Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 20 of 20

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Targeting Heat Shock 27 Kda Protein Induces Androgen Receptor Degradation, Yaxin Li May 2022

Targeting Heat Shock 27 Kda Protein Induces Androgen Receptor Degradation, Yaxin Li

ETD Archive

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive brain tumor, with very poor prognosis. Androgen receptor (AR) plays a significant role in the progression of GBM, and anti-androgen agents have the potential to be used for the treatment of GBM. However, AR mutation commonly happens in GBM, which makes the anti-androgen agents less effective. Heat shock 27 kDa protein (HSP27) is a well-documented chaperone protein to stabilize AR. Inhibition of HSP27 results in AR degradation regardless the mutation status of AR, which makes HSP27 a good target to abolish AR in GBM. Identified compound I ((N-(3-((2,5-dimethoxybenzyl)oxy)-4-(methylsulfonamido) phenyl)-4-methoxybenzamide) inhibits GBM cell …


Ahr Expression On Rorc-Expressing Immune Cells Is Essential For I3c-Mediated Protection Against Colitis, Michal C. Williams Jul 2021

Ahr Expression On Rorc-Expressing Immune Cells Is Essential For I3c-Mediated Protection Against Colitis, Michal C. Williams

Senior Theses

Colitis is an inflammatory bowel disorder (IBD) whose etiology is attributed to modification in the luminal microbiota and dysregulation in the immune response. Indole is a signaling molecule which is naturally produced by gut luminal microbiota. Indole-3- carbinol (I3C) is a compound commonly found in vegetables and a ligand for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Previous studies have detected decreased expression and activation on the AhR receptor in colitis patients, thought to possibly alter gut microbiota metabolism, subsequently promoting colitis. 1 AhR, expressed in a variety of immune and epithelial cells, contributes to gut homeostasis by affecting vital mediators such …


Indolizine Donor-Based Dyes For Applications In Fluorescence Biological Imaging, William Meador Mar 2021

Indolizine Donor-Based Dyes For Applications In Fluorescence Biological Imaging, William Meador

Honors Theses

NIR emissive fluorophores are intensely researched due to their potential to replace modern imaging procedures. Many molecular strategies have been employed in the literature to optimize fluorophores for deeper NIR absorption and emission, biocompatibility, and higher fluorescence quantum yields. Amongst the fluorophores studied to date, proaromatic indolizine donors are attractive alternatives to traditional alkyl amine and indoline based donors due to their 1) lower energy absorption and emission facilitated by proaromaticity, 2) large Stokes shifts due to increased dihedral angles about the π-system, 3) ease of functionalization and capacity for bioconjugation at the phenyl ring, and 4) potential for further …


Development Of A Computer Algorithm For Generation Of Primers For Nucleic Acid Sequence Based Amplification (Nasba), Rohit Karnati Jan 2020

Development Of A Computer Algorithm For Generation Of Primers For Nucleic Acid Sequence Based Amplification (Nasba), Rohit Karnati

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Nucleic acid sequence based amplification (NASBA) is a primer based isothermal method of RNA/DNA amplification. Currently, primer design for NASBA has been restricted to hand creating sequences of oligonucleotides that must follow a set of rules to be compatible for the amplification process. This process of hand-creating primers is prone to error and time intensive. The detection of mutants, post amplification, also offers a benefit in point of care scenarios and the design of hybridization probes for sequences in the region of amplification is also an erroneous and time intensive process. By creating a program to design primers and hybridization …


Design And Synthesis Of Circadian Clock Modulators And The Study Of Lov Domain Protein Lkp2 In Arabidosis Thaliana And Brassica Rapa, Aditi Nagar Aug 2018

Design And Synthesis Of Circadian Clock Modulators And The Study Of Lov Domain Protein Lkp2 In Arabidosis Thaliana And Brassica Rapa, Aditi Nagar

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Circadian rhythms are self-autonomous endogenous clocks synchronized with the rotation of the Earth. With the Earth’s rotation and revolution on its axis, the internal clock undergoes oscillation in the period of ~24 hour and governs day to day activities in most organisms. In humans, it regulates the day to day physiological activities. Today’s modern lifestyle has an impact on health: shift work, jet lag, and irregular eating habits contribute to the misalignment of the endogenous circadian oscillator, thereby, increasing the risk of many metabolic disorders including diabetes, irregular blood pressure, sleep disorders, obesity, depression, and cancer. The primary goal of …


