Biochemistry Commons^™

Automated Inference Of Boolean Models From Molecular Interaction Maps Using Casq, Sara Sadat Aghamiri, Vidisha Singh, Aurelien Naldi, Tomáš Helikar, Sylvain Soliman, Anna Niarakis

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Motivation: Molecular interaction maps have emerged as a meaningful way of representing biological mechanisms in a comprehensive and systematic manner. However, their static nature provides limited insights to the emerging behaviour of the described biological system under different conditions. Computational modelling provides the means to study dynamic properties through in silico simulations and perturbations. We aim to bridge the gap be- tween static and dynamic representations of biological systems with CaSQ, a software tool that infers Boolean rules based on the topology and semantics of molecular interaction maps built with CellDesigner.

Results: We developed CaSQ by defining conversion rules and …

Sestrins Are Evolutionarily Conserved Mediators Of Exercise Benefits, Myungjin Kim, Alyson Sujkowski, Sim Namkoong, Bondong Gu, Tyler Cobb, Boyoung Kim, Allison H. Kowalsky, Chun-Seok Cho, Ian Semple, Seung-Hyun Ro, Carol Davis, Susan V. Brooks, Michael Karin, Robert J. Wessells, Jun Hee Lee

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Exercise is among the most effective interventions for age-associated mobility decline and metabolic dysregulation. Although long-term endurance exercise promotes insulin sensitivity and expands respiratory capacity, genetic components and pathways mediating the meta- bolic benefits of exercise have remained elusive. Here, we show that Sestrins, a family of evolutionarily conserved exercise-inducible proteins, are critical mediators of exercise ben- efits. In both fly and mouse models, genetic ablation of Sestrins prevents organisms from acquiring metabolic benefits of exercise and improving their endurance through training. Conversely, Sestrin upregulation mimics both molecular and physiological effects of exercise, suggesting that it could be a major …

Photosynthetic Efficiency And Mesophyll Conductance Are Unaffected In Arabidopsis Thaliana Aquaporin Knock-Out Lines, Johannes Kromdijk, Katarzyna Głowacka, Stephen P. Long

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Improving photosynthetic efficiency is widely regarded as a major route to achieving much-needed yield gains in crop plants. In plants with C₃ photosynthesis, increasing the diffusion conductance for CO₂ transfer from substomatal cavity to chloroplast stroma (g_m) could help to improve the efficiencies of CO₂ assimilation and photosynthetic water use in parallel. The diffusion pathway from substomatal cavity to chloroplast traverses cell wall, plasma membrane, cytosol, chloroplast envelope membranes, and chloroplast stroma. Specific membrane intrinsic proteins of the aquaporin family can facilitate CO₂ diffusion across membranes. Some of these aquaporins, such as PIP1;2 …

Novel Post-Translational Modification And Function Of Fus: The Relevance To Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Alexandra Arenas

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the preferential death of motor neurons. Approximately 10% of ALS cases are familial and 90% are sporadic. Fused in Sarcoma (FUS) is a ubiquitously expressed RNA binding protein implicated in familial ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). FUS is ubiquitously expressed in cells and has a variety of functions in the nucleus and cytoplasm. FUS mutations in the nuclear localization sequence (NLS) causes mislocalization of FUS in the cytoplasm, where it can undergo liquid-liquid phase separation and become stress granules or protein inclusions. Although FUS inclusion bodies can be found in …

Timing And Duration Of Folate Restriction Differentially Impacts Colon Carcinogenesis., Ali M. Fardous

Wayne State University Dissertations

Colorectal cancer (CRC) constitutes a major burden on the healthcare system as the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in the developed world. Dietary folate is considered an important modulator of colorectal cancer. Folate restriction has been implicated in increasing CRC incidence by disrupting nucleotide synthesis, Impacting DNA methylation and inducing genetic instability. Our research shows that the timing and duration of dietary folate restriction can differentially impact Colorectal cancer initiation. Acclimating mice to folate restriction for 8 weeks results in a reduced number of preneoplastic lesions compared to mice placed of folate restriction for 1 week prior to initiating the …

The Effects Of Framework Mutations At The Variable Domain Interface On Antibody Affinity Maturation In An Hiv-1 Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Lineage, Jeffrey O. Zhou , '19, Therese Ton , '19, Daniela Fera

