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Full-Text Articles in Chemistry

Cell‑Controlled Dynamic Surfaces For Skeletal Stem Cell Growth And Differentiation, Hilary J. Anderson, Jugal Kishore Sahoo, Julia Wells, Sebastiaan Van Nuffel, Hala S. Dhowre, Richard O. C. Oreffo, Mischa Zelzer, Rein V. Ulijn, Matthew J. Dalby May 2022

Cell‑Controlled Dynamic Surfaces For Skeletal Stem Cell Growth And Differentiation, Hilary J. Anderson, Jugal Kishore Sahoo, Julia Wells, Sebastiaan Van Nuffel, Hala S. Dhowre, Richard O. C. Oreffo, Mischa Zelzer, Rein V. Ulijn, Matthew J. Dalby

Advanced Science Research Center

Skeletal stem cells (SSCs, or mesenchymal stromal cells typically referred to as mesenchymal stem cells from the bone marrow) are a dynamic progenitor population that can enter quiescence, self-renew or differentiate depending on regenerative demand and cues from their niche environment. However, ex vivo, in culture, they are grown typically on hard polystyrene surfaces, and this leads to rapid loss of the SSC phenotype. While materials are being developed that can control SSC growth and differentiation, very few examples of dynamic interfaces that reflect the plastic nature of the stem cells have, to date, been developed. Achieving such interfaces is …


Du Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, And Creative Works: Abstracts, Emma Aggeler, Elena Arroway, Daisy T. Booker, Justin Bravo, Kyle Bucholtz, Megan Burnham, Nicole Choi, Spencer Cockerell, Rosie Contino, Jackson Garske, Kaitlyn Glover, Caroline Hamilton, Haley Hartmann, Madalyne Heiken, Colin Holter, Leah Huzjak, Alyssa Jeng, Cole Jernigan, Chad Kashiwa, Adelaide Kerenick, Emily King, Abigail Langeberg, Maddie Leake, Meredith Lemons, Alec Mackay, Greer Mckinley, Ori Miller, Guy Milliman, Katherine Miromonti, Audrey Mitchell, Lauren Moak, Megan Morrell, Gelella Nebiyu, Zdenek Otruba, Toni V. Panzera, Kassidy Patarino, Sneha Patil, Alexandra Penney, Kevin Persky, Caitlin Pham, Gabriela Recinos, Mary Ringgenberg, Chase Routt, Olivia Schneider, Roman Shrestha, Arlo Simmerman, Alec Smith, Tessa Smith, Nhi-Lac Thai, Kyle Thurmann, Casey Tindall, Amelia Trembath, Maria Trubetskaya, Zachary Vangelisti, Peter Vo, Abby Walker, David Winter, Grayden Wolfe, Leah York May 2022

Du Undergraduate Showcase: Research, Scholarship, And Creative Works: Abstracts, Emma Aggeler, Elena Arroway, Daisy T. Booker, Justin Bravo, Kyle Bucholtz, Megan Burnham, Nicole Choi, Spencer Cockerell, Rosie Contino, Jackson Garske, Kaitlyn Glover, Caroline Hamilton, Haley Hartmann, Madalyne Heiken, Colin Holter, Leah Huzjak, Alyssa Jeng, Cole Jernigan, Chad Kashiwa, Adelaide Kerenick, Emily King, Abigail Langeberg, Maddie Leake, Meredith Lemons, Alec Mackay, Greer Mckinley, Ori Miller, Guy Milliman, Katherine Miromonti, Audrey Mitchell, Lauren Moak, Megan Morrell, Gelella Nebiyu, Zdenek Otruba, Toni V. Panzera, Kassidy Patarino, Sneha Patil, Alexandra Penney, Kevin Persky, Caitlin Pham, Gabriela Recinos, Mary Ringgenberg, Chase Routt, Olivia Schneider, Roman Shrestha, Arlo Simmerman, Alec Smith, Tessa Smith, Nhi-Lac Thai, Kyle Thurmann, Casey Tindall, Amelia Trembath, Maria Trubetskaya, Zachary Vangelisti, Peter Vo, Abby Walker, David Winter, Grayden Wolfe, Leah York

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Abstracts from the DU Undergraduate Showcase.


