF model (MI-CHF) and as a high output HF model (AV-CHF), respectively. Blood flow supply to the CB region was decreased only in …


Enduring Chronic Kidney Disease: An Investigation Of Psychosocial Factors And Life Satisfaction In Older Adults Receiving Dialysis Treatment, Bailee Sobotka Aug 2017

Enduring Chronic Kidney Disease: An Investigation Of Psychosocial Factors And Life Satisfaction In Older Adults Receiving Dialysis Treatment, Bailee Sobotka

Honors Theses

Chronic kidney disease is a condition during which the kidneys begin to shut down and no longer filter blood efficiently. Once the disease has progressed far enough, dialysis treatments are mandatory to sustain life. To further understand how older adults receiving dialysis treatments cope with their disease, psychosocial factors were evaluated to investigate possible correlations with life satisfaction using a Life Satisfaction Index Z (LSI-Z). Expected correlations with life satisfaction were sociability, financial satisfaction, importance of spirituality, and activities of daily living scores. Interviews were conducted with 30 dialysis patients and results were analyzed using various statistical measures. Significant correlations …


Brain Microvascular Injury And White Matter Disease Provoked By Diabetes-Associated Hyperamylinemia, Han Ly, Nirmal Verma, Fengen Wu, Miao Liu, Kathryn E. Saatman, Peter T. Nelson, John T. Slevin, Larry B. Goldstein, Geert Jan Biessels, Florin Despa Aug 2017

Brain Microvascular Injury And White Matter Disease Provoked By Diabetes-Associated Hyperamylinemia, Han Ly, Nirmal Verma, Fengen Wu, Miao Liu, Kathryn E. Saatman, Peter T. Nelson, John T. Slevin, Larry B. Goldstein, Geert Jan Biessels, Florin Despa

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: The brain blood vessels of patients with type 2 diabetes and dementia have deposition of amylin, an amyloidogenic hormone cosecreted with insulin. It is not known whether vascular amylin deposition is a consequence or a trigger of vascular injury. We tested the hypothesis that the vascular amylin deposits cause endothelial dysfunction and microvascular injury and are modulated by amylin transport in the brain via plasma apolipoproteins.

METHODS: Rats overexpressing amyloidogenic (human) amylin in the pancreas (HIP rats) and amylin knockout (AKO) rats intravenously infused with aggregated amylin were used for in vivo phenotyping. We also carried out biochemical analyses …


Strength-Based Physiological Profiles Of Ncaa Division I Womens Basketball And Gymnastics Athletes: Implications For Injury Risk Assessment, Curtis Cazier Aug 2017

Strength-Based Physiological Profiles Of Ncaa Division I Womens Basketball And Gymnastics Athletes: Implications For Injury Risk Assessment, Curtis Cazier

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive strength-based physiological profile of women’s collegiate basketball and gymnastic athletes; and to make sport-specific comparisons for various isokinetic and maximal and rapid isometric strength characteristics of the knee flexor and extensor muscles. A focus on antagonist muscle balance (hamstrings to quadriceps ratios, H:Q) will help elucidate particular vulnerabilities in these at-risk female athletes. Fourteen Division I collegiate level women’s basketball and 13 women’s gymnastics athletes performed isokinetic and isometric strength testing of the knee extensors and flexors. Outcome measures included absolute and body mass normalized (relative) isokinetic and isometric peak …


Local Anesthesia Toxicity, Nicole Mccleery Jul 2017

Local Anesthesia Toxicity, Nicole Mccleery

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Local anesthesia (LA) provides a way to relieve temporary pain in a small part of the body and has been used for over 100 years (Fencl, 2015). LA also prevents the passage of surgical stimuli into the central nervous system (CNS) making a surgical procedure less painful for the patient (Noble, 2015). According to Noble, “altering the passage of stimuli from smaller diameter neurons in a confined area with lower drug dosages is called LA, such as the injection of LA around a surgical incision” (Noble, 2015, p.325). LA can be used in a variety of settings, such as in …


Cardiac Repair Post-Myocardial Infarction: Roles Of The Primary Cilium And The Long Non-Coding Rna Malat1, Jessica N. Blom Jul 2017

