Molecular Biology Commons^™

Lysine Specific Demethylase-1 And The Brahma Chromatin Remodeling Complex Regulate Conserved Signaling Pathways During Drosophila Wing Development, Brenda Jean Curtis

Dissertations

The conserved SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex uses the energy from ATP hydrolysis to alter local chromatin environments by disrupting DNA-histone contacts. The Drosophila SWI/SNF counterpart, the Brahma complex, has been shown to have an essential role in regulating the proper expression of many developmentally important genes, including those required for eye and wing tissue morphogenesis. A temperature sensitive mutation in one of the core subunits, SNR1 (SNF5/Ini1/SMARC B1), results in reproducible wing patterning phenotypes that can be enhanced and suppressed by extragenic mutations. SNR1 functions as a regulatory subunit to modulate chromatin remodeling activities of the Brahma complex on target …

Localization And Functional Analysis Of Plasmodium Falciparum Genes Pfl2550w And Pff0750w, Carolyn Jane Strobel

Master's Theses

Malaria is a parasitic disease that causes over a million deaths worldwide each year. Understanding development through the parasite's life cycle is necessary to stop disease transmission. As the genetic basis for the crucial transition from the erythrocytic asexual cycle to gametocytogenesis is unknown, we hope to better understand this transition by studying sexual stage genes and their roles in gametocytogenesis. PFL2550w and PFF0750w are genes upregulated during gametocytogenesis that were identified by a whole-genome microarray comparing gene expression between gametocyte-producing and gametocyte-deficient strains. In this study, PFL2550w was shown to be a soluble protein that is exported from the …

Dissecting The Biosyntheses Of Gilvocarcins And Ravidomycins, Madan Kumar Kharel

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Gilvocarcin V (GV) and ravidomycin (RMV) exhibit excellent antitumor activities in the presence of near-UV light at low concentration maintaining a low in vivo cytotoxicity. Although, the exact molecular mechanism for in vivo actions of these antibiotics has yet to be determined, a [2+2] cycloaddition reaction of the vinyl side chain with DNA thymidine residues in addition to the inhibition of topoisomerase II and DNAhistone H3 cross-linking are reported for the GV’s mechanism of action. Such activities have made these molecules interesting candidates for the biosynthetic investigation to generate analogues with improved activity/solubility. Previous biosynthetic studies have suggested that the …

The Globin Gene Family Of The Cephalochordate Amphioxus: Implications For Chordate Globin Evolution, Bettina Ebner, Georgia Panopoulou, Serge N. Vinogradov, Laurent Kiger, Michael C. Marden, Thorsten Burmester, Thomas Hankeln

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

The lancelet amphioxus (Cephalochordata) is a close relative of vertebrates and thus may enhance our understanding of vertebrate gene and genome evolution. In this context, the globins are one of the best studied models for gene family evolution. Previous biochemical studies have demonstrated the presence of an intracellular globin in notochord tissue and myotome of amphioxus, but the corresponding gene has not yet been identified. Genomic resources of Branchiostoma floridae now facilitate the identification, experimental confirmation and molecular evolutionary analysis of its globin gene repertoire.

Results

We show that B. floridae harbors at least fifteen paralogous globin genes, …

Prospects And Pits On The Path Of Biomimetics: The Case Of Tooth Enamel, Vuk Uskoković

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

This review presents a discourse on challenges in understanding and imitating the process of amelogenesis in vitro on the molecular scale. In light of the analysis of imitation of the growth of dental enamel, it also impends on the prospects and potential drawbacks of the biomimetic approach in general. As the formation of enamel proceeds with the protein matrix guiding the crystal growth, while at the same time conducting its own degradation and removal, it is argued that three aspects of amelogenesis need to be induced in parallel: a) crystal growth; b) protein assembly; c) proteolytic degradation. A particular emphasis …

Isolation, Characterization And Molecular Cloning Of Dnase Iiib From Drosophila Melanogaster, Brenda Cristina Anchondo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Nucleases are enzymes that breakdown nucleic acids; they are classified by their biochemical properties into different groups (Evans et al., 2003). The ββα-Me finger family of nucleases are enzymes that combine structurally different groups but they are defined by a highly evolutionary conserved active site, a stretch of 22 amino acids composed by a β-hairpin (ββ) and α-helix (α) that anchor a catalytic metal ion (Sokolowska et al, 2009). Within this family is found the DNA/RNA non-specific nucleases. Nucleases that belong to the DNA/RNA non-specific group hydrolyze both ds and ss DNA, as well as RNA at equal or similar …

Evaluating The Role Of Evolutionarily Conserved Regions Of Ledgf/P75 In Hiv-1 Infection, Jose Adrian Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

LEDGF/p75 is an important cellular co-factor for lentiviral integration. LEDGF/p75-deficient cells are markedly resistant to HIV-1 infection and re-expression of the wild type protein rescues infectivity. Although the molecular mechanism of LEDGF/p75 in HIV-1 integration is not yet known, this co-factor activity requires the interaction of LEDGF/p75 with both the host chromatin and viral integrase. In order to evaluate the involvement of other LEDGF/p75 regions in HIV-1 infection we constructed a panel of deletion mutants targeting clusters of charged residues that are evolutionarily conserved and predicted to be post-translationally modified. These mutants were evaluated for their ability to rescue HIV-1 …

Interactions Of The Cellular Sumoylation System With Influenza A Virus And Its Non-Structural Protein Ns1a (Ns1a), Sangita Pal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The most important current anti-influenza weapons, vaccination and antiviral drugs, can be rapidly rendered fully ineffective thanks to the virus's high mutational rate, which produces viruses exhibiting new antigenic properties and structural proteins insensitive to the drug's mechanism of action. One attractive alternative is to develop drugs that modulate the activity of cellular systems either required for viral growth or able to neutralize viral growth. Here we demonstrate that the cellular SUMOylation system, a post-translational modification involving the conjugation of the Small Ubiquitin-like MOdifier (SUMO) to specific protein targets using a Ubiquitin-like enzymatic cascade, interacts closely with influenza virus during …

A Specific Regulatory Role For Sgtα On The Maturation And Activation Of Steroid Hormone Receptors, Atanu Paul

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Steroid hormone receptors (SHRs) are ligand-dependent transcription factors belonging to the nuclear receptor superfamily. These receptors regulate various physiological functions in higher ordered eukaryotes. In the absence of hormone these receptors form a complex with molecular chaperones such as Hsp90 and Hsp70 and other cochaperones in the cytoplasm. Association with the Hsp90-Hsp70 chaperone machinery leads to the maturation of the Ligand Binding Domain (LBD) of the receptors and enables the receptors to bind hormone with high affinity. Upon binding with a specific hormone the receptors are translocated into the nucleus where they initiate transcription of specific genes. Although the involvement …