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

Understanding affinity maturation of antibodies that can target many variants of HIV-1 is important for vaccine development. While the antigen-binding site of antibodies is known to mutate throughout the co-evolution of antibodies and viruses in infected individuals, the roles of the mutations in the antibody framework region are not well understood. Throughout affinity maturation, the CH103 broadly neutralizing antibody lineage, from an individual designated CH505, altered the orientation of one of its antibody variable domains. The change in orientation was a response to insertions in the variable loop 5 (V5) of the HIV envelope. In this study, we generated CH103 …

Ile126his And Lys129his Surface Mutations Aid In Purification Of Haemophilus Influenzae Carbonic Anhydrase Through Increased Metal Ion Affinity, Timothy Rigdon, Kathleen Cornely

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Scholarship

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is an enzyme that plays a major role in the survival of many bacterial, chiefly Haemophilus influenzae. Because of its crucial role in bacteria, recent research has turned to CA as a possible target for drug development to kill bacteria and possibly cure different bacterial diseases. While research has focused on this drug target, the isolation and purification of specific types of CA has remained a major obstacle for further research. The current method of immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) with a Ni-NTA column is used widely for CA purification; however, the H. influenzae carbonic anhydrase …

Molecular And Functional Characterization Of Α-Galactosyl Epitopes In Trypanosoma Cruzi, Uriel Ortega Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease (CD) currently affects 6-7 million people across the world. Currently, only two drugs, benznidazole and nifurtimox, are available for treatment of CD and they are highly toxic and less effective in the chronic stage of the disease. Specific biomarkers for diagnosis and follow-up of treatment do not exist in the clinical settings. following chemotherapy, patients take approximately 10-20 years to exhibit negative seroconversion with the conventional serology assays. Moreover, there is no vaccine available to prevent or treat CD. T. cruzi contains a complex cell surface consisting of several classes of glycoconjugates …

Validity Of Plasma Collection Cards For Ferritin Assessment—A Proof-Of-Concept Study, Karsten Koehler, Eileen Marks-Nelson, Camila Pereira Braga, Safiya E. Beckford, Jiri Adamec

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Iron depletion is common around the world and among certain risk groups in developed countries. The overall purpose was to test the suitability of a novel plasma collection card for minimally invasive iron status assessment.

Methods: Twenty participants (10 f/10 m) participated in this cross-sectional study. Ferritin and hemoglobin were measured from blood collected from a forearm vein, serving as reference method. Blood was also collected from the fingertip using the NoviplexTM Plasma Prep Card as well as capillary collection tubes.

Results: There was substantial concordance between ferritin measured from samples collected via NoviplexTM and venous ferritin (concordance correlation …

การแบ่งกลุ่มย่อยตามลักษณะทางคลินิกรูปแบบใหม่โดยอาศัยปัญญาประดิษฐ์ ร่วมกับการวิเคราะห์โอมิกส์แบบบูรณาการหลายระดับ เพื่อระบุกลุ่มตัวแทนสารบ่งชี้ทางชีวภาพสำหรับภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัม, กัลยภัสสร์ หัสเสม

