Electronic Dissertations and Theses - Molecular Biosciences: Recent submissions
Now showing items 1-20 of 74
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Nesprin-2G and cell-matrix adhesions influence cell migration during skin wound healing
(2019)Human skin is essential for separating internal organs from environmental, physical, and biological insults. The skin is composed of two layers, the epidermis and dermis, which are composed of primarily keratinocytes and ... -
TEMPLATE INDEPENDENT DOUBLE STRAND BREAK REPAIR AND RECOMBINASE MODULATION IN THE ARCHAEON SULFOLOBUS SOLFATARICUS
(2019)The repair of double strand breaks (DSB) is a fundamental process that plays a key role in cell survival and evolution. DSB repair is required for cell survival, and a variety of pathways have evolved. Homologous ... -
COMPARATIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF HEPATOCYTE GROWTH FACTOR AND MACROPHAGE STIMULATING PROTEIN IN PANCREATIC AND GLIOBLASTOMA CANCER MODELS
(2019)Pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma (GB) are aggressive cancers with poor prognoses for which no curative treatment exists. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and macrophage stimulating protein (MSP) along with their respective ... -
Formation and Bypass of APOBEC-mediated DNA lesions
(2019)AID/APOBEC family cytidine deaminases are established as endogenous DNA mutators that drive genomic instability in a wide array of human cancers. Many members of this family have a role in immunity through catalytically ... -
STRUCTURAL AND MECHANISTIC CHARACTERIZATION OF ENZYMES IN PERSULFIDE OXIDATION AND MONOLIGNOL BIOSYNTHESIS PATHWAYS
(2018)We conducted investigations of the structural and biochemical properties of two distinct types of enzyme from different pathways: cinnamoyl-CoA reductases (CCRs) and the persulfide dioxygenases (PDOs). CCR is an enzyme of ... -
PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION AND TREATMENT OF A NOVEL MOUSE MODEL FOR LIMB-GIRDLE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY 2i
(2017)Muscular dystrophies are a subset of inherited neuromuscular diseases that are characterized by weakened muscle structure and muscle wasting. Treatment options for these diseases are limited to treating the symptoms and ... -
Control of RNA Structure by CspA Proteins in Rhizobia
(2017)Rhizobia are soil bacteria that can associate with some legumes and participate in symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Bacterial CspA family members are small, single stranded nucleic acid binding proteins conserved throughout ... -
Critical roles for lipid synthesis in Caenorhabditis elegans
(2017)Multicellular organisms depend on lipids for compartmentalization of cells and organelles. Additionally, lipids are critical for energy storage, and some lipids act as potent signaling molecules. To meet these diverse ... -
JASMONATE BIOSYNTHESIS AND SIGNALING IN THE BALANCE OF PLANT GROWTH AND DEFENSE
(2016)Jasmonic acid (JA) is a plant hormone that controls many aspects of growth, development, and defense. As a defense hormone JA is rapidly synthesized in response to wounding, or attack from herbivores and pathogens, triggering ... -
Understanding the Molecular Link Between FSH and IGF-1 Signaling in Rat Granulosa Cells
(2016)Mouse knockout models define follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) as pivotal co-regulators of ovarian follicle maturation and hence, female fertility. Moreover, numerous studies report ... -
Development and Application of Spectral Databases and Mathematical Models in the Study of Plant Natural Products Biosynthesis
(2016)Plant natural products are useful for many different applications, including medicines, flavors and fragrances, and industrial uses. Two important aspects of plant natural products research are the identification of compounds ... -
YB1: A New Player in FSH Regulation of Gene Expression in Granulosa Cells
(2016)Within the ovarian follicle, immature oocytes are surrounded and supported by granulosa cells (GCs). Stimulation of GCs by follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) promotes their proliferation and differentiation, events that ... -
Insights into the Maternal Age Effect on Aneuploidy
(2015)Humans face extraordinary difficulties in reproduction, as over 10% of all pregnancies are aneuploid. In most cases, aneuploidy causes complications in development; indeed, it is the leading known cause of miscarriage and ... -
To Be, or Not to Be: The Molecular Mechanisms that Regulate Spermatogonial Stem Cell Fate
(2015)Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are a rare population of cells in the male germ line that self-renew and differentiate into progenitor spermatogonia for the initiation of spermatogenesis. In mammalian males, this process ... -
RETINOIC ACID SYNTHESIS AND DEGRADATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR PROPER GERM CELL DEVELOPMENT
(2015)Spermatogenesis is absolutely essential for mammalian reproduction. This highly organized and tightly controlled process is regulated, in part, by retinoic acid (RA). This essential molecule plays key roles in many aspects ... -
UNDERSTANDING GERM CELL REGULATION USING BIOINFORMATIC APPROACHES
(2015)Bioinformatics is a powerful tool which has been utilized to study diseases (i.e cancer) and complex biological systems including the immune system, neural interactions in the brain and testis biology. Only recently has ... -
IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS INVOLVED IN THE REGULATON OF JASMONATE SIGNALING
(2015)Jasmonate (JA) is a plant-specific, oxylipin signaling molecule. JA hormone signaling is required for defense against both biotic and abiotic stressors, male-fertility, and other growth and developmental processes. Activation ... -
HUMAN MUTS HOMOLOGUES hMSH4 AND hMSH5: FROM PROTEIN DEGRADATION TO DNA DAMAGE RESPONSE AND REPAIR
(2015)DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are among the most deleterious forms of DNA damage and the leading causes of genomic instability, cell death and cancer. Cells have evolved a complicated network of DNA damage response (DDR) ... -
Fatty acid epoxides produced by cytochrome P450s mediate the deleterious effects of dietary DGLA in the C. elegans germ line
(2015)Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are precursors to bioactive molecules which play essential roles in development, immune response, and reproduction. This process is moderated by three pathways which act on PUFAs to form ... -
Sex-specific differences in human meiotic recombination: A cytogenetic analysis of early meiotic events
(2014)In humans, a striking 20-30% of all pregnancies are aneuploid and, of these, 95% result from missegregation during maternal meiosis. To date the only molecular mechanism associated with human aneuploidy is errors in ...