Molecular Biology Commons^™

The Role Of Igf-1 And Notch Signaling In Thoracic Malignancies., Sandra Eliasz

Dissertations

Thoracic malignancies are one of the deadliest of all cancers, being the leading cause of cancer death in the Western world. Thoracic malignancies arise from different tissues; however the most common are of epithelial (commonly referred to as non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC), neuroendocrine (small cell lung cancer, or SCLC) and mesothelial origin (malignant mesothelioma, or MM). The DNA oncogenic virus Simian Virus 40 (SV40) has been shown to cooperate with environmental oncogenic fibers in the onset of MM. Insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) signaling plays a central role in all thoracic malignancies and in the process of SV40-mediated …

Animal Models Of Alzheimer's Disease, Gemma Casadesus, Gary Arendash, Frank Laferla, Mike Mcdonald

Molecular Biosciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Bacterial Diversity In Arctic Soil And Sediment Samples From Ny-Alesund, Norway Using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis., Yew Wen Chyin

Student Works (2010-2019)

Bacterial diversity in soil and sediment samples from eighteen sites in and around Dasan Station, Ny-Ålesund, Norway was analyzed using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE), and was correlated with the environmental variables. Samples analysed included terrestrial soils, beach soil, periglacier soils, inland lake bank sediments, melt lake sediments, and marine sediments. Spearman rank order correlation showed significant correlations (P = 0.001) between conductivity (r = 0.470) and pH (r = 0.294) with the bacterial diversity. Soil from the tundra site (sample 17) appeared to have the most diverse bacterial community while inland lake bank sediment from the …

The Role Of Ledgf/P75 In Transcriptional Regulation, Jeffrey Ryan Kugelman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Lens Epithelial Derived Growth Factor p75 (LEDGF/p75) is a chromatin bound protein whose cellular function is not yet clearly known. A role in transcriptional regulation had been previously proposed based on its interaction with the basal transcriptional machinery and on its effects on the expression of genes involved in the cellular response to environmental stresses. To further elucidate the function of LEDGF/p75, we conducted a global and unbiased evaluation of the role of this protein in gene expression. To that aim, we performed a microarray analysis of cellular gene expression in cells that are severely depleted of LEDGF/p75. To …

Electroporation-Mediated Delivery Of A Naked Dna Plasmid Expressing Vegf To The Porcine Heart Enhances Protein Expression, W. G. Marshall Jr., B. A. Boone, J. D. Burgos, S. I. Gografe, M. K. Baldwin, M. L. Danielson, M. J. Larson, D. R. Caretto, Y. Cruz, B. Ferraro, L. C. Heller, K. E. Ugen, M. J. Jaroszeski, R. Heller

Bioelectrics Publications

Gene therapy is an attractive method for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. However, using current strategies, induction of gene expression at therapeutic levels is often inefficient. In this study, we show a novel electroporation (EP) method to enhance the delivery of a plasmid expressing an angiogenic growth factor (vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF), which is a molecule previously documented to stimulate revascularization in coronary artery disease. DNA expression plasmids were delivered in vivo to the porcine heart with or without coadministered EP to determine the potential effect of electrically mediated delivery. The results showed that plasmid delivery through EP significantly …

Characterization Of Microrna172 And Its Potential Target In Oil Palm (Elaeis Guineensis Jaq.), Fatemeh Mehrpooyan

Student Works (2010-2019)

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is the world’s major perennial monocot crop and contributes highly to the economies of South East Asia. As the oil palm fruit is the source of the main economic output for this crop, floral development is a critical process related to oil palm productivity. miR172 has been shown to be an important regulator of the AP2 family transcription factors involved in floral timing in a number of plants and belongs to a group of highly conserved miRNA that can be identified based on sequence homology. Six oil palm miR172 paralogs, representing two distinct mature miR172 sequences, …

Analysis Of The Crmp Gene In Drosophila: Determining The Regulatory Role Of Crmp In Signaling And Behavior, Deanna Hardt Morris

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The mammalian genome encodes five collapsin response mediator protein (CRMP) isoforms. Cell culture studies have shown that the CRMPs mediate growth cone dynamics and neuron polarity through associations with a variety of signal transduction components and cytoskeletal elements. CRMP is also a member of a protein family including the presumably ancestral dihydropyrimidinase (DHP) protein that catalyzes the second step in pyrimidine degradation. In Drosophila, CRMP and DHP proteins are produced by alternatively spliced transcripts of the CRMP gene. The alternative protein forms have a 91% sequence identity, but unique expression patterns. CRMP is found exclusively in neuronal tissues and …

Protein Folding, Aggregation And Unfolding In Monte Carlo Simulations, Sandipan Mohanty, Anders Irbäck, Simon Mitternacht, Giorgio Favrin, U. H.E. Hansmann

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

An implicit water all-atom model is used to study folding, aggregation and mechanical unfolding of small proteins. Physically reasonable results obtained for a variety of applications indicate healthy global properties of the interaction potential.