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

โรคออทิซึมสเปกตรัมเป็นความผิดปกติเกี่ยวกับพัฒนาการในช่วงเริ่มแรกของระบบประสาทและสมองซึ่งมีอาการทางคลินิกที่หลากหลายมาก ปัจจุบันยังไม่มีสารบ่งชี้เพื่อช่วยในการวินิจฉัยและแบ่งผู้ป่วยเป็นกลุ่มย่อย แต่การวินิจฉัยที่รวดเร็วเป็นสิ่งสำคัญที่จะช่วยให้ผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัมสามารถได้รับการเรียนรู้และพัฒนาพฤติกรรมที่จำเป็นในการดำรงชีวิตได้ การวินิจฉัยโรคออทิซึมสเปกตรัมตามมาตรฐานสากลใช้แบบสอบถามที่มีความซับซ้อนและใช้เวลามาก ซึ่งในปัจจุบันมีการนำเอาเทคโนโลยีปัญญาประดิษฐ์มาประยุกต์ใช้ในการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลขนาดใหญ่ที่มีความซับซ้อน อย่างไรก็ตามการนำเอาปัญญาประดิษฐ์มาใช้วิเคราะห์อาการทางคลินิกของผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัมยังไม่แพร่หลายนัก ในการศึกษานี้ผู้วิจัยต้องการนำเอาปัญญาประดิษฐ์มาใช้แบ่งผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัมจำนวน 85 ราย ออกเป็นกลุ่มย่อยตามอาการทางคลินิกจากข้อมูลแบบทดสอบในการวินิจฉัยผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัม ADI-R จำนวน 123 ข้อ จากนั้นได้ทำการสร้างโมเดลในการจัดกลุ่มและเปรียบเทียบประสิทธิภาพรวมถึงจำนวนข้อคำถามที่ใช้ในแต่ละโมเดล นอกจากนี้ผู้วิจัยได้ศึกษาหาสารบ่งชี้ทางชีวภาพที่เป็นตัวแทนของโรคออทิซึมสเปกตรัมกลุ่มย่อยจากลักษณะอาการทางคลินิกโดยอาศัยการบูรณาการโอมิกส์หลายระดับ จึงได้ดำเนินการวิเคราะห์รูปแบบทรานสคริปโตม และวิเคราะห์รูปแบบโปรตีโอมของผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัมโดยใช้เซลล์เพาะเลี้ยงชนิดลิมโฟบลาสต์เป็นต้นแบบ โดยใช้เทคนิคการแยกโปรตีนด้วยกระแสไฟฟ้า 2 มิติ (2D-GE) จากนั้นจะทำการระบุโปรตีนด้วยเทคนิค LC-MS/MS เพื่อหาโปรตีนที่ถูกรบกวนการทำงานอย่างมีนัยสำคัญ และบูรณาการข้อมูลเพื่อศึกษาความสอดคล้องและสัมพันธ์กันระหว่างการแสดงออกของโปรตีนและยีน และทำการยืนยันระดับการแสดงออกที่ผิดปกติไปของยีนด้วยเทคนิค Real-time qPCR และโปรตีนด้วยเทคนิค Western blot ในการศึกษาครั้งนี้จากผลการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลลักษณะอาการทางคลินิกของผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัมจากแบบทดสอบ ADI-R 123 ข้อ พบว่าวิธี K-means clustering ที่แบ่งผู้ป่วยออกเป็น 4 กลุ่มย่อยนั้นให้ประสิทธิภาพในการแบ่งดีที่สุด และเมื่อทำการสร้างโมเดลในการจัดกลุ่มผู้ป่วยตามผลการแบ่งกลุ่มดังกล่าว พบว่าอัลกอริทึม Random forest ที่มีจำนวนต้นไม้ 10 ต้น โดยกระบวนการคัดเลือกข้อมูลแบบ Forward selection ให้ผลการทำนายถูกต้องมากที่สุด (100%) โดยใช้ข้อคำถาม ADI-R เพียง 5 ข้อ ในการแบ่งผู้ป่วยออกเป็นกลุ่มย่อย และจากการวิเคราะห์รูปแบบโปรตีโอมจากเซลล์เพาะเลี้ยงชนิดลิมโฟบลาสต์ของผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัมและออทิซึมสเปกตรัมกลุ่มย่อยด้วยเทคนิค 2D-GE ผู้วิจัยได้ทำการคัดเลือกจุดโปรตีนที่มีการแสดงออกผิดปกติอย่างมีนัยสำคัญและมีค่าสัดส่วนความเข้มแตกต่างกันอย่างน้อยสองเท่ามา 19 จุด เพื่อทำการระบุชนิดของโปรตีนด้วยเทคนิค LC-MS/MS โดยพบว่าจากโปรตีนทั้งหมด HNRNPA2B1 มีระดับการแสดงออกเพิ่มขึ้นในผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัมกลุ่มย่อยที่ไม่มีความผิดปกติด้านภาษารุนแรง โดยที่โปรตีน HNRNPA2B1 MDH2 DLD และ MSN มีระดับการแสดงออกลดลงในผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัมกลุ่มย่อยที่มีความผิดปกติด้านภาษารุนแรง ดังนั้นจากการศึกษาวิจัยในครั้งนี้ได้แสดงให้เห็นว่าการใช้เทคโนโลยีปัญญาประดิษฐ์ในการแบ่งผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัมออกเป็นกลุ่มย่อยตามลักษณะอาการทางคลินิกนั้น สามารถลดความหลากหลายตามลักษณะอาการที่แสดงออกของโรคออทิซึมสเปกตรัมในการวิเคราะห์รูปแบบทรานสคริปโตมและโปรตีโอม รวมถึงการค้นหาโปรตีนที่จำเพาะต่อผู้ป่วยออทิซึมสเปกตรัมกลุ่มย่อย ได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพมากขึ้น ซึ่งโปรตีนเหล่านี้อาจใช้เป็นโปรตีนบ่งชี้ในการศึกษาเชิงลึกในประชากรผู้ป่วย เพื่อพัฒนาเป็นสารบ่งชีทางชีวภาพ (Biomarker) หรือศึกษากลไกพยาธิสภาพในระดับชีวโมเลกุลของโรคออทิซึมสเปกตรัมได้ต่อไปในอนาคต

