Browsing Chemistry by Type"Master's Thesis"
Now showing items 1-20 of 74
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A Carbohydrate/Lipid Research Project for Organic and Analytical CURE Laboratories: Reactions and Recordkeeping
(East Carolina University, 2021-05-06)Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (or CUREs) are able to teach students laboratory skills while engaging them in novel research. The first part of this thesis aims to demonstrate the development of a feasible ... -
A Catalytic Approach to Cyclopentenones: Unexpected Challenges in Synthesizing Pent-2,4-dienals
(East Carolina University, 2023-05-04)Transition metal catalysis has long been utilized to facilitate a number of chemical reactions outside the scope of traditional organic chemistry. Because of this, there has been a growing interest in the community in ... -
ANALYSIS OF OXYGENATED POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS AND THEIR PARENT MOLECULES IN BIOCHAR AND ITS LEACHATES
(East Carolina University, 2017-12-13)Due to the increasing use of biochar as a soil amendment, the amount and composition of contaminants in biochar should be analyzed. Two of those suites of compounds in biochar are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) ... -
Benzoate: The Quantitation of Soft Drinks Implicated in Obesity
(East Carolina University, 2019-04-26)Research has shown that childhood obesity is a leading cause of diseases such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cancer, osteoarthritis, and many more. With approximately 17 percent of the United ... -
Biophysical Investigation into the Protein Dynamics Governing the Allosteric Regulation of Plant and Animal 15-Lipoxygenases
(East Carolina University, 2022-04-27)Lipoxygenases (LOXs) are a family of enzymes found in plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria that catalyze the per-oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. In plants, LOXs are involved in growth, development, and defense ... -
A Calorimetric and Spectroscopic Study of the Interactions Between Model Lipid Membrane Bilayers and Simple Sugars
(East Carolina University, 2015)It is well known that various organisms, such as the tardigrade, naturally use carbohydrates, particularly disaccharides, to help preserve their cell structural and functional integrity during freezing or dehydration. There ... -
Computational Investigation of Calcium Binding Proteins Annexin A1 and Cardiac Troponin C
(East Carolina University, 2019-07-15)Calcium binding proteins are vital for many biological functions. Many undergo calcium induced conformation changes through sensing motifs, resulting in functional changes for the proteins. In this study computational ... -
Counting Protons: Using Isothermal Titration Calorimetry to Determine the Number of Protons Exchanged Upon Ca(II) and Cd(II) Binding to Wild-type HcTnC and Mutant C84A and C35A/C84A Proteins
(East Carolina University, 2018-07-20)Maintaining a delicate balance of metal ions in the cell is crucial to the survival of many organisms. Divalent cadmium, Cd(II), is a non-essential metal ion that can disrupt this delicate balance and lead to deleterious ... -
Cu²⁺ Binding to A[beta] peptides : Detailed Heat Capacity Studies Provide Structural Insight into Complex Formation
(East Carolina University, 2012)Alzheimer's disease (AD), an irreversible, progressive and devastating neurodegenerative disease, is the most common cause of dementia. It is characterized by the extracellular amyloid plaques and the intracellular ... -
Defining Protein Motions the Comprise the Reaction Barrier in Human Epithelial 15-Lipoxygenase-2
(East Carolina University, 2022-04-27)Proteins are dynamic in nature, with these motions playing a role in substrate binding and product release. Protein thermal motions have emerged as participating in the bond making/breaking steps of catalysis and by extension ... -
Defining the Role of the C-Terminal Region of Troponin T by Analysis of a Series of Truncation Mutants
(East Carolina University, 2016-07-21)Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and other cardiovascular diseases result from mutations of any of the contractile proteins. Mutations within the actin binding regulatory complex of proteins, including tropomyosin (Tm) ... -
Design and Quantitation of Membrane Binding Lipid Anchors : Exploring Prion-Prion Interactions on Membrane Surfaces
(East Carolina University, 2011)The prion protein (PrP) is an endogenous, metal binding protein present in the neuronal cells of the central nervous system. Prion is associated with a class of neurodegenerative diseases known as transmissible spongiform ... -
Detection of Environmental DNA Damage Using Electrochemical Sensors and Mass Spectrometry
(East Carolina University, 2018-05-04)Nickel exposure has been linked to a variety of health complications including instances of tumors and cancer in living organisms. Exposure to nickel can occur due to pollution from mining or industrial applications. ... -
DEVELOPMENT OF UNNATURAL SUBSTRATES AND TRYPTOPHAN AMINO ACIDS TO STUDY PROTON COUPLED ELECTRON TRANSFER IN ENZYMES
(East Carolina University, 2020-12-09)Proton-coupled electron transfer plays an important role in substrate oxidation by C-H bond cleavage and long-range pathways associated with bioenergetics. This thesis is focused on the synthesis of unnatural substrates ... -
DIFFERENTIATION OF J-SERIES PROSTAGLANDINS AS PRO-APOPTOTIC PRODUCTS OF CANCER CELL METABOLISM
(East Carolina University, 2016-12-16)Cyclopentenone J-series prostaglandins and prostaglandin-ethanolamide conjugates have been shown to selectively induce endoplasmic reticulum stress-apoptosis in different cancer cell types. These lipids have been identified ... -
DIRECT ELECTROCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE REDOX ACTIVITY OF TRYPTOPHAN AND TYROSINE IN MODIFIED AZURINS: THE IMPACT OF THE PROTEIN ENVIRONMENT
(East Carolina University, 2021-05-03)Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) is a biological process essential to life. It is imperative for respiration in animals as well as photosynthesis in plants. Long-range PCET is often facilitated by redox-active amino ... -
Electrochemical Detection of Anti-Biofilm Activity Using Unnatural Amino Acid-Containing Antimicrobial Peptides
(East Carolina University, 2015)Bacterial infections are a significant health problem that can be detrimental to the human population. It is estimated that bacterial infections are responsible for billions of dollars’ worth of damages in the health care ... -
ELECTROCHEMICAL DETECTION OF BENZO[A]PYRENE METABOLITE DNA DAMAGE : IMPLICATIONS OF NUCLEOBASE SEQUENCE AND ADDUCT STEREOCHEMISTRY
(East Carolina University, 2011)Xenobiotics are chemical compounds introduced to living organisms that originate outside the body. A well-studied xenobiotic is benzo[a]pyrene (BP), a polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) primarily introduced into the body via ... -
Electrochemical Detection of Benzo[a]Pyrene-Induced DNA Damage at TP53 Oligomers : Impact of 5'-Methyl Cytosine and Bioactivation on the Genotoxicity Process
(East Carolina University, 2014)DNA houses the blueprint that dictates how an organism will develop. However, DNA features numerous reactive sites that can be attacked by chemicals and radiation, resulting in DNA damage and possibly mutations. Chemical ... -
ELECTROSPRAY IONIZATION TIME OF FLIGHT MASS SPECTROMETRY OF POLY(METHYL METHACRYLATE) AND POLYSTYRENE USING SURFACE ACTIVE QUATERNARY AMMONIUM SALTS
(East Carolina University, 2011)Electrospray ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (ESI-ToF-MS) is a powerful characterization technique for large nonvolatile compounds, but has found limited applicability in the synthetic polymer field. Two factors ...