Biochemistry Commons^™

Purification Of Anginex: An Inhibitor Of Tumor Metastasis Using Rdrd Tag, Suraj Kolluru

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Anginex is a cytokine-like β-sheet forming peptide of 33 amino acids with potent anti-angiogenic activity.Anginex is essential in inhibiting abnormal processes caused by angiogenesis, such as tumor growth and blood vessel formation. However, Anginex has limitations, including poor stability, short half-life, complicated synthesis, and low purity. Rubredoxin dimer (RdRd) is used as a protein tag to improve stability and detection of Anginex during purification for the first time. A plasmid was designed to contain the RdRd-Anginex fusion protein. RdRd-Anginex plasmid was transformed and expressed in E. coli BL21star cells. The results show RdRd-Anginex has been purified using a Nickel Sepharose …

Novel Application Of Graphene Oxide In Conjunction With Dna Binding Dcas9 For Detecting Antibiotic Resistance Genes, Langley Williams

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The frequent emergence of antibiotic resistance genes poses a stumbling block to prompt treatment of pathogen-originating diseases and therefore spurs the demand for a simple, rapid diagnostic device that can outcompete the time and cost of traditional methods such as PCR and cell culturing. The proposed method for detecting pathogenic DNA utilizes the binding properties of deactivated CRISPR-associated protein9 (dCas9) complexed with fluorescein-labeled single-guide RNA (sgRNA) and the fluorescence quenching properties previously demonstrated in graphene oxide (GO). For our assay, we designed sgRNAs to target specific 20 nucleotide sequences extracted from the tetracycline resistance (tetM) gene sequence and covalently modified …

Chemistry And Public Policy: Equipping Advocates, Herbert R. Fynewever, I. Bos, C. Demlow, G. Fulkerson

Summer Research

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Exogenously Applied Antioxidants On Plant Growth And Resilience, Aline Rodrigues De Queiroz, Connor Hines, Jeremy Brown, Seema Sahay, Jithesh Vijayan, Julie M. Stone, Nate Bickford, Melissa Wuellner, Katarzyna Glowacka, Nicole R. Buan, Rebecca Roston

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Plant growth and resilience require balancing an inherently oxidative metabolism with powerful antioxidant systems that help maintain homeostasis. When the environment changes, reactive oxygen species are potent indicators of that change, allowing adaptation through re-balancing metabolism and antioxidant systems. A large body of evidence supports the use of exogenously applied antioxidants to improve both plant growth and their resilience to stress. Notably, some phenotypic effects are similar upon the application of chemically diverse antioxidants, while others are distinct. In this review, we analyze research from antioxidant treatment experiments and highlight the similarities in their practical applications and their effects on …

Botanical Assessment Of Remnant Floodplain Habitats Along Plaster Creek, Kent County, Michigan: Assessing Changes Since The 1890s, Haley R. Weesies, Garrett Crow, David Warners

Faculty and Professional Research

Plaster Creek, a tributary of the Grand River, drains a 58-square mile watershed in Kent County, Michigan. Its headwaters originate in the agriculturally dominated southwestern portion of the county, and then it meanders through residential, commercial, and urban areas of Kentwood and Grand Rapids before it empties into the Grand River about one mile south of downtown Grand Rapids. Much of Plaster Creek’s original floodplain, like the rest of its watershed, has been drastically altered and degraded over time due to the development of residential neighborhoods, commercial properties, agriculture, and industrial zones. Floodplains house unique assemblages of Michigan’s native biodiversity …

Observing Ceramide Pathway With Ferroptosis Via Mia Paca-2 Cell Treatment With Rsl3, Tazrin Rahman

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Composed of sphingosine and a fatty acid, ceramides are lipid molecules that serve as key metabolic signaling molecules of a sphingolipid pathway. While it acts as a precursor of complex sphingolipids, inducing ceramide generation can cause cell stress leading to subsequent cell death via apoptosis, necrosis, and even mitophagy. With regards to cell death specifically, a novel form of regulated cell death, ferroptosis, has recently been recognized of necrotic nature. Its unique morphological features and distinct properties have been observed over the last several decades; however, the molecular features were not identifiable as pure evidence of cell death, until recently …

Gestational Vulnerability To Ozone Air Pollution - A Placental Story, Vishnupriya Alavala, Sarah Brent, Russell Hunter, Matthew J. Campen, Andrew Ottens

UROP Posters

About 99% of the global population resides in areas with air pollution surpassing World Health Organization standards. Air pollution is associated with adverse neonatal health outcomes such as low fetal birth weight and an increased risk for maternal pre-eclampsia. A particularly reactive air pollutant is ozone, which forms reactive oxygen species that induce cellular damage. Research exists on the dispersion of reactive oxygen species through the bloodstream leading to fetal vulnerability during pregnancy, specifically via the placenta. Yet, placental and fetal development is a temporal process with varied susceptibility to negative gestational outcomes.

