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Calculating the structure-based phylogenetic relationship of distantly related homologous proteins utilizing maximum likelihood structural alignment combinatorics and a novel structural molecular clock hypothesis
(2013)
Dendrograms establish the evolutionary relationships and homology of species, proteins, or genes. Homology modeling, ligand binding, and pharmaceutical testing all depend upon the homology ascertained by dendrograms. ...
Evaluation Of HIF Inhibitors For The Treatment of Ocular Neovascular Diseases
(2015-06-02)
Hypoxia-inducible-factor (HIF)-mediated expression of pro-angiogenic genes under
hypoxia is the fundamental cause of pathological neovascularization in ocular diseases and
cancers. Thus, the inhibitors of the HIF pathway ...
Epigenetic Regulation Of The HIF Pathway And Novel Therapeutic Opportunities
(2014-08-28)
The research presented in this dissertation is aimed at understanding the epigenetic
regulation of the HIF pathway and the efficacy of treatment for retinal diseases and
hemangioblastomas using HIF pathway inhibitors. ...
Discovery of Enzymes Responsible for an Alternate Mevalonate Pathway in Haloferax volcanii
(2014-09-30)
Archaea are a distinct evolutionary domain of microorganisms that contain isoprenoids in ether linkages to glycerol rather than the ester linked fatty acids that characterize membranes of bacteria or eukaryotes. Radiolabeling ...
Mutational and functional analyses of the dynein heavy chain indicate the existence of an apical-sistal transport cycle in cells
(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012-03-02)
The organization, survival, and function of eukaryotic cells depend on intracellular
transport governed by the microtubule based molecular motors cytoplasmic dynein and
kinesin. Dynein carries out the inward transport ...
Structural and functional studies of type three secretion virulence factors from gram-negative pathogenic bacteria
(University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2011-12-21)
Many pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria utilize type III secretion systems (TTSS) to alter the normal functions of target host epithelial cells. Of the 1.1 million deaths that are caused by Shigella each year, nearly a third ...
Involvement of a specific ubiquitin ligase in the assembly of the dynein motor in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa
(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012-08-27)
Eukaryotic cells utilize multiple molecular motor proteins to accomplish
intracellular transport. The two microtubule based motors, kinesin and cytoplasmic
dynein, work in concert to move cargoes outward and inward, ...
The expression and regulation on antimicrobial peptide genes in insects: studies in the tobacco hornworm manduca sexta
(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2011-05-10)
Insects have evolved an efficient innate immune system to combat microbes. Most of our knowledge of insect immunity comes from studies with dipteran and lepidopteran insects, such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, ...
The role of drosophila protein kinase doubletime in circadian period determination, morning and evening oscillators and tauopathy
(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012-10-01)
In this dissertation, I used the GAL4-UAS binary expression method to overexpress mutant and wild type forms of the circadian protein kinase DBT in order to address several basic questions about DBT's biological functions. ...
A proteomic approach for studying LTR retrotransposon host factors in saccharomyces cerevisae
(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012-01-20)
The Ty retrotransposons of S. cerevisiae are mobile elements that resemble retroviruses, both in their genetic structures and replication cycles. Ty retrotransposition begins in the nucleus with the transcription of Ty ...
The herpes simplex virus virion host shutoff protein is targeted to mRNA cleavage sites through interactions with components of the host translational apparatus
(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2011-01-20)
The virion host shutoff protein (Vhs) is a herpes simplex virus (HSV) protein involved in early shutoff of the host cell. It is a component of the infecting virion, located in the tegument region, that works by rapidly ...
3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A lyase: investigation of cysteines mediating intersubunit disulfide formation and regulation by thiol/disulfide exchange and discovery of an extramitochondrial homolog
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2012-01-18)
3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A lyase catalyzes the cleavage of 3-hydroxy-
3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A into acetoacetate and acetyl-Coenzyme A, a key reaction
in ketogenesis and leucine catabolism. Previous work ...
Functional Sorting of Evolutionary Effects in Protein Domains
(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2010)
One of the most important questions in evolutionary genetics is whether a gene of interest is under positive selection, negative selection or neutral evolution. Although there are numerous existed methods and statistical ...
Determining the differential roles of the dock family of GEFs in drosophila development
(2015-05-19)
The evolutionarily conserved Dock proteins function as unconventional guanine
nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs). Upon binding to ELMO (Engulfment and cell
motility) proteins, Dock-ELMO complexes activate the Rho family ...
Analyzing the effects of Cis-elements and trans-factors on the stability of the Gal1 mRNP
(2014)
The highly dynamic and nonrandom spatial organization of the eukaryotic nucleus plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression. For example, in S. cerevisiae, several conditionally expressed genes relocate ...
Bayesian Change Point Analysis of Copy Number Variants Using Human Next Generation Sequencing Data
(2014)
Read count analysis is the principal strategy implemented in detection of copy number variants using human next generation sequencing (NGS) data. Read count data
from NGS has been demonstrated to follow non homogeneous ...
Novel in vitro cell culture models for studying pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions following oral administration
(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2011-09-21)
In this study different in vitro models were developed to study the long term and short term drug- drug interactions occurring upon oral administration. MDCK cells were stably transfected for the simultaneous expression ...
Structure-function studies of the staphylococcal complement inhibitor protein family
(University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2012)
Complement is a primary arm of innate immunity that plays essential roles in clearance of microbial invaders and immune complexes, initiation of inflammation, development, and differentiation and serves as a bridge to the ...
Regulation of Antimicrobial Peptide Genes in the Tobacco Hornworm Manduca sexta
(2015-05-26)
The innate immune system, also known as natural or non-specific immune system, is conserved from insects to humans. The insect innate immune system is composed of humoral and cellular components. Insect humoral responses ...
Identification and Characterization of Two Novel Sleep Promoting Neurons Located in the Ventral Nerve Cord of Drosophila Melanogaster
(2023)
Sleep is a phenomenon that is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom and can be found in nearly every evolutionary niche that has come about. Humans cannot live without it, and it is required for optimal physical and mental ...