Analysis Of The Light Responsive Azobenzene Peptide Nucleic Acid Duplexes, Kat Nguyen May 2022

Analysis Of The Light Responsive Azobenzene Peptide Nucleic Acid Duplexes, Kat Nguyen

Honors College Theses

Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are oligonucleotide analogues in which the sugar-phosphate backbone has been replaced by a pseudopeptide skeleton. Since PNAs use the natural nucleobases (Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Uracil, and Guanine) found in either DNA and/or RNA, they are able to hybridize according to Watson-Crick base-pairing to form duplexes. PNA is a promising therapeutic agent because they can function as antigene or antisense chemical agents. To further enhance their utility, we aim to incorporate a photoswitchable moiety using azobenzene. Here, we report the results of the synthesis and purification of a photoswitchable 11 mer PNA along with initial characterization efforts.


Unusual High-Frequency Mechanical Properties Of Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticle Melts, Mayank Jhalaria, Yu Chang, Yucheng Huang, Brian C. Benicewicz, Sanat K. Kumar, George Fytas May 2022

Unusual High-Frequency Mechanical Properties Of Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticle Melts, Mayank Jhalaria, Yu Chang, Yucheng Huang, Brian C. Benicewicz, Sanat K. Kumar, George Fytas

Faculty Publications

Brillouin light spectroscopy is used to measure the elastic moduli of spherical polymer-grafted nanoparticle (GNP) melts as a function of chain length at fixed grafting density (0.47  chains/nm2) and nanoparticle radius (8 nm). While the moduli follow a rule of mixtures (Wood’s law) for long chains, they display enhanced elasticity and anomalous dissipation for graft chains <1⁢0⁢0  kDa. GNP melts with long polymers at high 𝜎 have a dry zone near the GNP core, surrounded by a region where the grafts can interpenetrate with chain fragments from adjacent GNPs. We propose that the departures from Wood’s law for short chains are due to the effectively larger silica volume fraction in the region where sound propagates—this is caused by the short, interpenetrated chain fragments being pushed out of the way. We thus conclude that transport mechanisms (of gas, ions, sound, thermal phonons) in GNP melts are radically different if interpenetrated chain segments can be “pushed out of the way” or not. This provides a facile new means for manipulating the properties of these materials.


Covalent Modification Of Recombinant Protein With Reactive Thiols, Sawyer Dulaney, Bailey Taylor May 2022

Covalent Modification Of Recombinant Protein With Reactive Thiols, Sawyer Dulaney, Bailey Taylor

Honors Theses

Many diseases cause chronic and painful inflammation in different body systems. One of the front-line drug classes to treat such inflammation is Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs). Despite the benefits of oral administration of NSAIDs, there are drawbacks to their long-term usage because they can cause detrimental effects on off-target systems in the body such as the liver, kidney, or the lining of the intestinal tract. An alternative to NSAIDs is the usage of hydrogels for targeted drug delivery. Hydrogels can provide drug delivery in a specific portion of the site of inflammation, thus allowing higher doses of medication to be …


Investigation Of The Binding Domain Interfaces Of The C-Terminus Of The Albino3 Insertase And The 43kda Chloroplast Signal Recognition Particle Subunit Via Single Molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer, Amanda Tomanek May 2022

Investigation Of The Binding Domain Interfaces Of The C-Terminus Of The Albino3 Insertase And The 43kda Chloroplast Signal Recognition Particle Subunit Via Single Molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer, Amanda Tomanek

Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Honors Theses

Fluorescent labeling is a technique used for visualizing functional groups contained in biomolecules by fluorescence imaging. This technique was used in this project to analyze post-translational targeting of light-harvesting chlorophyll-binding proteins (LHCP), which are the core complexes that harvest sunlight to drive photosynthetic electron transfer. This protein is synthesized in the cytosol and post-translationally targeted to the stroma of chloroplasts. CpSRP43 is a signal recognition particle (SRP) subunit unique to chloroplasts, which has been shown to interact with the stroma-soluble C-terminus of the thylakoid-bound Albino3 insertase (Alb3-Cterm). In the chloroplast stroma, targeting to thylakoids is performed via the cpSRP pathway …