To addressing this gap, our laboratory utilized …

Following Faculty Engaging In Collaborative Action Research To Approach Curricular Change In Undergraduate Biochemistry, Christopher Nix

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study engaged in a curricular redesign of an undergraduate biochemistry course undertaken by a collaborative action research group. The initial portion of this study investigated student conceptual understanding of foundational concepts via a rigorously tested concept inventory. the impact of the redesign on the student foundational conceptual understanding was determined by comparison with a baseline data set. Findings suggest that students enter and exit the biochemistry course with little understanding of key foundational concepts. Examination of student performance after the incorporation of creative exercises showed a significant impact of the curricular changes on two of the concepts of interest. …

Genetic Control Of Photoprotection And Photosystem Ii Operating Efficiency In Plants, Seema Sahay, Marcin Grzybowski, James Schnable, Katarzyna Głowacka

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

• Photoprotection against excess light via nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) is indispensable for plant survival. However, slow NPQ relaxation under low light conditions can decrease yield of field-grown crops up to 40%.

• Using semi-high-throughput assay, we quantified the kinetics of NPQ and photosystem II operating efficiency (ΦPSII) in a replicated field trial of more than 700 maize (Zea mays) genotypes across 2 yr. Parametrized kinetics data were used to conduct genome-wide association studies.

• For six candidate genes involved in NPQ and ΦPSII kinetics in maize the loss of function alleles of orthologous genes in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) …

Plastic Recognition And Electrogenic Uniport Translocation Of 1st-, 2nd-, And 3rd-Row Transition And Post-Transition Metals By Primary-Active Transmembrane P1b-2-Type Atpase Pumps, Sameera S. Abeyrathna, Nisansala S. Abeyrathna, Priyanka Basak, Gordon W. Irvine, Limei Zhang, Gabriele Meloni

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Transmembrane P-type ATPase pumps catalyze the extrusion of transition metal ions across cellular lipid membranes to maintain essential cellular metal homeostasis and detoxify toxic metals. Zn()-pumps of the P-type subclass, in addition to Zn , select diverse metals (Pb, Cdand Hg) at their transmembrane binding site and feature promiscuous metal-dependent ATP hydrolysis in the presence of these metals. Yet, a comprehensive understanding of the transport of these metals, their relative translocation rates, and transport mechanism remain elusive. We developed a platform for the characterization of primary-active Zn()-pumps in proteoliposomes to study metal selectivity, translocation events and transport mechanism in real-time, …

Genome-Wide Investigation Of Snrk2 Gene Family In Two Jute Species: Corchorus Olitorius And Corchorus Capsularis, Borhan Ahmed, Fakhrul Hasan, Anika Tabassum, Rasel Ahmed, Rajnee Hassan, Ruhul Amin, Mobashwer Alam

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Background Sucrose non-fermenting-1 (SNF1)-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2), a plant-specifc serine/threonine kinase family, is associated with metabolic responses, including abscisic acid signaling under biotic and abiotic stresses. So far, no information on a genome-wide investigation and stress-mediated expression profling of jute SnRK2 is available. Recent whole-genome sequencing of two Corchorus species prompted to identify and characterize this SnRK2 gene family.

Result We identifed seven SnRK2 genes of each of Corchorus olitorius (Co) and C. capsularis (Cc) genomes, with similar physico-molecular properties and sub-group patterns of other models and related crops. In both species, the SnRK2 gene …

Structural Basis Of Dna Binding By The Whib-Like Transcription Factor Whib3 In Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Tao Wan, Magdaléna Horová, Vimmy Khetrapal, Shanren Li, Camden Jones, Andrew Schacht, Xinghui Sun, Limei Zhang

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) WhiB3 is an iron–sulfur cluster-containing transcription factor belonging to a subclass of the WhiB-Like (Wbl) family that is widely distributed in the phylum Actinobacteria. WhiB3 plays a crucial role in the survival and pathogenesis of Mtb. It binds to the conserved region 4 of the principal sigma factor (σ^A₄) in the RNA polymerase holoenzyme to regulate gene expression like other known Wbl proteins in Mtb. However, the structural basis of how WhiB3 coordinates with σ^A₄ to bind DNA and regulate transcription is unclear. Here we determined crystal structures …

