Radiation exposure to the brain can occur from a variety of events, including space missions, nuclear accidents, and clinical treatments. The effects of high dose radiation are well studied, but those of lower dosage are more elusive. Decline of memory and cognition is observed in patients exposed to low dose...
Superwarfarins are anticoagulant rodenticides that are 100 times more potent and 15 times more persistent than warfarin. They have been used since the 1980s and cause over 10,000 cases of accidental and intentional poisonings per year. Apart from inducing uncontrollable bleeding, by inhibiting the vitamin K cycle, superwarfarins can disrupt...
This study sought to understand the commonality of vaccine misconceptions among college students and where individuals feel they are obtaining their vaccine information. An IRB approved survey was used to collect 126 responses from Oregon State University students. Individuals, on average, correctly answered only 54.10% of the statements based on...
In a process called quorum sensing (QS), the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses small diffusible signals to coordinate cooperative behaviors via secreted “public goods”. Under QS-dependent growth conditions, social cheaters arise with mutations in lasR, the gene for the primary QS signal receptor. These cheaters do not produce public goods....
Pactamycin, first reported in 1962, is a potent antitumor antibiotic produced by the soil bacterium Streptomyces pactum. Structurally, it contains a cyclopentitol core unit, a 3-aminoacetophenone (3AAP), a 6-methylsalicylic acid (6-MSA), and a N,N-dimethyl urea. The aminocyclopentitol ring is derived from glucose, possibly via N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc), the 3-aminoacetophenone (3AAP)...
Cell-cell communication in bacteria is understood to facilitate the coordination of population-wide cooperative behavior in the form of concerted gene expression. The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses such a communication mechanism to regulate a large group of genes important to virulence strategies in this bacterium. This general mechanism of communication...
Respiratory infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), especially Mycobacterium avium, can lead to progressive, recurrent disease that is refractory to therapy. Bacterial biofilms are intrinsically resistant to a variety of stressors and pressures, including host killing mechanisms and antibiotic therapy. Though it is becoming increasingly evident that NTM biofilms are...
Congenital myopathies are caused by heritable mutations in particular genes. Genes mutated in congenital muscular dystrophies often encode cytoskeletal proteins, which contribute to the shape and movement of cells. We would like to know how such molecular defects lead to the muscle weakness in patients. It is therefore important to...