Role Of E168d In M. Tuberculosis Igps Catalysis, Hedda Booter May 2022

Role Of E168d In M. Tuberculosis Igps Catalysis, Hedda Booter

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a bacterium that affects the lungs and causes tuberculosis, infecting over 10 million people worldwide each year. Owing to the organism’s evolving drug resistance, existing antibiotics no longer combat the disease. The need to discover new drug targets has never been greater. Previous findings suggest that the protein IGPS (indole-3-glycerol phosphate synthase) in M. tuberculosis (MtIGPS) may be a target in the treatment of the disease. MtIGPS catalyzes the fourth step in the tryptophan biosynthetic process. The ability to create their own tryptophan is a major advantage that many bacteria have. The role of E168, in the …


Lipid Rafts, Exosomal Vesicles And Anti-Giardial Therapies, Brian Ivan Grajeda May 2022

Lipid Rafts, Exosomal Vesicles And Anti-Giardial Therapies, Brian Ivan Grajeda

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Giardia lamblia, a protozoan parasite, is a major cause of waterborne infection, worldwide. While the trophozoite form of this parasite induces pathological symptoms in the gut, the cyst forms transmit the infection via contaminated water. Since Giardia is a non-invasive parasite, the actual mechanism by which it causes infection remains elusive. We have previously reported that Giardia assembles cholesterol and GM1 glycolipid-enriched lipid rafts (LRs) that participate in encystation and cyst production. To further delineate the role of LRs in pathogenesis, we isolated LRs from Giardia and subjected them to proteomic analysis. Various cellular proteins including the virulent proteins—e.g., giardins, …


Design, Synthesis, And Analysis Of Paired Coiled-Coil Peptidic Molecular Building Blocks Used For Linearly Controlled Self-Assembly Of Α-Helical Coiled-Coil Heterodimer Peptide Pairs, Jason Distefano Apr 2022

Design, Synthesis, And Analysis Of Paired Coiled-Coil Peptidic Molecular Building Blocks Used For Linearly Controlled Self-Assembly Of Α-Helical Coiled-Coil Heterodimer Peptide Pairs, Jason Distefano

Chemistry Theses

Molecular building blocks are fundamental to biological synthesis and processes and have been utilized in advanced materials, drugs and drug delivery systems, and biotechnology. Proteins have been used as molecular building blocks for the construction of complex, well-ordered structures. Coiled-coil protein domains are essential subunits used for the oligomerization of protein complexes, gene expression, and structural elements of biological materials. The synthesis and assembly of proteins utilizing coiled-coil motifs are of great scientific interest due to their potential applications in disease treatment, biomechanical motors, nanoscale delivery systems, etc. However, assembling protein complexes with specific morphology is still challenging because …


Foldamers Reveal And Validate Therapeutic Targets Associated With Toxic Α-Synuclein Self-Assembly, Jemil Ahmed, Tessa C. Fitch, Courtney M. Donnelly, Johnson A. Joseph, Tyler D. Ball, Mikaela M. Bassil, Ahyun Son, Chen Zhang, Aurélie Ledreux, Scott Horowitz, Yan Qin, Daniel Paredes, Sunil Kumar Apr 2022

Foldamers Reveal And Validate Therapeutic Targets Associated With Toxic Α-Synuclein Self-Assembly, Jemil Ahmed, Tessa C. Fitch, Courtney M. Donnelly, Johnson A. Joseph, Tyler D. Ball, Mikaela M. Bassil, Ahyun Son, Chen Zhang, Aurélie Ledreux, Scott Horowitz, Yan Qin, Daniel Paredes, Sunil Kumar

Chemistry and Biochemistry: Faculty Scholarship

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which there is no successful prevention or intervention. The pathological hallmark for PD involves the self-assembly of functional Alpha-Synuclein (αS) into non-functional amyloid structures. One of the potential therapeutic interventions against PD is the effective inhibition of αS aggregation. However, the bottleneck towards achieving this goal is the identification of αS domains/sequences that are essential for aggregation. Using a protein mimetic approach, we have identified αS sequences-based targets that are essential for aggregation and will have significant therapeutic implications. An extensive array of in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo assays …


