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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Precise Method To Identify Kinase Drug Targets In Complex Diseases: The First Step Towards Sustainable And Effective Treatment, Hasbanny Irisson, Marzieh Ayati Sep 2023

Precise Method To Identify Kinase Drug Targets In Complex Diseases: The First Step Towards Sustainable And Effective Treatment, Hasbanny Irisson, Marzieh Ayati

Research Symposium

Background: Kinases are enzymes that have proven to be important drug targets due to their role in critical biological mechanisms such as phosphorylation. Phosphorylation happens when a kinase catalyzes the transfer of a phosphate group to a protein in a phosphorylated site, which then becomes known as the substrate of the kinase. Any dysregulation of protein phosphorylation causes a wide range of complex diseases including cancer. Thus, discovering the links between kinases and their substrates (i.e. predicting kinase-substrate associations (KSAs)) is crucial in developing effective and sustainable treatments. Presently, less than 5% of phosphorylated sites have an associated kinase, and …


An Ngqd Based Diagnostic Tool For Pancreatic Cancer, Ryan Ketan Ajgaonkar, Bong Lee, Alina Valimukhametova, Anton Naumov, Giridhar Akkaraju Sep 2023

An Ngqd Based Diagnostic Tool For Pancreatic Cancer, Ryan Ketan Ajgaonkar, Bong Lee, Alina Valimukhametova, Anton Naumov, Giridhar Akkaraju

Research Symposium

Background: Pancreatic cancer remains difficult to detect at early stages which contributes to a poor five-yearsurvival rate. Therefore, early detection approaches based on novel technologies should be explored to address this critical health issue. Nanomaterials have recently emerged as frontrunners for diagnostic applications due to their small size in the 1-100 nm range, which facilitates one-on-one interactions with a variety of biomolecules like oligonucleotides and makes them suitable for a plethora of detection and delivery applications. In this work, the presence of specific pancreatic cancer miRNA (pre-miR-132) is detected utilizing the fluorescence properties of highly biocompatible nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots …


Atomistic Assessment Of Drug-Phospholipid Interactions Consequent To Cancer Treatment: A Study Of Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity, Yara Elsayed Ahmed Jun 2023

Atomistic Assessment Of Drug-Phospholipid Interactions Consequent To Cancer Treatment: A Study Of Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity, Yara Elsayed Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Despite being one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents developed to date, Anthracyclines are notorious for their cardiotoxicity. Their clinical use is frequently limited both in dosage and in prescription due to the severe cardiac damage they cause. The mechanism of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity is not yet fully understood. However, it is hypothesized that interactions with the myocardial membrane play an important role in imparting cardiotoxicity. In this study, we use molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations to study the anthracycline drug molecules and the interactions that they have with the myocardial membrane. We construct a myocardial membrane model …


Photodynamic Therapy Agents: The Power Of Mjöllnir To Eradicate Cancer, Sidney M. Hopper May 2023

Photodynamic Therapy Agents: The Power Of Mjöllnir To Eradicate Cancer, Sidney M. Hopper

Honors College Theses

After its discovery back in the 1900s, photosensitizers became a critical study for potential treatments and cures for medical issues, including cancer. It was discovered that porphyrins appeared to target and accumulate in proliferating cells, and to reach the cells, a certain wavelength of light with maximum absorbance associated with the porphyrin was necessary to achieve cell death. Photodynamic therapy involves making use of porphyrins or metalloporphyrins as activators when exposed to such light. When activated, these compounds generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as HO- or O2-, which can react with nucleic acids found in DNA and RNA. In …


Para-Methoxybenzylidene Acetal-Protected D-Glucosamine Derivatives As Ph-Responsive Gelators And Their Applications For Drug Delivery, Jonathan Bietsch, Logan Baker, Anna Duffney, Alice Mao, Mary Foutz, Cheandri Ackermann, Guijun Wang Jan 2023

Para-Methoxybenzylidene Acetal-Protected D-Glucosamine Derivatives As Ph-Responsive Gelators And Their Applications For Drug Delivery, Jonathan Bietsch, Logan Baker, Anna Duffney, Alice Mao, Mary Foutz, Cheandri Ackermann, Guijun Wang

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Carbohydrate-based low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) are compounds with the capability to self-assemble into complex molecular networks within a solvent, leading to solvent immobilization. This process of gel formation depends on noncovalent interactions, including Van der Waals, hydrogen bonding, and π–π stacking. Due to their potential applications in environmental remediation, drug delivery, and tissue engineering, these molecules have emerged as an important area of research. In particular, various 4,6-O-benzylidene acetal-protected D-glucosamine derivatives have shown promising gelation abilities. In this study, a series of C-2-carbamate derivatives containing a para-methoxy benzylidene acetal functional group were synthesized and characterized. These compounds exhibited good …


The Discovery And Characterization Of Novel Potent 5-Substituted 3, 3’, 4’, 7-Tetramethoxyflavonoid Dna Triplex Specific Binding Ligands, Vanessa Marie Rangel Jan 2023

The Discovery And Characterization Of Novel Potent 5-Substituted 3, 3’, 4’, 7-Tetramethoxyflavonoid Dna Triplex Specific Binding Ligands, Vanessa Marie Rangel

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Chemotherapy works by killing fast dividing cells. Unfortunately, these drugs are not specific to cancer tissue and can damage normal cells. Chemotherapy is like taking poison and hoping it kills the cancer cells before it kills you. As an alternative, many researchers have investigated the use of antigene therapy to selectively target cancer causing genes to avoid off target effects. Although promising, the theory is limited by the stability of the triplex structure. Here, we report the discovery of potent triplex binding ligands derived from the natural product quercetin. Chemical derivatives of 5-substituted 3, 3’, 4’, 7-tetramethoxyquercetin derivatives were characterized …


Msdrp: A Deep Learning Model Based On Multisource Data For Predicting Drug Response, Haochen Zhao, Xiaoyu Zhang, Qichang Zhao, Yaohang Li, Jianxin Wang Jan 2023

Msdrp: A Deep Learning Model Based On Multisource Data For Predicting Drug Response, Haochen Zhao, Xiaoyu Zhang, Qichang Zhao, Yaohang Li, Jianxin Wang

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Motivation: Cancer heterogeneity drastically affects cancer therapeutic outcomes. Predicting drug response in vitro is expected to help formulate personalized therapy regimens. In recent years, several computational models based on machine learning and deep learning have been proposed to predict drug response in vitro. However, most of these methods capture drug features based on a single drug description (e.g. drug structure), without considering the relationships between drugs and biological entities (e.g. target, diseases, and side effects). Moreover, most of these methods collect features separately for drugs and cell lines but fail to consider the pairwise interactions between drugs and cell …