Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

High Resolution X-Ray Diffraction Analysis Of Cb1 Receptor Antagonists As A Means To Explore Binding Affinity, Steven P. Fournet

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Charge density studies have been conducted on ten CB₁ cannabinoid receptor antagonists via high resolution x-ray crystallography. Bond critical point values and various other properties derived from these studies including the electrostatic potential were analyzed in correlation to the affinity of each compound with the CB₁ receptor. Correlation/anti-correlation was found between several properties and K_i. The data was also interpreted by principal component analysis with three principal components accounting for 85% of the data variation. Data mining was limit due to the low sample count and the requirements set for the inclusion of correlated/anti-correlated variables …

High Yield Solvothermal Synthesis Of Hexaniobate Based Nanocomposites Via The Capture Of Preformed Nanoparticles In Scrolled Nanosheets, Shivaprasad Reddy Adireddy

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The ability to encapsulate linear nanoparticle (NP) chains in scrolled nanosheets is an important advance in the formation of nanocomposites.These nanopeapods (NPPs) exhibit interesting properties that may not be achieved by individual entities. Consequently, to fully exploit the potential of NPPs, the fabrication of NPPs must focus on producing composites with unique combinations of morphologically uniform nanomaterials. Various methods can produce NPPs, but expanding these methods to a wide variety of material combinations can be difficult. Recent work in our group has resulted in the in situ formation of peapod-like structures based on chains of cobalt NPs. Building on this …

Synthesis Of Novel Azetidines, Amber Thaxton

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Azetidine is a four-membered nitrogen-containing heterocyclic ring that has recently received a great deal of attention as a molecular scaffold for the design and preparation of biologically active compounds. Structure-activity studies employing functionalized azetidines have led to the development of variety of drug molecules and clinical candidates encompassing a broad spectrum of biological activities.

Herein, the synthesis a novel series of 3-aryl-3-arylmethoxyazetidines is described. Selected 3-aryl-3-arylmethoxyazetidines were evaluated for their binding affinity to multiple monoaminergic transporters for the potential treatment of methamphetamine addiction. It was discovered that this scaffold exhibits high binding affinity (nM) for both the serotonin and dopamine …

Approaches For Improved Positional Proteomics, Yanjie Jiang

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Positional proteomics is emerging as an attractive technique to characterize protein termini, which play important biological roles in cells. Even with the advances in past decades, there still are areas for improvement. This thesis focuses on improving data quality and assignment confidence in positional proteomics.

A novel workflow was designed for the large-scale identification of protein N-terminal sequences. 4-sulfophenyl isothiocyanate (SPITC) is used for N-termini sulfonation; Upon higher energy collisional dissociation (HCD), SPITC peptides in electrospray ionization ESI generate predominately y-type ion series; such simplification of spectra enables the identification of N-termini with high fidelity. The presence of b_{1 …}

Synthesis And Antifungal Evaluation Of Barbiturate Saponins And Progress Towards Cysteinyl Metal Peptides, Monika Madhav

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Invasive fungal infections are a major threat to immune-compromised patients. There is a critical need to develop new antifungal agents because of increasing resistance to the common antifungal drugs.

In the first part of this dissertation, methods for preparation of novel barbiturate saponin as antifungals and their biological activities would be described. Barbiturates and steroidal saponins have shown remarkable antifungal activity in the biological assays. Therefore, attempts were directed to combine the barbiturate with the steroid to give novel antifungal agents. The need for extensive SAR studies and to better understand these compounds efforts were directed to synthesize novel saponin …

Nanomaterials For Biological Applications: Drug Delivery And Bio-Sensing, Hui Ma

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The idea of utilizing nanomaterials in bio-related applications has been extensively practiced during the recent decades. Magnetic nanoparticles (MPs), especially superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles have been demonstrated as promising candidates for biomedicine. A protective coating process with biocompatible materials is commonly performed on MPs to further enhance their colloidal and chemical stability in the physiological environment. Mesoporous hollow silica is another class of important nanomaterials that are extensively studied in drug delivery area for their ability to carry significant amount of guest molecules and release in a controlled manner.

In this study, different synthetic approaches that are able to produce …

Synthesis Of Dibenzofurans Via A Palladium Catalyzed Oxidative Ring Closure Reaction, Sadia Akram

Senior Honors Theses

The cannabinoid partial agonist BAY 59-3704 has been identified as an attractive target to explore structure-activity relationships at cannabinoid receptors for the development of a therapeutic agent for psychostimulant addiction. This thesis will describe the studies associated with the optimization of a palladium-catalyzed oxidative ring closure reaction for the synthesisof dibenzofuran analogues from substituted diaryl ethers. These dibenzofurans are viewed as rigid analogues of BAY 59-3704 and will provide useful information about molecular interactions at cannabinoid receptors. The scope and limitations of the palladium-catalyzed oxidative ring closure reaction as it relates to the synthesis of the target dibenzofuran analogues will …

Iron Citrate Toxicity Causes Aco1Δ-Induced Mtdna Loss In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Muhammad Ali Farooq

Senior Honors Theses

Aconitase is an enzyme of the Krebs cycle that catalyzes the isomerization of citrate to isocitrate. In addition to its enzymatic activity, Aco1 has been reported to bind to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and mediate its maintenance in the budding yeast S. cerevisiae. In the absence of Aco1, cells rapidly lose mtDNA and become “petite” mutants. The purpose of this study is to uncover the mechanism behind mtDNA loss due to an aco1 deletion mutation. We found that an aco1 mutation activates the mitochondria-to-nucleus retrograde (RTG) signaling pathway, resulting in increased expression of citrate synthases (CIT) through the activation of two …