Evaluating Alternative Ebullition Models For Predicting Peatland Methane Emission And Its Pathways Via Data–Model Fusion, Shuang Ma, Lifen Jiang, Rachel M. Wilson, Jeff P. Chanton, Scott Bridgham, Shuli Niu, Colleen M. Iversen, Avni Malhotra, Jiang Jiang, Xingjie Lu, Yuanyuan Huang, Jason Keller, Xiaofeng Xu, Daniel M. Ricciuto, Paul J. Hanson, Yiqi Luo Apr 2022

Evaluating Alternative Ebullition Models For Predicting Peatland Methane Emission And Its Pathways Via Data–Model Fusion, Shuang Ma, Lifen Jiang, Rachel M. Wilson, Jeff P. Chanton, Scott Bridgham, Shuli Niu, Colleen M. Iversen, Avni Malhotra, Jiang Jiang, Xingjie Lu, Yuanyuan Huang, Jason Keller, Xiaofeng Xu, Daniel M. Ricciuto, Paul J. Hanson, Yiqi Luo

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Understanding the dynamics of peatland methane (CH4) emissions and quantifying sources of uncertainty in estimating peatland CH4 emissions are critical for mitigating climate change. The relative contributions of CH4 emission pathways through ebullition, plant-mediated transport, and diffusion, together with their different transport rates and vulnerability to oxidation, determine the quantity of CH4 to be oxidized before leaving the soil. Notwithstanding their importance, the relative contributions of the emission pathways are highly uncertain. In particular, the ebullition process is more uncertain and can lead to large uncertainties in modeled CH4 emissions. To improve model simulations of CH4 emission and its pathways, …


Targeting Platelets Using Ionic Liquid Coated Nanoparticles, Karen Mun Wong Apr 2022

Targeting Platelets Using Ionic Liquid Coated Nanoparticles, Karen Mun Wong

Honors Theses

Platelets are key players in our body’s inflammatory processes upon activation, which can create physiological problems. Researchers are actively seeking solutions by targeting platelets with therapeutics. The objective of the research in this thesis was to investigate a new and potentially less invasive drug delivery platform using nanoparticles. The topic of the project was to explore the world of ionic liquids and their abilities, when coated on nanoparticles, to bind to platelets. A library of choline carboxylic acid-based ionic liquids (ILs) was first synthesized via salt metathesis while PLGA-based nanoparticles were simultaneously being synthesized via the nanoprecipitation method. The ionic …


Fast Photochemical Oxidation And Footprinting Of Proteins Via Trifluoromethyl Radical Chemistry, Elaine Morrow Apr 2022

Fast Photochemical Oxidation And Footprinting Of Proteins Via Trifluoromethyl Radical Chemistry, Elaine Morrow

Honors Theses

Fast photochemical oxidation of proteins (FPOP) is a useful tool in proteomics because of the ability for modifications to occur on the scale of microseconds which reduces the modifications to tertiary and quaternary structure allowing for more accurate labeling of the protein. Labels for FPOP are generated from various radicals in our experiments which include hydroxyl radicals and trifluoromethyl radicals. Hydroxyl radicals are easily generated by using an excimer laser (KrF laser, 248 nm) or a UV flash lamp (as a part of the Fox™ System) by the photolysis of hydrogen peroxide. Trifluoromethyl radicals, however, need hydroxyl radicals to be …


Synthesis And Characterization Of A Novel Reaction-Based Azaborine Fluorescent Probe Capable Of Selectively Detect Carbon Monoxide Based On Palladium-Mediated Carbonylation Chemistry, Samuel Moore, Carl Jacky Saint-Louis Apr 2022

Synthesis And Characterization Of A Novel Reaction-Based Azaborine Fluorescent Probe Capable Of Selectively Detect Carbon Monoxide Based On Palladium-Mediated Carbonylation Chemistry, Samuel Moore, Carl Jacky Saint-Louis