Insights From The Inclusive Environments And Metrics In Biology Education And Research Network: Our Experience Organizing Inclusive Biology Education Research Events, Rebecca A. Campbell-Montalvo, Natalia Caporale, Gary S. Mcdowell, Candice Idlebird, Katie M. Wiens, Kimberly M. Jackson, Jana D. Marcette, Michael E. Moore

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

In contrast to efforts focusing on improving inclusion in STEM classrooms from kindergarten through un-dergraduate (K–16), efforts to improve inclusion in scientific meetings and conferences, important hubs of STEM culture, are more recent. Markers of inclusion that are sometimes overlooked at these events can include the composition of panels, how workshops are run, the affordability of conferences, and various other mechanisms that maintain pre-existing hierarchies and norms that limit the participation of early-career researchers and individuals of minoritized cultural, linguistic, and economic backgrounds. The Inclusive Environments and Metrics in Biology Education and Research (iEMBER) network coordinates efforts of researchers from …

Identifying Metabolites As Markers Of Fatigue In Athletes, Christopher D. George

Honors Theses

Fatigue in athletes caused by inadequate rest and other stressors can be severely detrimental to their health, and yet there is no reliable way to measure and track fatigue. Many classical measures of fatigue like body mass and resting heart rate are not reliable ways to track the physical fatigue of an athlete because they can change with many factors. In addition, it is not known how academic stress on top of physical stress affects fatigue. Metabolomics is a relatively new area of study and tracking metabolites offers the possibility to produce biomarkers to assess fatigue. This study collected saliva …

Consciousness As A Factor In Evolution, Kenneth A. Augustyn

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

What I call the mind began as a non-conscious robotic biochemical process control system in the very earliest forms of life. As life evolved, problems in control became more difficult and exceeded the computational capabilities of the organisms. Nature discovered a means of transcending computable physical processes resulting in non-computational subjective mental capabilities that, while still not conscious, had a degree of genuine autonomy from the physical world. These autonomous subjective wants and goals now affected the course of (but not the mechanism of) evolution. The integrated amalgam of robotic and transrobotic unconscious capabilities eventually gave rise to consciousness, which …

Mass Spectrometry Based Lipidomic Investigation Of Staphylococcus Aureus Lipid Metabolism And Characterization Of Lipase A, Naren Gajenthra Kumar

Theses and Dissertations

Staphylococcus aureus produces an arsenal of virulence factors and is adept at colonizing multiple hosts by employing specific processes to persist at different sites of infection. Infections caused by this pathogen range from self-limiting infections of the skin like folliculitis to life threatening and chronic conditions like infective endocarditis, non-healing diabetic foot ulcers and atopic dermatitis. As the field continues to expand its understanding of the mechanisms by which this pathogen rapidly develops resistance to new antibiotics, the underlying mechanisms that facilitates niche adaptation and host colonization among healthy individuals remain elusive.

Bacterial and host lipid metabolism presents and area …

Anti-Tumor Functions Of Sphingosine Kinase 1 And Sphingosine Kinase 2 In Breast Cancer Development, Melissa A. Maczis

Theses and Dissertations

Bioactive sphingolipid metabolite sphingosine-1‐phosphate (S1P) circulating levels have been implicated in breast cancer (BC) progression. BCs usually respond to 17β-Estradiol (E2) through canonical receptor ERα66 for genomic effects, however, E2 also triggers rapid, non-genomic responses. E2 has been shown to activate sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1), increasing S1P for S1P receptors signaling important for BC. The E2 receptor activating SphK1 has not been identified. We demonstrate triple negative BC cells, expressing only novel ERα splice variant ERα36, E2-induced SphK1 activation for S1P secretion. Tamoxifen, first-line BC endocrine therapy, an ERα66 antagonist but ERα36 agonist, activates SphK1 and increases S1P secretion in …

