Targeting the epigenome, including the use of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, is a novel strategy for cancer chemoprevention. Sulforaphane (SFN), a compound found at high levels in broccoli and broccoli sprouts, is a potent inducer of Phase 2 detoxification enzymes and inhibits tumorigenesis in animal models. SFN also has a...
Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), a member of the thioredoxin superfamily, contains two domains with significant sequence homology to the active sites in thioredoxin. PDI facilitates the folding of nascent proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), binds hormones and Ca²⁺, catalyzes the glutathione dependent reduction of dehydroascorbate, serves as a major...
Glutathione (GSH) is the predominant low molecular weight thiol antioxidant
in liver tissue. GSH plays an important role in maintaining the intracellular thiol redox
ratio as well as detoxification of electrophiles and xenobiotics. Aging leads to a significant decline (35%; P ≤ 0.05) in hepatocellular GSH levels. Using young (2-4...
The goal of this dissertation is to investigate the interaction between cimetidine and dietary flavonoids using the Caco-2 cell transport model. It has been shown that flavonoids can change the bioavailability of pharmaceuticals, either by inhibiting metabolizing enzymes or inhibiting the drug efflux transporters. However, the effect of dietary flavonoids...
The purpose of this work was to determine if environmentally-relevant concentrations of chlorpyrifos and copper, two commonly detected chemicals in Western surface waters, can negatively impact the biological health of salmonids. Both compounds are highly neurotoxic to fish, but each with distinct biological target sites and mechanisms of action. We...
2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) has been the common munitions used in the world and is an environmental contaminant that is amendable to reductive transformation reactions. The rumen is an extremely reductive environment containing diverse microbial populations. There are 21 pure culture ruminal bacteria species in culture collection, these were tested for the...
Chlordecone belongs to the class of persistent organochlorine pesticides that are remarkably resistant to environmental degradation. Even though their use was banned in the United States in 1978, these compounds can still be detected in both humans and wildlife throughout the world. Previous work has shown that the pretreatment of...
The number of drones and genetic diversity among drones are
essential components to a well mated queen. Varroa destructor
preferentially parasitizes drone brood, and is thought to be
responsible for the loss of feral populations that once provided
additional drones for honey bee mating areas. It is necessary to
use...
Contaminants can exist in a wide range of states in aqueous environments, especially in surface waters. They can be freely dissolved or associated with dissolved or particulate organic matter depending on their chemical and physical characteristics. The freely dissolved fraction represents the most bioavailable fraction to an organism. These freely...
Perfluorinated chemicals have been widely used in industry for their superior surfactant qualities. Because of their widespread usage and resistance to photolytic and biodegradation mechanisms, as well as their ability to undergo long-range atmospheric transport, these compounds have become ubiquitous in the world-wide water supplies. Of particular interest are perfluorooctanoic...