Identification Of Deletion Mutants Of Inositol Kinases And Phosphatases Hypersensitive To Valproate, W-Mudiyanselage Manoj Senaka Bandara

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

IDENTIFICATION OF DELETION MUTANTS OF INOSITOL KINASES AND PHOSPHATASES HYPERSENSITIVE TO VALPROATE

by

WELLEWATTA MUDIYANSELAGE MANOJ SENAKA BANDARA

MAY 2010

Advisor: Dr. Miriam Greenberg

Major: Biological Sciences

Degree: Master of Science

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic psychiatric illness affecting at least 1% of the world population. BD is ranked as the sixth greatest cause of death or disability globally. The cause of BD is unknown. Although the anticonvulsant valproate (VPA) is widely used as a mood stabilizer to treat BD, VPA is not completely effective and causes numerous side effects. Hence, it is important to develop more effective …

Molecular Identification Of Arowana Species Based On Cytochrome B And Cytochrome C Oxidase I (Coi) / Maryam Zahedi Fard, Maryam Zahedi Fard

Student Works (2010-2019)

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers has been widely used to better resolve the taxonomic identification as well as display the genetic relatedness of different species and closely related fish. The highly cost ornamental fish, Asian arowana (Scleropages formosus) of family Osteoglossidae has different colored strains that are geographically distributed in different regions around Southeast Asia. The taxonomic classification of these different strains still remains unclear and disputable. The partial sequences of the cytochrome b and the DNA barcoding gene, cytochrome C oxidase were analyzed and assessed for molecular identification; to differentiate the colored varieties of this species. The results of this …

Creg1 And Its Enhancement Of P16ink4a-Induced Senescence, Benchamart Moolmuang

Wayne State University Dissertations

Bypassing cellular senescence, an irreversible growth arrest of cells that is activated in normal cells to become immortal is one of the prerequisites for carcinogenesis. Cellular senescence can be triggered by shortening of telomeres and certain cellular stresses. Using spontaneously immortalized Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS) fibroblasts, we found that CREG1 (Cellular Repressor of E1A-stimulated Genes1) is one of genes whose expression fit the criteria of senescence-associated genes, decreased expression during immortalization and increased in senescence. Moreover, we found that epigenetic mechanisms regulate CREG1 expression in LFS fibroblasts. CREG1 is a secreted glycoprotein that was shown to bind Rb-family pocket proteins and …

Group Ii Intron Dynamics In Heterologous Hosts, Venkata Raghavendra Aditya Chalamcharla

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Group II introns are ribozymes with an innate ability to self-splice. They are found predominantly in bacterial and bacterial-derived organellar genomes, but not in the nuclear genomes of eukaryotes. In bacteria, group II introns often behave as mobile retroelements, invading host DNA and exploiting its machinery to complete the retromobility process. The object of my studies is the group II intron found in the Lactococcus lactis relaxase gene. To determine the nature of the group II intron-host relationship, we performed a genetic screen and identified several host factors that affect group II intron retromobility in Escherichia coli, which provides a …

Preparation And Application Of Transgenic And Knockout Mouse Models For Studies On Cytochrome P450 Functions, Yuan Wei

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The overall objective of this dissertation is to study the in vivo function of microsomal cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s), which metabolize numerous drugs, chemical carcinogens, environmental pollutants, as well as endogenous signaling molecules such as steroid hormones and eicosanoids. The major research tool of this study involves the development of transgenic and knockout mouse models. The specific aims are 1) to study the in vivo function of NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) and CPR-dependent enzymes using a mouse model with a reversible hypomorphic Cpr gene; 2) to study the in vivo function of CYP2A13 with a CYP2A13- transgenic model; and 3) …

Saturation Transfer Difference Nmr Studies : Pyrazinamide And Pyrazinamide Analogs Coordinating With Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Fatty Acid Synthase I (Fas I), Halimah Sayahi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

One third of the world's population is infected with M. tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB) that claims the life of approximately 2 million people every year. The rapid spread of multidrug-resistance tuberculosis as well the emergence of extensively drug resistance strains that are resistant to virtually any known antibiotic, has transformed this once curable disease into a major public health challenge. To regain control of this disease and the associated mortality and morbidity new antibiotics are urgently needed.

