Melanocytes are dendritic, pigment-producing cells located in the skin and are responsible for its protection against the deleterious effects of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR), which include DNA damage and elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS). They do so by synthesizing photoprotective melanin pigments and distributing them to adjacent skin cells (e.g.,...
Ovarian cancer, “the silent killer,” is one of the deadliest gynecological diseases due to delayed diagnosis, leading to a heavily disseminated and aggressive metastatic cancer. Therapeutic options are limited at stages III-IV of ovarian cancer, in which debulking surgery and cytotoxic chemotherapy remain the mainstays of
intervention. However, these therapeutic...
Marine natural products possess an abundance of diverse chemical scaffolds with unique biological activities. By targeting unusual or unique microbial environments within varying marine ecologies we can continue to discover novel chemistry with potentially new molecular targets. The research presented here is focused on exploring unusual chemical ecologies and the...
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide with human papillomavirus (HPV) being the main cause of the disease. Currently available treatment methods are limited and emphasize the need for discovery of new therapies that improve patient outcome. Chromosomal amplifications have been identified as a source of...
Obesity is a complex multifactorial disease resulting from excessive energy intake compared to energy expenditure. The excess energy is mostly stored as fat in enlarged adipocytes, but some lipids may infiltrate other organs such as the liver to form ectopic fat. Adipose tissue and ectopic fat produce and secrete a...
The potential for nanomedicine to reduce toxicity and improve therapeutic response to radiation is vast. Clinically, this potential has thus far only begun to be realized with the recent success of the radioenhancing nanoparticle, NBTXR3 by Nanobiotix. Radioenhancing nanoparticles, however, represent only a small class of nanomaterials that may be...
Messenger RNA (mRNA) therapy has massive potential to treat various genetic disorders by providing effective proteins to the diseased cells and tissues. Its therapeutic applications include protein replacement, genome editing, and immunotherapy. For successful mRNA treatment, mRNA must be delivered to the cytosol of target cells. One of the leading...
This thesis describes in-vitro and in-vivo evaluation of a transdermal atenolol formulation developed at Oregon State University, College of Pharmacy. The formulation was prepared from carbomer as a gel base with propylene glycol, glycerol, ethanol, polysorbate 80 and dimethyl-isosorbide (DMI) as mixture of penetration enhancing agents. The effect of the...
Natural products have long been an important source of resources for humans. Many of these compounds possess unique chemical structures and potent biological properties. By targeting natural products with specific chemical properties, we can gain a better understanding of the roles these compounds play in the environment and their interactions...
Nucleic acid therapeutics has cemented itself as one of the most efficacious and robust avenues for treatment of a wide range of diseases from vaccine development to treatment of liver, retina, cancer applications. Non-viral mediated gene delivery using lipid-based nanoparticle (LNP) carriers has proven its compatibility with addressing unexpected, fast...