Morphogen activity gradients assign positional information within fields of cells in a concentration-dependent manner. As transcriptional changes respond to signaling activity thresholds, cells must encounter …
Atherosclerotic plaque calcification is associated increased risk of cardiovascular events. Inflammation plays a key role in the development of atherosclerosis and is thought to potentially …
Cytokinesis is an essential process for the proliferation of eukaryotic species. However, our knowledge of how a eukaryotic cell accomplishes cytokinesis is relegated to a …
Transposable elements (TEs) are potentially harmful DNA sequences that can copy themselves and then insert elsewhere into the genome, causing damage and disrupting normal gene …
ABSTRACT Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the most common adult-onset motor neuron disease in the world, can be caused by mutations scattered along the full length …
Reversible protein phosphorylation plays a pivotal role in the regulation of cellular signaling pathways. Current approaches in phosphoproteomics focus on analysis of the global phosphoproteome …
A-to-I RNA editing is the post-transcriptional modification of pre-mRNA transcripts,where specific adenosine residues are converted to inosine by Adenosine DeaminasesActing on RNA (ADARs). This modification …
Sex determination is an essential, and highly variable process, of organismal development. Looking for common threads used in evolution to determine sex is difficult simply …
An exceptional group of aquatic invertebrates makes up Class Bdelloidea. Bdelloid rotifers are the only group of ancient asexual animals known. A second distinction that …
Neurogenesis sharply declines with age in the subventricular zone (SVZ). The SVZ niche contains multipotent neural stem cells (NSCs) that can differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, …
The endoderm germ layer gives rise to the epithelial lining of the respiratory and digestive tracts and their associated organs. Gastrulation and formation of the …
Pseudogymnoascus destructans is the invasive fungal pathogen responsible for White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), a devastating disease affecting North American bats. WNS has led to the loss …
Eukaryotic organisms undergo changes in morphology in order to survive and proliferate within a variety of different environments and conditions. The human fungal pathogen Candida …
High Grade Serous Carcinoma (HGSC) is the deadliest form of ovarian cancer among women and causes the most deaths of gynaecological cancers overall (Tudrej, Patrycja …
In eukaryotic cells, informational recoding and RNA interference (RNAi) proceed through structurally diverse double-stranded (ds) RNA molecules. Informational recoding of RNA by the catalytic deamination …
This study assessed how cardiovascular measures and cardiovascular reactivity differ between physically healthy adolescent girls diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD), those at high risk …
In this thesis we provide evidence that the FAIRE method can reveal interesting and relevant changes in genome-wide chromatin organization as cells undergo replicative senescence, …
This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part of this thesis, including chapters 1-3, examines the role of the protein Muscle specific kinase …
Subcellular mRNA localization is a conserved mechanism across eukaryotes, which is found in both somatic and germ cells. RNA localization in combination with local translation …
A major contributing factor to the poor prognosis of patients diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the staggering rates of refractory and resistant disease. …
Insulin and IGF signaling (IIS) is a complex system that controls diverse processes including development, metabolism, stress responses and aging. Drosophila melanogaster IIS is propagated …
Quiescent neural stem cells (NSCs) are the source of new neurons in the adult mammalian brain. Upon activation, NSCs proliferate and return to quiescence or …
Age is a fundamental aspect of biology that underlies the efficacy of a broad range of functions. Identifying determinants for how quickly or slowly we …
Specification of the germline, the cells which give rise to eggs and sperm, is essential for sexually reproducing organisms. The mechanism by which animals specify …
The specificity and extent of RNA editing by ADAR enzymes is determined largely by local primary sequence and secondary structural imperfections in duplex RNA. Here, …
A detailed understanding of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) structure is essential to understanding its function in the cell. Here we present a new comparative phylogenetic analysis …
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) remains a global public health challenge, primarily due to its uncontrolled transmission. Analysis of HIV-1 sequence data can lead to phylogenetic …
In sexual reproduction, fusion of haploid sperm and egg cells (gametes) are required to produce a unique diploid individual that represents the next generation. Despite …
Cell division is fundamental to life. As more divergent organisms become tractable to genetic manipulation, we have discovered that the molecular mechanisms that govern cell …
Despite many studies linking FOXO factors to longevity, how these factors directly regulate aging particularly in humans, is not completely understood. The focus of this …
Statistical and computational methods for detecting evolutionary processes in human genomic data have been going through rapid advances across multiple fields of study and timescales. …
Worldwide, 253 million people are afflicted with visual impairment. The development of novel therapies for the prevention and treatment of visual disorders is necessary 1. …
As medical technologies advance, effective vertebrate models of human disease are vital to determine safety and efficacy of treatments. My research has further developed zebrafish …
Strict regulatory mechanisms ensure that the cell’s genome is perfectly duplicated. In eukaryotic cells, origins of replication fire once and only once per cell cycle. …
Defining diverse roles of a single transcription factor on the cellular level is key to understanding its role in the context of an organism. However, …
Transposable elements (TEs) are genetic elements that can move around the genome, causing mutations and genomic instability. These "jumping" genes are ubiquitous in the genomes …
Inhibitory interneurons are essential for normal cortical function. They prevent seizures, regulate temporal and spatial coding, and generate oscillations and synchrony in pyramidal cells. The …
Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is heterotrimeric enzyme that regulates key signaling pathways in eukaryotes by dephosphorylating target proteins. PP2A enzymes are composed of a structural …
Transposons are parasitic DNA sequences that pose threats to genome stability across a range of eukaryotes. To defend against transposition into essential genes and destabilizing …
Senescent cells have many harmful effects to the tissue they surround by creating an inflammatory environment and increase DNA damage by inducing retrotransposable elements. With …
Biological systems must regulate complex gene transcriptional programs to mediate phenotypic response to diverse stimuli. Control of gene expression requires specific DNA sequence patterns called …
Assisted reproductive therapy and fertility preservation techniques such as freezing eggs are increasingly used to improve or safeguard human reproduction worldwide, yet what factors govern …
Abstract of ‘Ecdysone-Regulated DNA Amplification in Sciara coprophila’, by Léo Kadota, Sc.M., Brown University, May 2017. The eukaryotic genome contains thousands of origins (ORIs) of …
About 7.1% of Americans older than 18 have been reported to abuse alcohol. Chronic alcoholics are more susceptible to infections. In this regard, higher incidences …
This project sought to evaluate the role of a pattern recognition receptor (PRR) called nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein X1 (NLRX1). It is the only …
Retrotransposable element (RTE) mobilization due to heterochromatin loss is among the molecular mechanisms associated with deleterious phenotypes that accompany biological aging. Here, we describe novel …
Polycomb Group (PcG) epigenetic regulators are important but not well-understood components of cellular senescence. EZH2, a PcG histone H3 lysine-27 methyltransferase, is repressed in senescent …