Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S. but is often thought of as a man’s disease. Women with CVD, however, suffer poorer health outcomes due to previous education of stereotypically “male” signs and symptoms of heart attacks, despite the fact...
Studies have established that there is a greater risk for onset of adult metabolic syndrome disease such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and obesity in subjects born with low birth weight (LBW). Undernourished fetuses make adaptions that result in structurally, morphologically, and functionally altered organs. In terms of drug pharmacokinetics,...
Tomato is considered to be one of the most important vegetables for its value as a source
of nutrients and antioxidants, and as a model crop for biological research, including seed
biology. In this thesis, tissue-specific gene expression and its regulation in tomato seeds
were analyzed to understand the mechanisms...
Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr) is the causal agent of the disease tan spot of wheat,
which can be responsible for the destruction of up to 50% of a wheat crop harvest.
Tan spot disease results in chlorotic and/or necrotic lesions triggered by the
pathogen’s production of one or several host-selective toxins...
This thesis consists of an autoethnography of a sexual assault survivor written using poems, journal entries, annotations, photographs and song lyrics. The ethnography is a chronological record of feelings the author experienced during the day prior to the attack and emotions she navigated during the year and a half after...
Two different types of Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligomers (PMOs) were used to
inhibit growth in pure cultures of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium and in mouse
macrophages infected with S. typhimurium. Both PMOs were 11 bases long and
complementary to bases 6-16 of acyl carrier protein mRNA. A membrane-penetrating
peptide, (RXR)4XB, was...
The purpose of this project was to isolate gabosines and other compounds through chemical screening of secondary metabolites of Streptomyces cellulosae subsp. griseorubiginoses strain S1096. Two different media were used to cultivate S. cellulosae. The first contained soybean and mannitol. The other contained oatmeal and trace element solution. After cultivation...
The Sortase A (SrtA) enzyme is a potential target for a new class of anti-infective drugs
because it is responsible for anchoring virulence factors to the surface of pathogenic,
Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. High throughput screening
yielded low molecular weight compounds that inhibit purified SrtA from S. aureus....
The psychoactive component of marijuana, A9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is known
to have effects in humans that are mediated by the cannabinoid receptor (CB 1). Although a great deal of research has been done to confirm the interaction of exogenous cannabinoids with the CB 1 receptor, little is known about the receptor's...
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a crucial organelle in the cell where protein folding and processing occurs, and conditions that negatively affect ER functions are highly detrimental to the cell. The accumulation of unfolded/misfolded proteins in the ER leads to a condition known as ER Stress. The ER has developed...
Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), commonly known as type 2 or
delayed onset diabetes, is a recognized growing global epidemic, which is connected to cultural and behavioral factors, such as diet, exercise, obesity, and genetics. In a recent survey of both men and women in Mexico City, the prevalence of...
An inducible, mutant virus, designated vvtetO:I7L/G1L, was used to study the morphogenic proteolysis step of the vaccinia virus life cycle. The vvtetO:I7L/G1L controlled the expression of two genes, I7L, a cysteine proteinase, and G1L, a putative metalloproteinase. These proteins are involved in the maturation of viral core proteins, p4a, p4b,...
The Chlamydiaceae are a family of obligate intracellular bacteria with a unique biphasic developmental cycle. The replicating, metabolically active, intracellular phase bacteria (RBs) grow within a cellular vacuole know as the inclusion. Since the proteins the Chlamydiaceae secrete into this membrane are the means of host/parasite interaction, they have long...