Uncultivated Environmental Tm7 Model To Study Human Disease-Associated Tm7 Bacteria, David Barton

Master's Theses

The TM7 bacterial phylum has no cultivated species and includes members that span a broad range of environmental and human habitats, some of which are associated with human periodontitis. In this project, activated wastewater TM7 bacteria were analyzed and their relatedness compared to human-associated TM7 bacteria for the long-term goal of using an environmental TM7 to better understand TM7 pathogenesis in humans. DNA was extracted from activated wastewater and PCR amplified using TM7 16S rRNA gene- specific primers. The ~1,170 base pair PCR products were then cloned and sequenced. DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis identified environmental TM7 clones with high …

Investigating The Metal Binding Sites In Znta, A Zinc Transporting Atpase, Sandhya Muralidharan

Wayne State University Dissertations

ZntA from Escherichia coli is a member of the P_IBtype ATPase family of transporters. The P_IB-type ATPase pumps maintain cellular homeostasis of heavy metals such as Zn²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Cu⁺, and mediate resistance to toxic metals such as Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺ and Ag⁺. ZntA confers resistance to Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, and Zn²⁺ by pumping these ions out of the cytoplasm. ZntA has two metal binding sites, one in the hydrophilic N-terminal domain and the other in the transmembrane region. The …

Towards An Understanding Of The Etiology Of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: Identification Of Genes Implicated In Aaa Risk And Development, John Hunt Lillvis

Wayne State University Dissertations

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a common disease for which mechanisms of formation are still not well understood. Despite a strong genetic component to AAA risk, specific risk alleles are still largely unidentified. AAA is also a localized disease with a majority occurring in the infrarenal abdominal aorta and is six times more common than aneurysms of the thoracic aorta. To determine whether risk alleles are present in functional positional candidate genes. we: 1. performed a genetic association study using DNA from AAA cases and controls in ten candidate genes and 2. performed exon sequencing on three genes with evidence …

Developmental Characterization Of Cara Mitad: A Drosophila Nuclear Receptor Co-Regulator, Chhavi Chauhan

Dissertations

In insects and vertebrates, hormone titers drive cellular proliferation and differentiation events that guide proper development. Nuclear receptors (NR) respond to these hormone signals by activating cascades of gene expression, along with coregulator protein complexes. In Drosophila melanogaster, fluctuating titers of the steroid hormone ecdysone are responsible for coordinating the timing of organismal development. Despite major advances in our understanding of Drosophila NR activities, we lack essential knowledge of the coregulators that are required for their proper function.

We have recently identified the Drosophila cara mitad (cmi) (`dear half') gene. The deduced CMI protein is closely related to the N-terminal …

Electric Pulses To Prepare Feeder Cells For Sustaining And Culturing Of Undifferentiated Embryonic Stem Cells, Lauren M. Browning, Tao Huang, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Current challenges in embryonic-stem-cell (ESC) research include inability of sustaining and culturing of undifferentiated ESCs over time. Growth-arrested feeder cells are essential to the culture and sustaining of undifferentiated ESCs, and they are currently prepared using gammaradiation and chemical inactivation. Both techniques have severe limitations. In this study, we developed a new, simple and effective technique (pulsed-electric-fields, PEFs) to produce viable growth-arrested cells (RTS34st) and used them as high-quality feeder cells to culture and sustain undifferentiated zebrafish ESCs over time. The cells were exposed to 25 sequential 10- nanosecond-electric-pulses (10nsEPs) of 25, 40 and 150 kV/cm with 1s pulse interval, …

Chloroquine Susceptibility And Reversibility In A Plasmodium Falciparum Genetic Cross, Jigar J. Patel, Drew Thacker, John C. Tan, Perri Pleeter, Lisa Checkley, Joseph M. Gonzales, Bingbing Deng, Paul D. Roepe, Roland A. Cooper, Michael T. Ferdig

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine (CQ) resistance transporter (PfCRT) are major determinants of verapamil (VP)-reversible CQ resistance (CQR). In the presence of mutant PfCRT, additional genes contribute to the wide range of CQ susceptibilities observed. It is not known if these genes influence mechanisms of chemosensitization by CQR reversal agents. Using quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of progeny clones from the HB3 x Dd2 cross, we show that the P. falciparum multidrug resistance gene 1 (pfmdr1) interacts with the South-East Asia-derived mutant pfcrt haplotype to modulate CQR levels. A novel chromosome 7 locus is predicted to contribute …