Cardiac Repair Post-Myocardial Infarction: Roles Of The Primary Cilium And The Long Non-Coding Rna Malat1, Jessica N. Blom

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Complete occlusion of a coronary artery causes myocardial infarction (MI), resulting in cardiomyocyte cell death. The surviving myocardium undergoes a deleterious remodeling process which causes further injury, and can ultimately result in heart failure. Despite therapeutic advances that have prolonged life, MI remains a leading cause of death worldwide and imparts a significant economic burden. The advancement of treatments to improve cardiac repair post-MI requires the discovery of new targeted treatment strategies. Epicardial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) occurs post-MI as a mechanism to support neovascularization and cardiac healing. However, the endogenous EMT is not enough to support sufficient repair. The transcription factor …


Exercise Protects Against Congenital Heart Defects Induced By Pregestational Diabetes, Tana Saiyin Jul 2017

Exercise Protects Against Congenital Heart Defects Induced By Pregestational Diabetes, Tana Saiyin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Pregestational diabetes is a risk factor for birth defects, with diabetic women having a four times higher risk of producing children with congenital heart defects (CHDs). This is concerning because the prevalence of diabetes is growing at epidemic proportions. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether exercise can also reduce hyperglycemia-induced CHDs and determine the underlying mechanism. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is a critical enzyme for normal cardiogenesis that can be upregulated with exercise in adult cardiovascular tissue. However, whether maternal exercise can regulate fetal eNOS and affect heart development has yet to be studied. In this …


Maternal Nicotine Exposure Leads To Decreased Cardiac Protein Disulfide Isomerase And Impaired Mitochondrial Function In Male Rat Offspring., Nicole G Barra, Maria Lisyansky, Taylor A Vanduzer, Sandeep Raha, Alison C Holloway, Daniel B Hardy Jul 2017

Maternal Nicotine Exposure Leads To Decreased Cardiac Protein Disulfide Isomerase And Impaired Mitochondrial Function In Male Rat Offspring., Nicole G Barra, Maria Lisyansky, Taylor A Vanduzer, Sandeep Raha, Alison C Holloway, Daniel B Hardy

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

Smoking throughout pregnancy can lead to complications during gestation, parturition and neonatal development. Thus, nicotine replacement therapies are a popular alternative thought to be safer than cigarettes. However, recent studies in rodents suggest that fetal and neonatal nicotine exposure alone results in cardiac dysfunction and high blood pressure. While it is well known that perinatal nicotine exposure causes increased congenital abnormalities, the mechanisms underlying longer-term deficits in cardiac function are not completely understood. Recently, our laboratory demonstrated that nicotine impairs placental protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) triggering an increase in endoplasmic reticulum stress, leading us to hypothesize that this may also …


Increased Incidence Of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease In Male Rat Offspring Exposed To Fluoxetine During Fetal And Neonatal Life Involves The Nlrp3 Inflammasome And Augmented De Novo Hepatic Lipogenesis., Nicole E De Long, Daniel B Hardy, Noelle Ma, Alison C Holloway Jul 2017

Increased Incidence Of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease In Male Rat Offspring Exposed To Fluoxetine During Fetal And Neonatal Life Involves The Nlrp3 Inflammasome And Augmented De Novo Hepatic Lipogenesis., Nicole E De Long, Daniel B Hardy, Noelle Ma, Alison C Holloway

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

Up to 10% of women take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) during pregnancy. Children exposed to SSRIs in utero have an increased risk of being overweight suggesting that fetal exposure to SSRIs can cause permanent metabolic changes. We have previously shown in rats that fetal and neonatal exposure to the SSRI antidepressant fluoxetine results in metabolic perturbations including increased hepatic triglyceride content; a hallmark of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the mechanism(s) underlying the fluoxetine-induced increase in intrahepatic triglyceride content. Female nulliparous Wistar rats were given vehicle or fluoxetine (10 mg/kg/day) …


Maternal Undernutrition And Long-Term Effects On Hepatic Function, Daniel B. Hardy Jul 2017

Maternal Undernutrition And Long-Term Effects On Hepatic Function, Daniel B. Hardy