Dietary Fish Oil Supplement Induces Age-Specific Contractile And Proteomic Responses In Muscles Of Male Rats, David W. Russ, Kalina Dimova, Emily Morris, Marguerite Pacheco, Sean M. Garvey, Stylianos P. Scordilis

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Dietary fish oil (DFO) has been identified as a micronutrient supplement with the potential to improve musculoskeletal health in old age. Few data are available for effects of DFO on muscle contractility, despite the significant negative impact of muscle weakness on age-related health outcomes. Accordingly, the effects of a DFO intervention on the contractile function and proteomic profile of adult and aged in an animal model of aging were investigated.

Methods: This preliminary study evaluated 14 adult (8 months) and 12 aged (22 months) male, Sprague-Dawley rats consuming a DFO-supplemented diet or a control diet for 8 weeks (7 …

Engineering Ph-Dependent Antibody Interactions Through Linked Protonation Events In Interdomain Interfaces, Hyeyoung Eom

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Engineered antibodies are frequently used in life science applications, such as therapeutics and clinical diagnostics. These customized antibodies typically possess enhanced binding affinity and/or specificity, yet these interactions are only one-way binding events that cannot be easily controlled without extreme changes in conditions, such as pH, denaturant, and/or temperature that likely irreversible damage the antibody and antigen. Here, we explore the design of proton-linked binding events in the context of both antibody/hapten (i.e., a low molecular weight ligand target) and antibody/antigen complexes. Specifically, this work looks to overcome the challenges of engineering pH-dependent small ligand/protein interactions, as well as develop …

Analysis Of Coevolving Residues Of Xcdxcdx-Phd, A Distinct Type Of Phd-Finger, Shraddha Basu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plant homeodomain (PHD), a Zinc-finger scaffold, is a conserved protein module in eukaryotes that typically recognizes unstructured histone tails, and thus, PHDs play a crucial role in chromatin signaling. The sequences of Zinc-fingers, in general, diversify during the course of evolution often giving rise to subtypes (e.g., RBR-RING (Dove 2017) or zf-CxxC subtypes (Long 2013) who typically contain specific sequence signatures. We recently discovered that PHD fingers also contain a distinct subtype, namely the xCDxCDx-PHD. xCDxCDx-PHD has a distinct composition of specific amino acids that coevolved (coevolving residues) in the course of evolution, and xCDxCDx-PHD also shows a unique mechanism …

Scavenger Hunt: The Search For Sulfur Mustard-Neutralizing Compound In 2-Chloroethyl Ethyl Sulfide (Cees) Treated Human Keratinocyte (Hacat) Epithelial Cells, Tanner Diemer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sulfur mustard is a highly toxic and dangerous vesicant that has been utilized as a chemical warfare agent (CWA) since World War I. Despite its extensive history, an effective antidote to sulfur mustard exposure still does not exist. With detectable levels of unreacted sulfur mustard lasting days after initial contact, a window of opportunity exists to administer a “scavenger” to affected individual immediately and in the days following exposure in hopes of reducing harm by neutralizing unreacted sulfur mustard. For this strategy to be effectively implemented, it is essential to identify a candidate compound with excellent affinity towards sulfur mustard …

The Characterization And Reactivity Of Tris(4-Methylpyrazolyl)Methane And Its Tungsten And Molybdenum Metal Complexes, Julia M. Pomeroy

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The scorpionate ligand tris(pyrazolyl)borate (Tp) has contributed to the understanding of coordination and organometallic chemistry and has proven to be useful in the synthesis of metalloprotein models. Studies focusing on the similar ligand, tris(pyrazolyl)methane (Tpm), have recently been made possible with improved synthetic techniques. Characterization of the Tpm ligand and its metal derivatives, [TpmW(CO)3L]+ and [TpmMo(CO)3L]+, unveiled unexpected activity in the 1H NMR chemical shift of the methane hydrogen after the coordination of a seventh ligand. The more electronegative the seventh ligand was, the more downfield the chemical shift appeared. Various analogs of Tpm have since been synthesized that substitute …