Medical Biochemistry Commons^™

Surveillance, Epidemiological, And Virological Detection Of Highly Pathogenic H5n1 Avian Influenza Viruses In Duck And Poultry From Bangladesh, Wahedul Karim Ansari, Md Safiullah Parvej, Mohamed E. El Zowalaty, Sally Jackson, Stephen A. Bustin, Adel K. Ibrahim, Md Tanvir Rahman, Han Zhang, Mohammad Ferdousur Rahman Khan, Md Mostakin Ahamd, Md. Fasiur Rahman, Marzia Rahman, Khm Nazmul H. Nazir, Sultan Ahmed, Md Liakot Hossenn, Md Abdul Kafi, Mat Yamage, Nitish C. Debnath, Graba Ahmed, Hossam Ashour, Md Masoud, Ayman Noreddin, Md B. Rahman

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) continue to pose a global threat. Waterfowl are the main reservoir and are responsible for the spillover of AIVs to other hosts. This study was conducted as part of routine surveillance activities in Bangladesh and it reports on the serological and molecular detection of H5N1 AIV subtype. A total of 2169 cloacal and 2191 oropharyngeal swabs as well as 1725 sera samples were collected from live birds including duck and chicken in different locations in Bangladesh between the years of 2013 and 2014. Samples were tested using virus isolation, serological tests and molecular methods of RT-PCR. …

Loss Of Exogenous Androgen Dependence By Prostate Tumor Cells Is Associated With Elevated Glucuronidation Potential, Brenna M. Zimmer, Michelle E. Howell, Qin Wei, Linlin Ma, Trevor Romsdahl, Eileen G. Loughman, Jennifer E. Markham, Javier Seravalli, Joseph J. Barycki, Melanie A. Simpson

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Prostate epithelial cells control the potency and availability of androgen hormones in part by inactivation and elimination. UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGDH) catalyzes the NAD⁺-dependent oxidation of UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronate, an essential precursor for androgen inactivation by the prostate glucuronidation enzymes UGT2B15 and UGT2B17. UGDH expression is androgen stimulated, which increases the production of UDP-glucuronate, and fuels UGT-catalyzed glucuronidation. In this study, we compared the glucuronidation potential and its impact on androgen-mediated gene expression in an isogenic LNCaP model for androgen dependent versus castration resistant prostate cancer. Despite significantly lower androgen-glucuronide output, LNCaP 81 castration resistant tumor cells expressed higher …

The Discovery Of A Novel, Ras-Mediated Nore1a/Pmliv Tumor Suppressor Complex., Jessica Mezzanotte Sharpe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ras is the most commonly activated oncogene in human cancer. Activated Ras drives cell growth and proliferation by activating multiple mitogenic signaling pathways. However, Ras also has the paradoxical ability to promote anti-growth, pro-apoptotic, and pro-senescent signaling. The signaling pathways of many of these biological effectors remain poorly defined. One group of proteins capable of promoting Ras-induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest is the RASSF family of tumor suppressors. Novel Ras Effector 1A, or NORE1A, was the first member of this family discovered and is a bona fide tumor suppressor that is lost or inactivated in a number of different …

Incidence Of Hypomagnesemia On Proton Pump Inhibitors At The Huntington Veterans Affairs Medical Center – Ihop, Ebrahim Sabbagh, Do, Chelsey R. Houchins, James Allman, Ii, Pharmd, Samson Teka, Md

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Abstract

Title: Incidence of hypomagnesemia on proton pump inhibitors at the Huntington Veterans Affairs Medical Center – IHOP

Purpose:

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), both prescription and over-the-counter, are widely used for the treatment of acid-related disease states such as dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflex disease, esophagitis, and peptic ulcers. These medications are generally considered safe in most patient populations; however, there are several adverse effects that may occur with long-term use. Hypomagnesemia is a newer complication arising in the literature following multiple case reports over the past several years, although the true incidence of hypomagnesemia associated with PPI use remains unclear at …

The Α-Arrestin Arrdc3 Regulates The Endosomal Residence Time And Intracellular Signaling Of The Β2-Adrenergic Receptor., Xufan Tian, Roshanak Irannejad, Shanna L. Bowman, Yang Du, Manojkumar A. Puthenveedu, Mark Von Zastrow, Jeffrey L. Benovic