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

Undernutrition in utero, regardless of the source, can impair proper liver development leading to long-term metabolic dysfunction. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying how nutritional deficits during perinatal life lead to permanent alterations in hepatic gene expression will provide better therapeutic strategies to alleviate the undernourished liver in postnatal life. This chapter addresses the different experimental models of undernutrition in utero, and highlights the direct and indirect mechanisms involved leading to metabolic diseases in the liver. These include hypoxia, oxidative stress, epigenetic alterations, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. In addition, promising perinatal nutritional and pharmaceutical interventions are highlighted which …


Perinatal Malnutrition And Epigenetic Regulation Of Long-Term Metabolism In The Liver And Adipose Tissue, Daniel B. Hardy Jul 2017

Perinatal Malnutrition And Epigenetic Regulation Of Long-Term Metabolism In The Liver And Adipose Tissue, Daniel B. Hardy

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

Maternal malnutrition in perinatal life can have long-lasting adverse effects on glucose and lipid homeostasis in the offspring, culminating in dyslipidemia, insulin resistance and obesity. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying how these nutritional deficits during perinatal life lead to permanent changes in hepatic and adipose function will provide efficacious therapeutic strategies to mitigate these metabolic defects short- and long-term. This chapter addresses how epigenetic mechanisms mediate alterations in hepatic and adipose gene expression identified from clinical studies and different experimental models of maternal malnutrition. These include DNA methylation, post-translational histone modifications, and microRNAs.


Effects Of Protein Deficiency On Perinatal And Postnatal Health Outcomes, Shelby L. Oke, Daniel B. Hardy Jul 2017

Effects Of Protein Deficiency On Perinatal And Postnatal Health Outcomes, Shelby L. Oke, Daniel B. Hardy

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

There are a variety of environmental insults that can occur during pregnancy which cause low birth weight and poor fetal health outcomes. One such insult is maternal malnutrition, which can be further narrowed down to a low protein diet during gestation. Studies show that perinatal protein deficiencies can impair proper organ growth and development, leading to long-term metabolic dysfunction. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie how this deficiency leads to adverse developmental outcomes is essential for establishing better therapeuticstrategies that may alleviate or prevent diseases in later life. This chapter reviews how perinatal protein restriction in humans and animals leads …


Neuromuscular Function In Women Postpartum, Rita Deering Jul 2017

Neuromuscular Function In Women Postpartum, Rita Deering

Dissertations (1934 -)

Efficient abdominal muscle function is important for functional mobility in men and women, and dysfunction of these muscles has been associated with impaired function such as low back pain. This dissertation explored abdominal muscle function in healthy young men and young women who have never been pregnant (nulligravid). As pregnancy and child birth also impact the tissues of the abdominal wall, this dissertation will also explore abdominal muscle function in postpartum women. This dissertation involved three primary aims. Aim1 compared abdominal muscle function and experimental pain perception in males and nulligravid females. Maximal strength over a range of trunk angles, …


Alternative Splicing Promotes Tumour Aggressiveness And Drug Resistance In African American Prostate Cancer., Bi-Dar Wang, Kristin Ceniccola, Sujin Hwang, Ramez Andrawis, Anelia Horvath, Jennifer A Freedman, Jacqueline Olender, Stefan Knapp, Travers Ching, Lana Garmire, Vyomesh Patel, Mariano A Garcia-Blanco, Steven R Patierno, Norman H Lee Jun 2017

Alternative Splicing Promotes Tumour Aggressiveness And Drug Resistance In African American Prostate Cancer., Bi-Dar Wang, Kristin Ceniccola, Sujin Hwang, Ramez Andrawis, Anelia Horvath, Jennifer A Freedman, Jacqueline Olender, Stefan Knapp, Travers Ching, Lana Garmire, Vyomesh Patel, Mariano A Garcia-Blanco, Steven R Patierno, Norman H Lee

Pharmacology and Physiology Faculty Publications

linical challenges exist in reducing prostate cancer (PCa) disparities. The RNA splicing landscape of PCa across racial populations has not been fully explored as a potential molecular mechanism contributing to race-related tumour aggressiveness. Here, we identify novel genome-wide, race-specific RNA splicing events as critical drivers of PCa aggressiveness and therapeutic resistance in African American (AA) men. AA-enriched splice variants of PIK3CD, FGFR3, TSC2 and RASGRP2 contribute to greater oncogenic potential compared with corresponding European American (EA)-expressing variants. Ectopic overexpression of the newly cloned AA-enriched variant, PIK3CD-S, in EA PCa cell lines enhances AKT/mTOR signalling and increases proliferative …