A Comprehensive Analysis Of Aromatic-Proton Mediated Hydrogen Bonds, Mona S. Alshamrani Jan 2018

A Comprehensive Analysis Of Aromatic-Proton Mediated Hydrogen Bonds, Mona S. Alshamrani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hydrogen bonds play critical role in folding, structure and recognition of biological macromolecules (e.g., proteins, RNA, DNA). In addition to classical hydrogen bonds (e.g., ─OH---O=, ─OH---O─, ─NH---O─ etc.), structural analysis of protein and nucleic acids, almost a decade ago, showed that hydrogen bonds (e.g., CH---O) with hydrogen atoms on aliphatic carbon atoms (hereafter, aliphatic-protons) also play very important role in the structure and function of biomolecules. Even though, protons of aromatic ring systems (hereafter, aromatic-protons) are more polar than the aliphatic-protons, systematic analysis of hydrogen bonds of aromatic-protons have not been carried out. Therefore, I carried out a systematic analysis …


Quantitative Analysis Of Bleomycin In Rat Plasma By Lc-Ms/Ms, Huawen Li Jan 2018

Quantitative Analysis Of Bleomycin In Rat Plasma By Lc-Ms/Ms, Huawen Li

ETD Archive

Bleomycin is the most commonly used compound in its group of antineoplastic drugs. It works on tumor cells by single and double stranded DNA cleavage after its activation, in which it blocks tumor cells’ DNA replication or transcription activities to inhibit tumor cells’ growth. Bleomycin sulfate (Blenoxane) is the most popular preparation used in clinical research, and contains Bleomycin fractions of A2 and B2, which causes difficulties in quantitative analysis. This work uses the metal chelating property of Bleomycin as an advantage to simplify and improve sensitivity of existing quantitative methods. Copper was spiked in excess to plasma samples, followed …


Computational Investigation Of Protein Assemblies, Sm Bargeen Alam Turzo Jan 2018

Computational Investigation Of Protein Assemblies, Sm Bargeen Alam Turzo

ETD Archive

Selective nitrosylation of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) at Cys-247 affects gene regulation through the interferon-gamma (IFN- γ) activated inhibitor of translation (GAIT) complex. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDLox) and INF-γ induce assembly of the nitrosylase complex composed of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), S100A8, and S100A9 proteins. Crystal structure of the complex of GAPDH and S100A8A9 is not known, structural prediction method were employed by protein-protein docking and binding energy calculation with PatchDock and FIREDock respectively. Candidate models were selected, based on a weight factor calculated, from the computational method developed from the "artificial protease" cleavage mapping Fe(III) (s)-1-(p- …


Il-17 Drives Copper Uptake And Activation Of Growth Pathways In Colorectal Cancer Cells In A Steap4-Dependent Manner, Evan Martin Jan 2018

Il-17 Drives Copper Uptake And Activation Of Growth Pathways In Colorectal Cancer Cells In A Steap4-Dependent Manner, Evan Martin

ETD Archive

Colorectal cancer is a disease characterized by abnormal, invasive cell growth beginning in the colon or rectum. The third most common type of cancer worldwide, approximately one million new cases of the disease are diagnosed across the globe annually, resulting in an estimated 700,000+ deaths. One major risk factor associated with development of colorectal cancer is the presence of chronic inflammation in the large intestine, also known as colitis. Inflammation is a complex immune response against harmful stimuli, characterized by symptoms including heat, redness, swelling and pain. One important molecular mediator of this process is interleukin 17 (IL-17), a pro-inflammatory …


Il-17 Drives Copper Uptake And Activation Of Growth Pathways In Colorectal Cancer Cells In A Steap4-Dependent Manner, Evan Martin Jan 2018

Il-17 Drives Copper Uptake And Activation Of Growth Pathways In Colorectal Cancer Cells In A Steap4-Dependent Manner, Evan Martin