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Arrestin domain-containing protein 3 (ARRDC3) is a member of the mammalian α-arrestin family, which is predicted to share similar tertiary structure with visual-/β-arrestins and also contains C-terminal PPXY motifs that mediate interaction with E3 ubiquitin ligases. Recently, ARRDC3 has been proposed to play a role in regulating the trafficking of G protein-coupled receptors, although mechanistic insight into this process is lacking. Here, we focused on characterizing the role of ARRDC3 in regulating the trafficking of the β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR). We find that ARRDC3 primarily localizes to EEA1-positive early endosomes and directly interacts with the β2AR in a ligand-independent manner. Although …

Role Of Protein Kinase G In Regulating Vascular Tone In Hypoxic Ovine Cerebral Arteries, Richard Burdette Thorpe

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Nitric oxide (NO) and its precursors have been used clinically to induce vasorelaxation long before the specific mechanism of how this operates was understood. With the discovery in 1977 of the influence of NO on guanylate cyclase, and the subsequent elucidation of the NO pathway, the role of cyclic guanidine monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent protein kinase (PKG) has been shown to be the main mediator of NO-induced vasorelaxation. Less well understood is the behavior of this pathway in conditions of long term hypoxia (LTH). It was later shown that LTH attenuates the ability of PKG to mediate vasorelaxation. How this operates is …

Gene Delivery Using Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles: Optimization Of The Transfection Process And The Effects Of Citrate And Poly(L-Lysine) As Additives, Mohammed A. Khan, Victoria M. Wu, Shreya Ghosh, Vuk Uskoković

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the long history of nanoparticulate calcium phosphate (CaP) as a non-viral transfection agent, there has been limited success in attempts to optimize its properties for transfection comparable in efficiency to that of viral vectors. Here we focus on the optimization of: (a) CaP nanoparticle precipitation conditions, predominantly supersaturation and Ca/P molar ratios; (b) transfection conditions, mainly the concentrations of the carrier and plasmid DNA; (c) the presence of surface additives, including citrate anion and cationic poly(l-lysine) (PLL). CaP nanoparticles significantly improved transfection with plasmid DNA encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) in pre-osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells compared to a commercial …

Mechanism Of Chimeric Vaccine Mediated Immune Suppression Of Human Dendritic Cells, Jacques Christian Mbongue

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic inflammatory disease in which insulin producing β-cells of the pancreatic islets are killed by autoreactive cells of the immune system in response to a loss of tolerance. Dendritic cells (DC) interact predominantly with naïve T cells to regulate the delicate balance between immunity and tolerance required to maintain immunological homeostasis. In this dissertation, immature human dendritic cells (iDC) were inoculated with a chimeric fusion protein vaccine containing the pancreatic β-cell auto-antigen proinsulin linked to a mucosal adjuvant the cholera toxin B subunit (CTB-INS). Proteomic analysis of vaccine inoculated DCs revealed strong up-regulation of …

Molecular Basis And Consequences Of The Cytochrome C-Trna Interaction., Cuiping Liu, Aaron J Stonestrom, Thomas Christian, Jeongsik Yong, Ryuichi Takase, Ya-Ming Hou, Xiaolu Yang

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

The intrinsic apoptosis pathway occurs through the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c to the cytosol, where it promotes activation of the caspase family of proteases. The observation that tRNA binds to cytochrome c revealed a previously unexpected mode of apoptotic regulation. However, the molecular characteristics of this interaction, and its impact on each interaction partner, are not well understood. Using a novel fluorescence assay, we show here that cytochrome c binds to tRNA with an affinity comparable with other tRNA-protein binding interactions and with a molecular ratio of ∼3:1. Cytochrome c recognizes the tertiary structural features of tRNA, particularly in …

Investigation Of Novel Functions For Dna Damage Response And Repair Proteins In Escherichia Coli And Humans, Benjamin A. Hilton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Endogenous and exogenous agents that can damage DNA are a constant threat to genome stability in all living cells. In response, cells have evolved an array of mechanisms to repair DNA damage or to eliminate the cells damaged beyond repair. One of these mechanisms is nucleotide excision repair (NER) which is the major repair pathway responsible for removing a wide variety of bulky DNA lesions. Deficiency, or mutation, in one or several of the NER repair proteins is responsible for many diseases, including cancer. Prokaryotic NER involves only three proteins to recognize and incise a damaged site, while eukaryotic NER …