Symposium of Student Scholars

Azaborines are fascinating compounds because they possess valuable properties such as photochemical stability, have high molar absorption coefficient and high fluorescent quantum yields, as well as large Stokes shifts and tunable absorption/emission spectra. Here, we designed, synthesized, and will examine a novel reaction-based azaborine fluorescent probe capable of selectively detect carbon monoxide (CO) based on palladium-mediated carbonylation chemistry. This novel azaborine fluorescent probe will exhibit high selectivity for CO and display a robust turn-on fluorescent response in the presence of CO in aqueous buffer solution.


Ketal-Azaborine Versus Ketal-Azaborine With A Spacer: Structural Effects On The Photophysical Properties Of Tunable Heteroaromatic Polycyclic Chromophores, Albert Campbell, Janiyah Riley, Samuel Moore, Albert Campbell Apr 2022

Ketal-Azaborine Versus Ketal-Azaborine With A Spacer: Structural Effects On The Photophysical Properties Of Tunable Heteroaromatic Polycyclic Chromophores, Albert Campbell, Janiyah Riley, Samuel Moore, Albert Campbell

Symposium of Student Scholars

Flat-structured heteroaromatic polycyclic compounds with extended conjugated π-systems such as azaborines are in high demand in the material and imaging technology markets because of their unique features such as simultaneous tunability of fluorescence color and intensity. We have designed, synthesized, and investigated a series of novel conjugated thermally stable ketal-azaborine chromophores that contain a phenyl ring as a spacer between electronic moieties and the ketal-azaborine core as easily tunable high-luminescent organic materials. We investigated the impact of the phenyl spacer on the ketal-azaborine unit. We examined the structural effects on their photophysical properties by incorporating electron –donating and –withdrawing substituents …


Azaborine Versus Azaborine With A Spacer: Structural Effects On The Photophysical Properties Of Tunable Azaborine Chromophores, Kaia Ellis, Janiyah Riley, Lyric Gordon, Janiyah Riley Apr 2022

Azaborine Versus Azaborine With A Spacer: Structural Effects On The Photophysical Properties Of Tunable Azaborine Chromophores, Kaia Ellis, Janiyah Riley, Lyric Gordon, Janiyah Riley

Symposium of Student Scholars

Azaborines are fascinating compounds because of their valuable and interesting optical properties making them suitable to be utilized in many optoelectronic devices. We have designed, synthesized, and investigated a series of novel conjugated thermally stable azaborine chromophores by incorporating a phenyl ring as a spacer linking the chromophore to different electronic moieties as easily tunable high-luminescent organic materials. We investigated the effect of the phenyl spacer on the azaborine unit. The substituent effects of different electronic moieties were investigated by the insertion of electron –withdrawing and –donating moieties to the phenyl spacer. We examined the role of the electron –donating …


Bomb Calorimetry: A New Method Of Cec Determination, Trace Washburn Apr 2022

Bomb Calorimetry: A New Method Of Cec Determination, Trace Washburn

Undergraduate Research Conference

A new method of determining the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of clay minerals was examined. This method involved exchanging the smectite clay with organic cations and using bomb calorimetry to measure the energy of combustion of the material. Because the clay is noncombustible, the energy is completely dependent on the amount of organic present, which is dependent on the CEC of the clay. Two organic cations, tetrapentylammonium and octadecyltrimethylammonium , with similar size but much different shape were used. For clays with lower CECs, using the more symmetric ion yielded better accuracy (4.24%), while for clays with higher CEC, using …


Casein Kinases Are Required For The Stability Of The Glucose Sensing Receptor Rgt2 In Yeast, Danny Bloor Apr 2022

Casein Kinases Are Required For The Stability Of The Glucose Sensing Receptor Rgt2 In Yeast, Danny Bloor

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic


Faster Intercalation Pseudocapacitance Enabled By Adjustable Amorphous Titania Where Tunable Isomorphic Architectures Reveal Accelerated Lithium Diffusivity, Wessel Van Den Bergh, Taylor Larison, Maximilliano Jesus Jara Fornerod, Prof. Stefan Guldin, Morgan Stefik Apr 2022

