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Full-Text Articles in Biological and Chemical Physics

Examining Artifacts Of The Watershed Segmentation, Emily Jo Armitage Jan 2020

Examining Artifacts Of The Watershed Segmentation, Emily Jo Armitage

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The watershed segmentation is an algorithm used to systematically track cell intercalary behaviors during germ band extension of the Drosophila embryo. Neighboring cells share a contracting vertical interface, called a T1, which continues contracting to a single point, a T2, and extending in the horizontal direction to create what is called a T3 interface (Fig. 1). Additionally, higher order vertices called rosettes occur when five or more cells meet at a common vertex. Simulated T2 events demonstrate that cell angle and not noise level in the image contributes to the incorrect detection of artifactual T1s in more acute angled cells …


Sensitivity Of Radical Sam Enzyme Mftc To Molecular Oxygen, Vishnu Govindarajan Jan 2020

Sensitivity Of Radical Sam Enzyme Mftc To Molecular Oxygen, Vishnu Govindarajan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

MftC is a radical S-adenosyl L-methionine (SAM) enzyme that catalyzes the first step in the production of mycofactocin. It is a ribosomally synthesized post-translationally modified (RiPP) redox cofactor shown to be essential for the survival of bacteria in the Mycobacterium genus in the presence of cholesterol as a carbon source and for the sequestration of ethanol. MftC catalyzes the C – terminal decarboxylation of tyrosine and the subsequent cross-linking of tyrosine to the penultimate valine on the precursor peptide MftA. The product formed out of the reaction is processed into mycofactocin in downstream processes. The bacteria in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis …


Quantification Of Dynamic Epithelial Sheet Architecture In Botryllus Schlosseri Using 2-D & 3-D Image Analysis, Roopa Madhu Jan 2020

Quantification Of Dynamic Epithelial Sheet Architecture In Botryllus Schlosseri Using 2-D & 3-D Image Analysis, Roopa Madhu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Epithelial tubules form critical structures in various body tissues; how- ever, since they are difficult to access experimentally, their architecture and dynamics are not well understood. Here we examine the dynamic remodeling of epithelial tubes in vivo using a novel and uniquely accessible model system: the extracorporeal vasculature of Botryllus schlosseri (sea squirt). In Botryllus, massive retraction of blood vessels can be triggered without loss of barrier function, through (i) disrupting collagen crosslinking in the basement membrane using β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN); or (ii) disrupting the integrin pathway through inhibition of focal adhesion kinase (FAK). We performed stereographic projections of 3-dimensional …


Characterization Of The Atcc Α-Tc1-6 Pancreatic Alpha Cell Line To Study Glucagon Secretion, Larissa M. Ikenouye Jan 2017

Characterization Of The Atcc Α-Tc1-6 Pancreatic Alpha Cell Line To Study Glucagon Secretion, Larissa M. Ikenouye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The endocrine pancreas is responsible for maintaining glycemic equilibrium in the body. Given the importance of this blood-glucose homeostasis and the implication an unbalance has on Diabetes mellitus, the study of the glucose-sensing alpha and beta cells in the pancreas is a popular field for scientific researchers. In this study, we use immunofluorescence, qPCR analysis, intracellular calcium experiments, and biochemical glucagon secretion assays to determine if the commercially available tumor cell line clone, α-TC1-6 obtained from American Type Culture Collection, is an appropriate model system for glucagon secretion in pancreatic alpha cells. We confirm the production of the hormone peptide …


Modeling Of Growth Kinetics And Characterization Of Membrane Mechanics, Antonio Nava Jan 2012

Modeling Of Growth Kinetics And Characterization Of Membrane Mechanics, Antonio Nava

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One growing field in alternative energy is biofuel production through microorganisms. These fields of research include hydrogen and biofuel production through the cultivation of algae. We've selected 2 different algae, Anabaena sp. cpcc 387 and Tetraselmis to study. Through mathematical modeling of Anabaena we investigate the complex multicellular relationships and colony stability when noise is introduced. In conjunction with researchers at NREL, we've set out to characterize Tetraselmis cells' membrane elasticity.