ETD Archive

Colorectal cancer is a disease characterized by abnormal, invasive cell growth beginning in the colon or rectum. The third most common type of cancer worldwide, approximately one million new cases of the disease are diagnosed across the globe annually, resulting in an estimated 700,000+ deaths. One major risk factor associated with development of colorectal cancer is the presence of chronic inflammation in the large intestine, also known as colitis. Inflammation is a complex immune response against harmful stimuli, characterized by symptoms including heat, redness, swelling and pain. One important molecular mediator of this process is interleukin 17 (IL-17), a pro-inflammatory …


Further Development Of Raman Spectroscopy For Body Fluid Investigation : Forensic Identification, Limit Of Detection, And Donor Characterization, Claire K. Muro Jan 2017

Further Development Of Raman Spectroscopy For Body Fluid Investigation : Forensic Identification, Limit Of Detection, And Donor Characterization, Claire K. Muro

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The challenges to forensic body fluid analysis have placed limitations on the type of information that investigators can acquire and how that information can be collected. In recent years, Raman spectroscopy has proven itself useful for characterizing body fluids. In 2008, a large-scale investigation was undertaken to explore the use of Raman spectroscopy as a means of identifying body fluids. This work resulted in multidimensional Raman spectroscopic signatures for the five main body fluids: semen, peripheral blood, saliva, vaginal fluid, and sweat. These studies were incredibly successful and created the foundation for years of continued research. Accordingly, the studies included …


The Function Of Renalase, Brett Allen Beaupre Aug 2016

The Function Of Renalase, Brett Allen Beaupre

Theses and Dissertations

Renalase was originally reported to be an enzyme secreted into the blood by the kidney to lower blood pressure and slow heart rate. Despite multiple reports claiming to confirm this activity in vivo there has been considerable discord in regards to the reaction catalyzed by renalase. The structural topology of renalase resembles that of known flavoprotein oxidases, monooxygenases and demethylases, but the conserved active site residues are unique to renalase. It has been reported that the catalytic function of renalase is to oxidize circulating catecholamines, however in vitro studies have failed to demonstrate a catalytic activity in the presence of …


Development Of A [2]-Catenane Synthetic Method And A Student Beliefs Survey For A Hybrid Organometallics Course, Jourdan E. Lakes May 2016

Development Of A [2]-Catenane Synthetic Method And A Student Beliefs Survey For A Hybrid Organometallics Course, Jourdan E. Lakes

Honors Theses

In this study, the value-added of a new upper-level chemistry course, CHEM 372-Organometallics, was defined using a Student Beliefs Survey that was answered by students in CHEM 372 and by faculty who teach upper-level chemistry courses at Coastal Carolina University. The laboratory portion of CHEM 372 focused on the synthesis of a [2]-catenane, which is a molecularly interlocked molecule (MIM). The intention was to give the CHEM 372 students a goal to work toward over the course of the semester instead of different, unrelated, experiments each week. Using this style of lab teaching, the students were introduced to graduate school-level …


Substrate Specificity Of The Lipn Hydrolase From Mycobacterium Ulcerans, Stephanie Raynor Jan 2016

Substrate Specificity Of The Lipn Hydrolase From Mycobacterium Ulcerans, Stephanie Raynor

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Mycobacterium ulcerans is the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, a tropical skin disease that affects thousands of individuals annually. Recent studies have revealed that lipolytic enzymes are involved in the pathogenicity processes of mycobacterium and could be potential targets for novel antibiotics. LipN is one proposed serine hydrolase in Mycobacterium ulcerans that contains the conserved α/β hydrolase protein fold and utilizes the conserved catalytic traid of serine, histidine, and aspartate/glutamate. The physiological substrate and biological role of LipN from M. ulcerans have not yet been determined. In this study, LipN was cloned into a pET28a plasmid and overexpressed in an …


Synthesis And Immunological Evaluation Of Type I, Type Ii, And Gamma Delta Nkt Cell Antigens, Brian L. Anderson May 2013