Faster Intercalation Pseudocapacitance Enabled By Adjustable Amorphous Titania Where Tunable Isomorphic Architectures Reveal Accelerated Lithium Diffusivity, Wessel Van Den Bergh, Taylor Larison, Maximilliano Jesus Jara Fornerod, Prof. Stefan Guldin, Morgan Stefik

Faculty Publications

Intercalation pseudocapacitance is a faradaic electrochemical phenomenon with high power and energy densities, combining the attractive features of capacitors and batteries, respectively. Intercalation pseudocapacitive responses exhibit surface-limited kinetics by definition, without restriction from the collective of diffusion-based processes. The surface-limited threshold (SLT) corresponds to the maximum voltage sweep rate (vSLT) exhibiting a predominantly surface-limited current response prior to the onset of diffusion-limitations. Prior studies showed increased lithium diffusivity for amorphous titania compared to anatase. Going beyond prior binary comparisons, here a continuum of amorphous titania configurations were prepared using a series of calcination temperatures to tailor both amorphous …


Observing Reactive Events At The Aqueous Graphene Oxide Interface Using Deep Neural Network Potentials, Lukas Kim Apr 2022

Observing Reactive Events At The Aqueous Graphene Oxide Interface Using Deep Neural Network Potentials, Lukas Kim

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.


In Situ Recording Of Mars Soundscape, S. Maurice, B. Chide, N. Murdoch, R. D. Lorenz, D. Mimoun, R. C. Wiens, A. Stott, X. Jacob, T. Bertrand, F. Montmessin, N. L. Lanza, C. Alvarez-Llamas, Stanley M. Angel, M. Aung, J. Balaram, O. Beyssac, A. Cousin, G. Delory, O. Forni, T. Fouchet, Et. Al. Apr 2022

In Situ Recording Of Mars Soundscape, S. Maurice, B. Chide, N. Murdoch, R. D. Lorenz, D. Mimoun, R. C. Wiens, A. Stott, X. Jacob, T. Bertrand, F. Montmessin, N. L. Lanza, C. Alvarez-Llamas, Stanley M. Angel, M. Aung, J. Balaram, O. Beyssac, A. Cousin, G. Delory, O. Forni, T. Fouchet, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

Before the Perseverance rover landing, the acoustic environment of Mars was unknown. Models predicted that: (1) atmospheric turbulence changes at centimetre scales or smaller at the point where molecular viscosity converts kinetic energy into heat1, (2) the speed of sound varies at the surface with frequency2,3 and (3) high-frequency waves are strongly attenuated with distance in CO2 (refs.2,3,4). However, theoretical models were uncertain because of a lack of experimental data at low pressure and the difficulty to characterize turbulence or attenuation in a closed environment. Here, using Perseverance …


College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, March & April 2022, College Of Natural Sciences Apr 2022

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, March & April 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 3

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2-3 Awards and Recognition
Page 4 2022 URSCAD - CNS Snaps
Page 5 Geography Convention Recap
Page 6 Attention Students!
Page 7-8 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 9 Spring Break Outreach, Adopt the Pantry,
Page 10 Discovery on Tap Event
Page 11 CNS Students Visit State Capital
Page 12 Celebrating 50 Years of Sally
Page 13 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 14 Grants Awarded and Bio-Micro Day of Scholars
Page 15 -17 2022 Geography Convention Snaps
Page 18 Sally Krueger's 50th Work Anniversary


1st Place Contest Entry: Designing Hollow Nanogels For Drug Delivery Applications, Mo Hijazi Apr 2022

1st Place Contest Entry: Designing Hollow Nanogels For Drug Delivery Applications, Mo Hijazi

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Mo Hijazi's submission for the 2022 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won first place. It contains their essay on using library resources, their bibliography, and a summary of their research project on hollow-core nanogels.

Mo is a second-year student at Chapman University, majoring in Biological Sciences. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Molla Islam.


