Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a serious concern for the world's population. It is one of the leading causes of death and is also a huge economic burden. The biochemical mechanisms responsible for ALD are incompletely understood, therefore there...
Nuclear Factor of Activated T-cells (NFAT) is a calcium-responsive transcription factor that orchestrates immune response and cardiovascular development. NFAT is also present in neurons and glia from the Central Nervous System (CNS) where it...
Background The anthracycline doxorubicin (DOX) is widely used as an effective antineoplastic drug. Cardiotoxicity leading to congestive heart failure is the primary factor limiting the clinical use of DOX. However, although a variety of approaches...
Bcl-2 proteins are major regulators of cellular responses to various apoptotic stimuli. Among them, overexpression of the anti-apoptotic BcI-2 protein BcI-xL modulates organelle-specific apoptotic pathways. To understand the mechanisms by which...
The fundamental question of the exact nature of the role played by TNF in the failing myocardium remains one of contention. Many preclinical studies have demonstrated beneficial effects with TNF antagonism and recently the dichotomous role played...
The purpose of this dissertation was to demonstrate that a new method of direct intracellular energy delivery was effective in maintaining viability of in vitro Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) when exposed to chemical ischemia for...
Pancreatic beta cells are extremely vulnerable to destruction by Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). In type 1 diabetes and islet transplantation ROS are thought to be involved in the loss of beta cells. To test the role of antioxidant in islet...
The vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP) is involved in the modulation of the host inflammatory response during vaccinia virus infection. It possesses the ability to inhibit both classical and alternative pathways of complement...
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent environmental pollutants which
are detectable in the serum of all American adults. Amongst PCB congeners,
PCB 153 has the highest serum level. PCBs have been dose-dependently
associated with suspected...
Pancreatic beta cells are extremely vulnerable to the destruction of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes ROS are involved in the loss of U+000DF-cells. We hypothesized that the deficiency in ROS detoxifying system of...
This thesis is divided into two parts below. Part I Adriamycin (ADR) can produce nephrotoxicity in rodents. The underlying mechanism may relate to ADR induced oxidative stress. In this study, we used transgenic mice (NMT3), which over-expressed the...
Skeletal muscle is the most abundant tissue in our body that provides a structural framework and regulates important biological processes. It is also a primary reservoir of protein. Skeletal muscle maintains its structural and functional integrity...
Cancer accounts for nearly one-quarter of deaths in the United States, exceeded only by heart diseases. Despite the development of various strategies to treat cancer, it remains one of the most deadly diseases worldwide due to the limited effects...
Sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate found in cruciferous vegetables, is known to confer antioxidant protection in vivo. Rather than directly reacting with free radicals, however, SFN works by inducing Nrf2, a transcription factor that binds to...
This dissertation is a hypothesis-driven research oriented study to determine the role of the pituitary-tumor transforming gene (PTTG) in ovarian cancer, specifically if it is involved in neoplastic transformation leading to tumorigenesis through...
Depression is one of the most frequent causes of disability worldwide. It can
affect the psychological, social, and physical wellbeing of those that suffer from it, the
majority of which are women. Depression has been linked to immune activation as...
Gene therapy; Spinal cord--Wounds and injuries; Tissue engineering
The combination of viral mediated gene delivery, tissue engineering, and Schwann cell (SC) transplantation offer a promising strategy to enhance axonal regeneration and functional recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI). The rationale and...
Pancreatic islet transplantation is a very promising treatment for type I diabetes. Many clinical trials have failed due to early islet loss and immune rejection. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been demonstrated to be involved in graft damage...
Mishaps in prenatal development can influence mammary gland development
and, ultimately, affect susceptibility to factors that cause breast cancer. This research was
based on the underlying hypothesis that maternal dietary composition during...
Premenopausal women have fewer and less severe strokes when compared to postmenopausal females and aged matched males. The most obvious factor that could account for the observed difference is the physiological activity of Estrogen. Numerous...