Factors Influencing Instructors’ Adoption And Continued Use Of Computing Science Technologies: A Case Study In The Context Of Cell Collective, Changsoo Song, Resa M. Helikar, Wendy M. Smith, Tomáš Helikar

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Acquiring computational modeling and simulation skills has become ever more critical for students in life sciences courses at the secondary and tertiary levels. Many modeling and simulation tools have been created to help instructors nurture those skills in their classrooms. Understanding the factors that may motivate instructors to use such tools is crucial to improve students’ learning, especially for having authentic modeling and simulation learning experiences. This study designed and tested a decomposed technology acceptance model in which the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use constructs are split between the teaching and learning sides of the technology to examine …

Akkermansia Muciniphila And Its Membrane Protein Ameliorates Intestinal Inflammatory Stress And Promotes Epithelial Wound Healing Via Crebh And Mir‑143/145, Henry Wade, Kaichao Pan, Qihua Duan, Szczepan Kaluzny, Ekta Pandey, Linda Fatumoju, Viswanathan Saraswathi, Rongxue Wu, Edward N. Harris, Qiaozhu Su

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Background The intestinal epithelial barrier is the interface for interaction between gut microbiota and host metabolic systems. Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) is a key player in the colonic microbiota that resides in the mucus layer, whose abundance is selectively decreased in the faecal microbiota of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. This study aims to investigate the regulatory mechanism among A. muciniphila, a transcription factor cAMPresponsive element-binding protein H (CREBH), and microRNA-143/145 (miR-143/145) in intestinal inflammatory stress, gut barrier integrity and epithelial regeneration.

Methods A novel mouse model with increased colonization of A muciniphila in the intestine of CREBH knockout …

Advancements In Computational Modelling Of Biological Systems: Seventh Annual Sysmod Meeting, Bhanwar Lal Puniya, Andreas Dräger

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

The Computational Modelling of Systems Biology (SysMod) Community of Special Interest (COSI) convenes annually at the Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) conference to facilitate knowledge dissemination and exchange of research findings on systems modelling from interdisciplinary domains. The SysMod meeting 2022 was held in a hybrid mode in Madison, Wisconsin, spanning a 1-day duration centred on modelling techniques, applications, and single-cell technology implementations. The meeting showcased innovative approaches to modelling biological systems using cell-specific and multiscale modelling, multiomics data integration, and novel tools to develop systems models using single-cell and multiomics technology. The meeting also recognized outstanding research by …

Tagging Atg5 With An Epitope Tag To Measure The Amount Of Atg12-5 Conjugation In Atg10 Mutants, Sophie Campbell

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Autophagy is a necessary recycling process that occurs in cells, but the functions of the proteins that carry this out are not completely understood. The protein ATG10 has a distinct role in forming autophagosomes, large double membrane vesicles necessary for this process. ATG10 forms a covalent bond between the proteins ATG12 and ATG5 but its final effect on autophagosome formation is still unclear. We are using DNA manipulation techniques to add a myc epitope tag to yeast ATG5 which will allow us to measure the effect of atg10 mutants on ATG12-5 conjugation via Western Blot. These results will help us …

Establishing A Biochemical System For The Purification And Atpase Activity Of Gst-Dbp5, Sarah Utley, Rachel E. Rigsby Phd, Rebecca L. Adams Phd

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

The export of mRNA out of the nucleus is a crucial step for eukaryotic gene expression. The export of mRNA transcripts is aided by Mex67, which allows export through the nuclear pore complex doorways in the nuclear envelope. Once out of the nucleus, a protein known as Dbp5, bound to ATP, Gle1, and Nup42 aids in the directionality of mRNA export by helping remove Mex67 from the mRNA strand. Following interaction with RNA, Dbp5 then hydrolyzes ATP so that it unbinds the mRNA, allowing for enzyme recycling. The goal of this study is to explore the ATPase activity of Saccharomyces …

Identification Of Rickettsia Prowazekii Methionine Aminopeptidase Inhibitors And Development Of Thermal Shift Assays For Burkholderia Pseudomallei Ispf And Sars-Cov-2 3cl Protease, Ishpriya Sharma

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

There is a crucial need for new antibacterial agents to combat the increase in antibiotic resistance. Methionine aminopeptidase (MetAp) is an enzyme that removes the amino-terminal methionine residue from newly synthesized proteins, an important step in the maturation of proteins. As such, MetAp is a target for the development of antibacterial and anticancer agents. One such bacterial target is Rickettsia prowazekii (Rp), the causative agent of epidemic typhus. To discover new inhibitors of RpMetAp1, the MMV Malaria Box, which is a collection of 400 compounds with drug-like and probe-like compounds, was screened using a high throughput fluorescence-based RpMetAp1 enzyme inhibition …