Prefusion Spike Protein Conformational Changes Are Slower In Sars-Cov-2 Than In Sars-Cov-1, Vivek Govind Kumar, Dylan S. Ogden, Ugochi H. Isu, Adithya Polasa, James Losey, Mahmoud Moradi Apr 2022

Prefusion Spike Protein Conformational Changes Are Slower In Sars-Cov-2 Than In Sars-Cov-1, Vivek Govind Kumar, Dylan S. Ogden, Ugochi H. Isu, Adithya Polasa, James Losey, Mahmoud Moradi

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Within the last 2 decades, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses 1 and 2 (SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2) have caused two major outbreaks; yet, for reasons not fully understood, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been significantly more widespread than the 2003 SARS epidemic caused by SARS-CoV-1, despite striking similarities between these two viruses. The SARS-CoV-1 and SARSCoV-2 spike proteins, both of which bind to host cell angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, have been implied to be a potential source of their differential transmissibility. However, the mechanistic details of prefusion spike protein binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 remain elusive at the …


The Development Of Inhibitors For Sars-Cov-2 Orf8, My Thanh Thao Nguyen Apr 2022

The Development Of Inhibitors For Sars-Cov-2 Orf8, My Thanh Thao Nguyen

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

An unexpected outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 caused a worldwide pandemic in 2020. Many repurposed drugs were tested, but there are currently only three FDA approved antivirals (Merck’s antiviral Molnupiravir, Pfizer’s antiviral Paxlovid, and Remdisivir).1 Most of the antiviral drugs tested SARS-CoV-2 main protease and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. However, it is important to explore different drug targets of SARS-CoV-2 to prepare for the virus mutations of the future. This research looks at an alternative approach in which SARSCoV- 2 Open Reading Frame 8 (ORF8), which has been shown to be a rapidly evolving hypervariable gene, was chosen to be the protein of …


Sars-Cov-2 Main Protease Inhibitors Repurposed For Hiv-1 Protease Binding, Jacob Minkkinen Apr 2022

Sars-Cov-2 Main Protease Inhibitors Repurposed For Hiv-1 Protease Binding, Jacob Minkkinen

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) led to the COVID-19 global pandemic, with over 460 million cases of infection and over 6 million deaths since the start of the pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 is a retrovirus that utilizes a main protease (Mpro). Mpro is a catalytic cys/his protease. Several treatments were proposed to stop the pandemic including repurposing drugs to inhibit the Mpro. Another retrovirus that uses a protease is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) which has been a global epidemic for 40 years and is a devastating disease that attacks the immune system. HIV-1 has infected 79.5 million people and has killed an …


Datadescription-Detection Of Sulfur Dioxide By Broadband Cavity-Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (Bbceas), Ryan Thalman, Nitish Bhardwaj, Callum Flowerday, Jaron C. Hansen Apr 2022

Datadescription-Detection Of Sulfur Dioxide By Broadband Cavity-Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (Bbceas), Ryan Thalman, Nitish Bhardwaj, Callum Flowerday, Jaron C. Hansen

ScholarsArchive Data

Files archived include the following:

Figure1.txt This file contains all the data used to make Figure 1 in the paper.

Figure4.txt This file contains all the data used to make Figure 4 in the paper.

Figure5.txt This file contains all the data used to make Figure 5 in the paper.

Figure6.txt This file contains all the data used to make Figure 6 in the paper.

Figure7.txt This file contains the code, written in Igor, that was used to generate this figure.

Figure8.txt This file contains all the data used to make Figure 8 in the paper.

Figure9.txt This file contains …


Attempted Synthesis & Antibacterial Properties Of Apt-6k Against Ndm-1 K. Pneumoniae, Alec Bofetiado Mar 2022

Attempted Synthesis & Antibacterial Properties Of Apt-6k Against Ndm-1 K. Pneumoniae, Alec Bofetiado