Deciphering The Role Of Glycine134 In The Human Acidic Growth Factor-1’S Binding To Heparin, Adam W. Burroughs

Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Honors Theses

Human acidic fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF-1) is a potent modulator of cell survival and exhibits a universal role in various physiological processes. Though potent, FGF-1 unbound to heparin is known to show a poor thermal stability and a relatively short in vivo half-life. Much is known about the structure and relation of FGF-1 with heparin yet there is still unknown information regarding the exact role of heparin in stabilizing FGF-1. Thus, the aim of this study is to mutate glycine at position 134 to glutamic acid in wild type FGF1. G134 is located in the heparin binding pocket, thus …

Interaction Between Two E3 Ligases, Nedd8ylated Cullin And Hhari, Kheewoong Baek

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

RBR (RING1-in between RING-RING2) is a special type of E3 ubiquitin ligase containing three zinc-binding RING (Really Interesting New Gene) domains, while adopting mechanisms of HECT (Homologous to E6-AP Carboxyl Terminus) for substrate ubiquitination. Most well known RBRs include Parkin and HOIP, which are associated with Parkinson’s disease and innate immune deficiency. However, it is not well known how the RBR proteins gain activity, as they are known to be autoinhibited. Here I show that a specific F430A, E431A, E503A triple mutation of RBR protein HHARI (Human homologue of Ariadne) and its interaction with NEDD8ylated cullin RING ligase can both …

Pten Signaling In Regulatory T Cells And Inflammatory Disease, Sharad Krishna Shrestha

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Regulatory T (Treg) cells suppress CD4+ T cell responses during homeostasis and inflammation to prevent autoimmunity and other immune disorders. Although the transcriptional and epigenetic programs impacting Treg cell function have been extensively studied, the signaling and metabolic pathways underlying Treg stability and function are not fully understood. In this study, we determined the role of the phosphatase PTEN in Treg cells. We found that specific depletion of PTEN in Treg cells results in excessive TH1 and T follicular helper cells (TFH) responses, associated with elevated germinal center (GC) B cells and spontaneous development of autoimmune and lymphoproliferative disease in …

Role Of Microrna-21 In Atherogenesis., Rihab Hamed-Berair

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) is an evolutionarily conserved microRNA, abundant in most cardiovascular tissues. It has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several cardiovascular diseases including restenosis, myocardial infarction, and heart failure. However, little is known about the contribution of miR-21 in atherosclerosis. My data show that expression of miR-21 is increased by >1.5-fold in murine atherosclerotic lesions and by 1.5-2.0-fold in the macrophages of Western diet (WD)-fed LDLR-KO mice (for 12-20 weeks). In vitro, LDL, oxidized LDL, acetylated LDL and LPS induced miR-21 by 2-4-fold and down-regulated its target protein, PDCD4, in bone marrow-derived macrophages. Basally, macrophages isolated from miR-21-KO …

A Parp1-Erk2 Synergism Is Required For The Induction Of Ltp., L Visochek, G Grigoryan, A Kalal, H Milshtein-Parush, N Gazit, I Slutsky, A Yeheskel, A Shainberg, A Castiel, R Seger, Marie-France Langelier, F Dantzer, Pascal Jabbour Md, M Segal, M Cohen-Armon

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Unexpectedly, a post-translational modification of DNA-binding proteins, initiating the cell response to single-strand DNA damage, was also required for long-term memory acquisition in a variety of learning paradigms. Our findings disclose a molecular mechanism based on PARP1-Erk synergism, which may underlie this phenomenon. A stimulation induced PARP1 binding to phosphorylated Erk2 in the chromatin of cerebral neurons caused Erk-induced PARP1 activation, rendering transcription factors and promoters of immediate early genes (IEG) accessible to PARP1-bound phosphorylated Erk2. Thus, Erk-induced PARP1 activation mediated IEG expression implicated in long-term memory. PARP1 inhibition, silencing, or genetic deletion abrogated stimulation-induced Erk-recruitment to IEG promoters, gene …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Nanoparticle-Coupled Proteins In Human Serum Albumin, Kyle M. Mahoney

