Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Effects Of Active Site And Allosteric Residues On Catalysis And Inhibitor Selectivity In The Bacillus Stearothennophilus Dihydrofolate Reductase, Tyler Eck

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In drug discovery, building a comprehensive picture of the binding events between a drug and its enzyme target can be useful, especially in the development of new drugs or predicting the effect of a drug on a similar target from the same protein family. It is well known that a drug's selectivity is influenced by its interactions with amino acid residues within the active site, but contributions from residues situated away from (distal to) the active site are less well understood. Using a novel predictive approach PAnPredictor that employs sequence alignments, we have previously predicted residue positions in the dihydrofolate …

Indole-3-Glycerol Phosphate Synthase Ligand Binding Interactions, Oshane Thomas

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Indole-3-glycerol phosphate synthase (IGPS) catalyzes the irreversible ring closure of 1-(ocarboxyphenylamino)- 1-deoxyribulose 5- phosphate (CdRP) into indole-3-glycerol phosphate (IGP) during the fourth step in tryptophan biosynthesis. Analysis of the crystal structure of IGPS from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtIGPS) hinted the importance of Lys119 for binding or catalysis. Lys110 from sulfolobus sulfataricus IGPS (ssIGPS) that aligns with Lys119 from MtIGPS, was proposed to be a general acid for the proton transfer that initiates the ring closure and decarboxylation of CdRP. To study the importance of Lys119 in the chemical mechanism for MtIGPS, an amino acid change was made at this position to …

Light Addressable Electrode For Neurotransmitter Sensing, Irina Michelle Terrero Rodríguez

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Electrochemical sensors are important for a variety of applications. However, they suffer from physical constraints, as each electrode requires a dedicated wire. Although arrays of 500 electrodes have been reported, achieving high-density electrochemical measurements is still difficult.

In a light-addressable electrode, electrochemical processes occur only when the electrode is illuminated. Light-addressable electrodes could potentially solve many of the drawbacks of traditional electrode arrays, as light is used to spatially confine the redox process to only a small part of the electrode and only one connection is needed. It could also allow for new imaging techniques.

Light-addressable electrodes require a semiconductor …

Inhibition Of Hsv-1 Binding By Egcg-Stearate, Valerie Paschalis

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is the causative agent of oral herpes, and is able to establish lifelong latent infection along with painful, recurring symptoms. Epigallocatechin-3- gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant polyphenol derived from green tea (Camellia sinensis), whose anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, and antiviral properties have been widely studied. Although EGCG is not chemically stable and has poor hydrophobicity, lipophilic derivatives of EGCG have shown increased stability as well as increased antiviral efficacy against HSV. Previous studies have demonstrated that EGCG stearate (EGCG-S), a derivative of EGCG esterified at the 4’ position with stearic acid, is able to …