Honors Theses

NDM-1 K. pneumoniae is a highly resistant bacterial organism that is capable of causing debilitating nosocomial infections in immunocompromised patients. Only "last-resort" antibiotics--such as colistin--work against this organism. Therefore, new antibiotics are needed to help fight against these types of infections. APT-6K is a novel compound that was demonstrated to be effective against MRSA with nanomolar concentrations in a prior study. Novel methods of APT-6K synthesis and its testing for antibiotic effects against NDM-1 K. pneumoniae were attempted in this research. APT-6K synthesis was unsuccessful. Commercially-prepared APT-6K also did not demonstrate growth inhibition against NDM-1 K. pneumoniae nor against a …


Repurposing Lansoprazole And Posaconazole To Treat Leishmaniasis: Integration Of In Vitro Testing, Pharmacological Corroboration, And Mechanisms Of Action, Yash Gupta, Steven Goicoechea, Jesus G. Romero, Raman Mathur, Thomas R. Caulfield, Daniel P. Becker, Ravi Durvasula, Prakasha Kempaiah Mar 2022

Repurposing Lansoprazole And Posaconazole To Treat Leishmaniasis: Integration Of In Vitro Testing, Pharmacological Corroboration, And Mechanisms Of Action, Yash Gupta, Steven Goicoechea, Jesus G. Romero, Raman Mathur, Thomas R. Caulfield, Daniel P. Becker, Ravi Durvasula, Prakasha Kempaiah

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Leishmaniasis remains a serious public health problem in many tropical regions of the world. Among neglected tropical diseases, the mortality rate of leishmaniasis is second only to malaria. All currently approved therapeutics have toxic side effects and face rapidly increasing resistance. To identify existing drugs with antileishmanial activity and predict the mechanism of action, we designed a drug-discovery pipeline utilizing both in-silico and in-vitro methods. First, we screened compounds from the Selleckchem Bio-Active Compound Library containing ~1622 FDA-approved drugs and narrowed these down to 96 candidates based on data mining for possible anti-parasitic properties. Next, we completed preliminary in-vitro testing …


One Planet: One Health. A Call To Support The Initiative On A Global Science-Policy Body On Chemicals And Waste, Werner Brack, Damia Barcelo Culleres, Alistair B.A. Boxall, Helene Budzinski, Sara Castiglioni, Adrian Covaci, Valeria Dulio, Beate I. Escher, Peter Fantke, Faith Kandie, Despo Fatta-Kassinos, Felix J. Hernandez, Klara Hilscherova, Juliane Hollender, Henner Hollert, Annika Jahnke, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Stuart J. Khan, Andreas Kortenkamp, Klaus Kuemmerer, Brice Lalonde, Marja H. Lamoree, Yves Levi, Pablo Antonio Lara Martin, Cassiana C. Montagner, Christian Mougin, Titus Msagati, Joerg Oehlmann, Leo Posthuma, Malcolm Reid, Martin Reinhard, Susan D. Richardson, Et. Al. Mar 2022

One Planet: One Health. A Call To Support The Initiative On A Global Science-Policy Body On Chemicals And Waste, Werner Brack, Damia Barcelo Culleres, Alistair B.A. Boxall, Helene Budzinski, Sara Castiglioni, Adrian Covaci, Valeria Dulio, Beate I. Escher, Peter Fantke, Faith Kandie, Despo Fatta-Kassinos, Felix J. Hernandez, Klara Hilscherova, Juliane Hollender, Henner Hollert, Annika Jahnke, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Stuart J. Khan, Andreas Kortenkamp, Klaus Kuemmerer, Brice Lalonde, Marja H. Lamoree, Yves Levi, Pablo Antonio Lara Martin, Cassiana C. Montagner, Christian Mougin, Titus Msagati, Joerg Oehlmann, Leo Posthuma, Malcolm Reid, Martin Reinhard, Susan D. Richardson, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

The chemical pollution crisis severely threatens human and environmental health globally. To tackle this challenge the establishment of an overarching international science–policy body has recently been suggested. We strongly support this initiative based on the awareness that humanity has already likely left the safe operating space within planetary boundaries for novel entities including chemical pollution. Immediate action is essential and needs to be informed by sound scientific knowledge and data compiled and critically evaluated by an overarching science–policy interface body. Major challenges for such a body are (i) to foster global knowledge production on exposure, impacts and governance going beyond …