Honors College Theses

Recently, cancer has become an ever-growing issue and has led to many researchers attempt to unravel the mystery of the disease. This research has led to a promising field of treatment: nanotechnology-coupled pharmaceuticals. Nanoparticles act as a whole unit when in conjugation with other molecules and add to the carrier molecule, most often proteins, benefits the nanoparticles themselves possess. One such carrier protein that can be conjugated with nanoparticles is Human Serum Albumin (HSA). Albumin is of interest in cancer research for two reasons: it is native to the human vasculature so it does not elicit immunological reactions, and it …

Nrp2 Transcriptionally Regulates Its Downstream Effector Wdfy1., Samikshan Dutta, Sohini Roy, Navatha S. Polavaram, Gustavo B. Baretton, Michael H. Muders, Surinder K. Batra, K Datta

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Neuropilins (NRPs) are cell surface glycoproteins that often act as co-receptors for plexins and VEGF family receptors. Neuropilin-2 (NRP2), a family member of NRPs, was shown to regulate autophagy and endocytic trafficking in cancer cells, a function distinctly different from its role as a co-receptor. WD Repeat and FYVE domain containing 1 (WDFY1)-protein acts downstream of NRP2 for this function. Our results indicated that NRP2 maintains an optimum concentration of WDFY1 by negatively regulating its expression. Since increased expression of WDFY1 reduces the endocytic activity, maintenance of WDFY1 level is crucial in metastatic cancer cells to sustain high endocytic activity, …

Bonded Cumomer Analysis Of Human Melanoma Metabolism Monitored By 13c Nmr Spectroscopy Of Perfused Tumor Cells., Alexander A Shestov, Anthony Mancuso, Seung-Cheol Lee, Lili Guo, David S Nelson, Jeffrey C Roman, Pierre-Gilles Henry, Dennis B. Leeper, Ian A Blair, Jerry D Glickson

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

A network model for the determination of tumor metabolic fluxes from (13)C NMR kinetic isotopomer data has been developed and validated with perfused human DB-1 melanoma cells carrying the BRAF V600E mutation, which promotes oxidative metabolism. The model generated in the bonded cumomer formalism describes key pathways of tumor intermediary metabolism and yields dynamic curves for positional isotopic enrichment and spin-spin multiplets. Cells attached to microcarrier beads were perfused with 26 mm [1,6-(13)C2]glucose under normoxic conditions at 37 °C and monitored by (13)C NMR spectroscopy. Excellent agreement between model-predicted and experimentally measured values of the rates of oxygen and glucose …

Gene Expression Microarray Data From Human Microvascular Endothelial Cells Supplemented With A Low Concentration Of Niacin, Nica M. Borradaile, Jennifer M. Hughes-Large

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

The systemic lipid modifying drug, niacin, can directly improve human microvascular endothelial cell angiogenic function under lipotoxic conditions, possibly through activation of niacin receptors [1]. Here we provide accompanying data collected using Affymetrix GeneChip microarrays to identify changes in gene expression in human microvascular endothelial cells treated with 10 μM niacin. Statistical analyses of robust multi-array average (RMA) values revealed that only 16 genes exhibited greater than 1.3-fold differential expression. Of these 16, only 5 were identified protein coding genes, while 3 of the remaining 11 genes appeared to be small nuclear/nucleolar RNAs. Altered expression of EFCAB4B, …

Role Of Serum Biomarkers In Early Detection Of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis And Fibrosis In West Virginian Children, Komal Sodhi, Lucas Bracero, Andrew S. Feyh, Alexandra Nichols, Krithika Srikanthan, Tariq M. Latif, Deborah L. Preston, Joseph I. Shapiro, Yoram Elitsur

Biochemistry and Microbiology

Background: Obesity, an epidemic among West Virginia children, as well as insulin resistance (IR), is wellestablished contributors to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Progression of NASH can lead to hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis, making early detection imperative. The standard for diagnosing NASH is histologically via liver biopsy, which is highly invasive and generally contraindicated in children. By studying serum biomarkers associated with NASH, we aim to identify high risk children who can benefit from a less invasive, alternative approach to the early detection of NASH.

Methods: Seventy one children were prospectively recruited and divided into 3 groups: normal weight without IR …