Synthesis And Immunological Evaluation Of Type I, Type Ii, And Gamma Delta Nkt Cell Antigens, Brian L. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the immune system is to protect our bodies from infection. One way it accomplishes this task is through the presentation of foreign pathogens to NKT cells. After an antigen is presented to the T cell receptor, activated NKT cells quickly release soluble chemical signals, termed chemokines and cytokines, that modulate the response of the immune system. Due to the immunological relevance of NKT cell activation, we developed and synthesised non-natural analogs of immunostimulatory type I, II, and gamma delta NKT cell antigens. The immunological evaluations of these analogs resulted in identification of sulfatide as a gamma delta …


Characterization Of Esterase Activity From The Bacteria, Francisella Tularensis, The Causative Agent Of Tularemia, Leigh Anna Weston May 2011

Characterization Of Esterase Activity From The Bacteria, Francisella Tularensis, The Causative Agent Of Tularemia, Leigh Anna Weston

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Francisella tularensis is the bacteria responsible for causing the disease tularemia and is listed as one of the top three-biowarfare agents. Among the proteins essential to the virulence and infectivity of F.tularensis are multiple esterases, which are enzymes that break down various ester, thioester, and amide bonds. In this project, the catalytic activity, substrate speci fi city, and structure of a putative esterase from F.tularensis was studied. Latent fluorophores based on the molecule, fluorescein, were unmasked by the enzymatic activity of the esterase and the increase in fluorescence was measured over time to determine how well the e tcrase recognized …


Advanced Statistical Methods For Biochemical And Forensic Applications Of Raman Spectroscopy, Vitali Sikirzhytski Jan 2011

Advanced Statistical Methods For Biochemical And Forensic Applications Of Raman Spectroscopy, Vitali Sikirzhytski

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This work is dedicated to the development and application of advanced statistical methods for biochemical and forensic applications of Raman spectroscopy. We developed a new concept of multidimensional Raman signatures for forensic identification of body fluid traces, which was successfully applied to the study of dried blood, semen, saliva, sweat and vaginal fluid stains. Several alternative advanced chemometric techniques were also successfully tested for the problems of pure body fluids discrimination and mixture analysis. Studies of body fluid mixtures with low blood and semen concentrations indicated that the detection limit of a minor contributor was as low as a few …


Photocycloaddition Of Allenes, Crystal Ward Nov 2008

Photocycloaddition Of Allenes, Crystal Ward

Theses and Dissertations

For the past ten years the Fleming research group has been involved in the research of allene compounds. We have explored the synthesis of allenes as well as several reactions involving allenes, such as oxidation and nitrene addition. Recently, we have explored the synthesis and photochemistry of allenic alcohols tethered to silicon. There are literature examples using allenes in synthesis, but very few examples exist using allenes in photochemical cycloaddition reactions. We have found that a diisopropylallenyloxy(cinnamyloxy)silane derivative undergoes [2+2] photochemical cycloaddition to produce a cyclobutylsilane product when irradiated for 60-75 minutes.


Dna-Templated Nanomaterials, Hector Alejandro Becerril-Garcia Apr 2007

Dna-Templated Nanomaterials, Hector Alejandro Becerril-Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

Nanomaterials display interesting physical and chemical properties depending on their shape, size and composition. Self assembly is an intriguing route to producing nanomaterials with controllable compositions and morphologies. DNA has been used to guide the self assembly of materials, resulting in: (1) metal nanowires; (2) metal or semiconductor nanorods; (3) carbon nanotubes; and (4) semiconductor, metal or biological nanoparticles. My work expands the range of DNA templated nanomaterials and develops novel ways of using DNA to pattern nanostructures on surfaces. I have performed the first synthesis of silver nanorods on single stranded DNA, an attractive material for localizing DNA coupled …


The Enzymatic Oxidation Of Aldehydes By Xanthine Oxidase, Duane Beal Gregory Jun 1970

The Enzymatic Oxidation Of Aldehydes By Xanthine Oxidase, Duane Beal Gregory

All Master's Theses

As early as sixty years ago, the existence of an enzyme from mammalian tissues which catalyzed the oxidation of xanthine and hypoxanthine was recognized. The name given the enzyme was derived from its earliest recognized action, hence xanthine oxidase. Although little is known about the biological functions of the enzyme, the high affinity shown for xanthine and hypoxanthine may indicate that these are the most significant substrates biologically.