Browsing Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Department of by Title
Now showing items 388-407 of 429
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Structural and Functional Studies of Regulatory Proteins in the Bacterial Exopolysaccharide Synthesis and Transport Pathways
(2015-09-16)Extracellular sugar polymers, or exopolysaccharides, play crucial roles in gram-negative bacteria that enable their survival and proliferation in hostile environments. As a result, the proteins involved in the synthesis, ... -
A structural basis for different antifreeze protein roles
(2012-07-18)Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are produced by a variety of organisms to either protect them from freezing or help them tolerate being frozen. Recent structural work has shown that AFPs bind to ice using ordered surface waters ... -
Structural Basis of Antifreeze Proteins Binding to Ice
(2015-08-31)Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are a class of proteins that adsorb to the surface of ice crystals to prevent their growth. Recent structural work has shown that the ice-binding site (IBS) of a bacterial AFP organizes surface ... -
Structural determination and functional annotation of ChuS and ChuX, two members of the heme utilization operon in pathogenic Escherichia coli O157:H7
(2007-07-05)For pathogenic microorganisms, heme uptake and degradation is a critical mechanism for iron acquisition that enables multiplication and survival within hosts they invade. While the bacterial proteins involved in heme ... -
Structural Identification of Legionella pneumophila Effector Protein LEM23 as a Fic Protein and its Functional Implications
(2016-01-14)Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is an opportunistic human pathogen known to cause severe pneumonia in those infected. It primarily infects human alveolar macrophage cells, altering vesicular trafficking while evading ... -
Structural Insights Into Dictyostelium Discoideum Myosin Light Chain Specificity
(2013-01-29)Myosins are molecular motor proteins involved in cell movement, vesicle and organelle transport by moving along the cytoskeletal actin filaments. They include a myosin heavy chain and at least one myosin light chain (LC). ... -
Structural Insights Into Novel Microbial Metalloenzymes
(2013-01-28)Metalloproteins represent a large portion of the total proteome. When bound to a protein a metal ion influences both protein stability and function through structural, catalytic or regulatory roles. Discovery of a metal ... -
Structural Insights Into the High Microtubule Binding Affinity of KIF14: a Mitotic Kinesin Known to Play a Key Role in Cytokinesis
(2014-09-15)Kinesins use ATP hydrolysis-derived energy to power transport of cellular materials along microtubules and to regulate microtubule organization in eukaryotes. This enables them to serve various cellular functions including ... -
Structural studies on a 1.5-MDa bacterial adhesin reveal its adhesive and cohesive properties in biofilm formation
(2015-09-25)Ice-binding proteins (IBPs) have long been known to help organisms resist freezing (antifreeze) or tolerate freezing (ice recrystallization inhibition). Discoveries made in my thesis research reveal a third function for ... -
Structure-Function Studies of a Truncated Ice-Nucleation Protein
(2015-10-03)Bacterial ice-nucleation proteins (INPs) initiate water freezing at high subzero temperatures. Despite having an opposite function to antifreeze proteins (AFPs), INPs and AFPs both have significant similarities in sequence ... -
Structure-Function Studies on the Novel Alpha-Kinase Family
(2010-02-18)Dictyostelium myosin heavy chain kinase A (MHCK A) and mammalian transient receptor potential melastatin-related 7 (TRPM7) are two divergent members of a family of atypical protein kinases called the alpha kinases. The ... -
Structure-guided Disruption of the Pseudopilus Tip Complex Inhibits the Type II Secretion System of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative bacterium, is known for its opportunistic way of infecting humans as well as other animals. Due to its pathogenicity, P. aeruginosa has been considered to be one of the top bacterial ... -
Structure-Guided Studies of Bacterial Competition Mechanisms
(2015-12-16)Microorganisms have evolved a stunning array of strategies for nutrient competition, ranging from concerted effort of antibiotic release to kill off competing species, to evolving complex enzymatic pathways that are capable ... -
Studies of Coagulation and Fibrinolysis
(2009-09-04)The mechanism and regulation of prothrombinase function in the activation of prothrombin and prethrombin-1 were studied. In addition, the kinetics of plasmin-mediated fibrin degredation were determined. First, the mechanism ... -
Studies of the Misprocessing Mutations R1202D and E1204K in the Drug and Organic Anion Transporter, MRP1 (ABCC1) in Cultured HEK cells
(2013-11-19)Multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1) is a drug and organic anion transporter of the ATP-binding cassette superfamily. Previous studies showed that opposite charge substitutions of Arg1202 or Glu1204 in transmembrane helix ... -
Studies on Dictyostelium Discoideum Myosin-I and Myosin-II Heavy Chain Kinases
(2013-08-21)PakB is a p21-activated kinase that phosphorylates and activates class I myosins in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. PakB co-localizes with myosin-I to actin-rich regions of the cell, including macropinocytic ... -
A study of mechanisms underlying inflammation-induced abnormal nociceptive signaling from the colon in models of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
(2011-08-10)Abdominal pain is a common symptom of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Although the extent differs, visceral inflammation is thought to play a significant role in nociception in these ... -
A Study of Pro- and Anti-Nociceptive Factors In A Model of Colitis-Associated Visceral Pain
(2012-09-08)Chronic abdominal pain is a major cause of patient morbidity in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). A balance of pro- and anti-nociceptive factors regulating colonic dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, which synapse onto ... -
A Study of the Roles of Selected Arginine and Lysine Residues of TAFI in Its Activation to TAFIa by the Thrombin-Thrombomodulin Complex
(2008-02-01)Thrombin-activatable Fibrinolysis Inhibitor (TAFI) is a 60 kDa plasma protein that can be activated to the enzyme, TAFIa, by thrombin, plasmin or trypsin. TAFIa is a carboxypeptidase B-like enzyme that attenuates fibrinolysis. ... -
The Subfornical Organ and Area Postrema Mediate the Central Effects of Circulating Leptin
(2012-10-15)Leptin is an adipokine that acts centrally to regulate feeding behaviour, energy expenditure and autonomic function via activation of its receptor (ObRb) in nuclei in the central nervous system (CNS). This thesis investigates ...