H2s And Homocysteine Control A Novel Feedback Regulation Of Cystathionine Beta Synthase And Cystathionine Gamma Lyase In Cardiomyocytes., Shyam Sundar Nandi, Paras K. Mishra Jun 2017

H2s And Homocysteine Control A Novel Feedback Regulation Of Cystathionine Beta Synthase And Cystathionine Gamma Lyase In Cardiomyocytes., Shyam Sundar Nandi, Paras K. Mishra

Journal Articles: Cellular & Integrative Physiology

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a cardioprotective gas, is endogenously produced from homocysteine by cystathionine beta synthase (CBS) and cystathionine gamma lyase (CSE) enzymes. However, effect of H2S or homocysteine on CBS and CSE expression, and cross-talk between CBS and CSE are unclear. We hypothesize that homocysteine and H2S regulate CBS and CSE expressions in a dose dependent manner in cardiomyocytes, and CBS deficiency induces cardiac CSE expression. To test the hypothesis, we treated murine atrial HL1 cardiomyocytes with increasing doses of homocysteine or Na2S/GYY4137, a H2S donor, and measured the levels of CBS and CSE. We found that homocysteine upregulates CSE …


Mixed-Mode Oscillations In Pyramidal Neurons Under Antiepileptic Drug Conditions, Babak V-Ghaffari, M. Kouhnavard, Sherif M. Elbasiouny Jun 2017

Mixed-Mode Oscillations In Pyramidal Neurons Under Antiepileptic Drug Conditions, Babak V-Ghaffari, M. Kouhnavard, Sherif M. Elbasiouny

Neuroscience, Cell Biology, & Physiology Faculty Publications

Subthreshold oscillations in combination with large-amplitude oscillations generate mixedmode oscillations (MMOs), which mediate various spatial and temporal cognition and memory processes and behavioral motor tasks. Although many studies have shown that canard theory is a reliable method to investigate the properties underlying the MMOs phenomena, the relationship between the results obtained by applying canard theory and conductancebased models of neurons and their electrophysiological mechanisms are still not well understood. The goal of this study was to apply canard theory to the conductance-based model of pyramidal neurons in layer V of the Entorhinal Cortex to investigate the properties of MMOs under …


A Novel Micro Cold Atmospheric Plasma Device For Glioblastoma Both In Vitro And In Vivo., Zhitong Chen, Hayk Simonyan, Xiaoqian Cheng, Eda Gjika, Li Lin, Jerome Canady, Jonathan H Sherman, Colin Young, Michael Keidar May 2017

A Novel Micro Cold Atmospheric Plasma Device For Glioblastoma Both In Vitro And In Vivo., Zhitong Chen, Hayk Simonyan, Xiaoqian Cheng, Eda Gjika, Li Lin, Jerome Canady, Jonathan H Sherman, Colin Young, Michael Keidar

Pharmacology and Physiology Faculty Publications

: Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) treatment is a rapidly expanding and emerging technology for cancer treatment. Direct CAP jet irradiation is limited to the skin and it can also be invoked as a supplement therapy during surgery as it only causes cell death in the upper three to five cell layers. However, the current cannulas from which the plasma emanates are too large for intracranial applications. To enhance efficiency and expand the applicability of the CAP method for brain tumors and reduce the gas flow rate and size of the plasma jet, a novel micro-sized CAP device (µCAP) was developed …


Thermal And Developmental Ecology Of Pupfish, Cyprinodon, Alexander Jones May 2017

Thermal And Developmental Ecology Of Pupfish, Cyprinodon, Alexander Jones

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Pupfish from the genus Cyprinodon are among the most endangered groups of fishes on the planet, with nearly 40% of species being threatened with extinction. These pupfishes are often assumed to be the most temperature tolerant of all fish, coping with temperatures as low as 0 °C and as high as 44 °C. However, conflicting data exist and certain measures of thermal tolerance are not markedly higher in pupfish compared to common game fish. Pupfish egg production and growth has been known to be hampered at temperatures well below what they apparently experience in nature. I addressed why eggs fail …