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Inhibitory and oxidative effects of gossypol on MCF7 Breast Cancer cells in vitro
(East Carolina University, 2013)
Human cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States and breast cancer is responsible for the second highest number of deaths in women with cancer worldwide. Today, cancer is becoming more and more ...
The Evolution of Organ Shape : Distal Tip Cell Migration and Gonadogenesis in Nematodes
(East Carolina University, 2013)
Animals display a variety of shapes in nature. The different shape of homologous organs allows them to adopt different functions and therefore, allows animals to live in different ecological niches. However, little is ...
Characterization of the Role of Mcm10 in DNA Replication in Drosophila melanogaster
(East Carolina University, 2013)
Replication of the genome and proper formation, and packaging, of chromatin are processes essential to eukaryotic life. Maintenance of epigenetic chromatin states is essential for faithfully reproducing the transcriptional ...
Comparison of a Traditional Teaching Model to the SCALE-UP Teaching Model in Undergraduate Biology: A Mixed Method Study
(East Carolina University, 1/13/16)
This project compared a SCALE-UP teaching model to a traditional teaching model. Traditional teaching is now considered a poor motivator for student performance and interests, and the SCALE-UP model was proposed to combat ...
Expression of microRNA in Alveolar Macrophages Deficient in PPARy
(East Carolina University, 2014)
The nuclear transcription factor Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) is a negative regulator of macrophage activation and inflammatory mediators. Alveolar macrophages of healthy individuals constitutively express PPARgamma Decreased activity and expression of PPARgamma are observed in the alveolar macrophages from patients suffering from inflammatory conditions such as pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) and sarcoidosis. These finding suggest that PPARf× activity may have an integral role in maintaining lung homeostasis. This study tested the hypothesis that microRNA expression would be dysregulated in murine alveolar macrophages deficient in PPARgamma. microRNA (miR) are small non-coding RNA molecules that post-transcriptionally regulate the expression of messenger RNA. Evaluation of microRNA in the murine model of PAP, the GM-CSF-KO mouse, demonstrates the elevation of miR-27a and miR-27b which target PPARgamma. The deficiency of PPARgamma and the lipid transporters ABCA1 and ABCG1 have been shown to contribute to the pathology of PAP. The microRNA miR-33-3p and miR-33-5p, which target these lipid transporters, were also elevated in GM-CSF-KO mice. Pulmonary granulomas comparable to those observed in pulmonary sarcoidosis are induced by instillation of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in C57Bl/6 mice. These animals have decreased PPARgamma activity and show elevated expression of miR-27a and miR-27b. It was also observed that the expression of the transporters ABCA1 and ABCG1 were decreased in MWCNT instilled mice. Expression of miR-33-3p and miR-33-5p was elevated in MWCNT instilled animals. The expression of microRNA that affects the activity of NF-£eB is also elevated in both murine models. We next investigated the use of PPARgamma agonist rosiglitazone on the expression of microRNA and messenger RNA. The use of rosiglitazone altered the expression of microRNA in both GM-CSF-KO and C57Bl/6+MWCNT mice. Rosiglitazone treatment altered the expression of the lipid transporter ABCA1and ABCG1 in C57Bl/6+MWCNT mice. The elevation of proinflammatory cytokines was also observed. Taken together, these observations support the hypothesis that PPARgamma activity effects the microRNA and gene expression in alveolar macrophages which is critical to overall lung homeostasis. Understanding the relationship between PPARgamma and microRNA in alveolar macrophage biology will provide insight into the regulation of the lung environment and possible therapeutic targets. ...
Comparison of ZnO nanoparticles and ZnCl₂ induced germ cell apoptosis in Caenorhabditis elegans
(East Carolina University, 2014)
There is inadequate research data available on manufactured ZnO nanoparticles. Manufactured nanoparticles are widely used in various products and production of manufactured nanoparticles is becoming increasingly abundant. ...
miRDiabetes : A microRNA-Diabetes Association Database Constructed With Data Mining on Literature
(East Carolina University, 2014)
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a growing class of non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by translational repression. A role for miRNA in diabetes was first established in 2004 and research in miRNA-diabetes association has ...
A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF MICROBES IN SERPENTINITE-HOSTED SUBSURFACE ENVIRONMENTS
(East Carolina University, 1/13/16)
Over the last two decades, serpentinizing environments have been studied with regards to the biogeochemistry of these habitats, but significantly less is known about the microbiology within these environments. Serpentinization ...
Determining the Chemical Structure of Brucebactin: The Sole Complex Siderophore Utilized by the Pathogenic Bacterium Brucella Abortus
(East Carolina University, 1/13/16)
Brucellosis is a zoonotic bacterial disease that affects many around the world. There are over half a million new cases each year and prevalence rates in some areas of the world exceed 10 new cases per 100,000 in the ...
The Effects of Crude Oil and Chemical Dispersant Exposure on Danio rerio (zebrafish) Embryonic Development
(East Carolina University, 2014)
Crude oil has been shown to cause defects in cardiovascular development in a variety of teleost species. We used the zebrafish, Danio rerio as a model to test the effects of oil and dispersant on cardiac development and ...