The diverse community of bacteria living within and on host organisms, known as the microbiome, has an important role in maintaining host health. Dysbiosis, known as a change in the healthy community of the microbiome, has been associated with a number of diseases across host organisms and body sites including...
Nutrigenomics is a branch of nutrition that seeks to elucidate the relationship between dietary components and expression of genes. Certain bioactive compounds present in the diet have the potential to modulate transcription of genes through their interactions with ligand-dependent nuclear receptors, a series of transcriptional regulators capable of sensing intracellular...
Xanthohumol, a prenylated flavonoid found in hops and beer, possesses a long-standing reputation to improve health. Xanthohumol’s cytotoxicity to a wide variety of cancer cell lines is well-established. Herein we provide further insight into the cytotoxicity of not only xanthohumol, but also its non-estrogenic derivatives, to a number of colonic...
The goal of this dissertation was to improve our abilities in acquiring critical in vivo data by establishing embryo-larva zebrafish as an exemplary model to quantitatively evaluate cancer progression. The living environment that encompasses a tumor has a significant effect on how cancer develops, grows and metastasizes. In order to...
Alcohol is a widely consumed, nonessential, bioactive nutrient with end-organ effects on the skeleton. Moderate levels of alcohol consumption are generally associated with increased bone mineral density (BMD), whereas higher intake levels result in reduced bone formation, bone loss, and increased risk for osteoporotic fracture. Given the negative impact of...
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.,...
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...
Over the past century, life expectancy in the United States has dramatically increased leading to an increasingly aging population with people reaching, and spending more years in ‘old age’. While this unprecedented shift in population demographics represents great strides for humanity, it is not without cost. One consequence of longer...
Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a primary cause of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer and thus represents a critical public health concern. Skin cancer risk behavior research lacks an instrument designed to assess health beliefs about UV exposure that may increase skin cancer risk by increasing risky UV exposure...
Health benefits obtained from consumption of fruits and vegetables have the potential to improve the lifestyle of individuals. The walnut is a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-rich whole food that is readily available in the U.S and has been shown to potentially reduce risk of Metabolic Syndrome. Furthermore, consumption of polyphenol...