The Role Of Myocardin In The Progression Of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Soromidayo Akinsiku

Biotechnology Theses

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world and NSCLC accounts for 85% of all lung cancer cases. The mainstay of treatment for patients with stage I, II and IIIA NSCLC is surgery, followed by post-operative cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Additional adjuvant therapy involving targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors has been in use, however even for the targeted therapy, resistance eventually develops. Therefore, there is a need for identifying novel targets for this life-threatening disease. Given that preliminary studies in Ikebe lab revealed that myocardin knockdown significantly promoted caspase-3 degradation, in this study, using myocardin siRNA, we investigated the …

การเกิดภาวะพหุสัณฐานทางพันธุกรรมของยีนในวิถีวิตามินดีและความเสี่ยงต่อภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัมในประชากรไทย, ชาญณรงค์ แซ่ฉั่ว

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

กลุ่มอาการออทิซึมสเปกตรัม (Autism spectrum disorder; ASD) เป็นปัญหาสุขภาพระดับโลกที่สำคัญ โดยพบว่ามีความชุกของโรคที่เพิ่มสูงขึ้น อย่างไรก็ตามสาเหตุและกลไกในการเกิดภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัมยังไม่ทราบแน่ชัดอาจเกี่ยวข้องกับปัจจัยด้านพันธุกรรมและสิ่งแวดล้อม โดยปัจจุบันมีรายงานถึงบทบาทของวิตามินกับภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัม วัตถุประสงค์ของการศึกษานี้คือศึกษาการเกิดภาวะพหุสัณฐานทางพันธุกรรมของยีนในวิถีเมทาบอลิกของวิตามินดีและความเสี่ยงต่อการเกิดภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัมและระดับความรุนแรงของโรคในเด็กไทย การศึกษานี้มีจำนวนอาสาสมัคร 276 ราย โดยเป็นกลุ่มเด็กที่มีภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัม 169 ราย และกลุ่มควบคุมเป็นเด็กที่ไม่มีโรคทางระบบประสาท 107 ราย ซึ่งได้ทำการตรวจวิเคราะห์ภาวะพหุสัณฐานทางพันธุกรรมของยีน CYP2R1, CYP27B1, GC และ VDR โดยเทคนิค TaqMan-based real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) และตรวจวิเคราะห์ระดับวิตามินดีในกระแสเลือดโดยใช้เทคนิค Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (CLIA) โดยเด็กที่พบภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัมจะได้รับการตรวจระดับความรุนแรงของภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัมด้วย Childhood Autism Rating Scale, 2nd Edition (CARS2) โดยผลที่ได้จากการศึกษาพบว่า การเกิดภาวะพหุสัณฐานทางพันธุกรรมของยีน CYP2R1, CYP27B1, VDR และ GC (rs4588) ไม่มีความสัมพันธ์กับการเกิดภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัมและความรุนแรงของอาการออทิซึมสเปกตรัม อย่างไรก็ตามการศึกษาชี้ให้เห็นว่า การเกิดภาวะพหุสัณฐานทางพันธุกรรมของยีน GC (rs7041 (A>C)) มีความสัมพันธ์อย่างมีนัยสำคัญกับความเสี่ยงที่เพิ่มขึ้นต่อการเกิดภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัมและความรุนแรงของอาการออทิซึมสเปกตรัมด้วย โดยเฉพาะอย่างยิ่งบุคคลที่มีการขาดระดับวิตามินดีร่วมด้วย นอกจากนี้ผลศึกษาพบว่าไอโซฟอร์มของ GC1s และ GC1s-GC1s ฟีโนไทป์มีความสัมพันธ์อย่างมีนัยสำคัญกับความเสี่ยงต่อการเกิดภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัมตลอดจนความรุนแรงของอาการออทิซึมสเปกตรัม โดยสรุปการศึกษาวิจัยในครั้งนี้ชี้ให้เห็นว่า การเกิดภาวะพหุสัณฐานทางพันธุกรรมของยีน GC (rs7041 (A>C)) และไอโซฟอร์ม GC1s อาจเป็นตัวบ่งชี้ทางพันธุกรรมที่สามารถช่วยในการประเมินความเสี่ยงต่อการเกิดภาวะออทิซึมสเปกตรัมและความรุนแรงของอาการออทิซึมสเปกตรัมในเด็กไทยได้ในอนาคต อย่างไรก็ตามการศึกษาในอนาคตควรศึกษาในกลุ่มประชากรที่ใหญ่ขึ้นเพื่อยืนยันผลการศึกษาวิจัยครั้งนี้