Conducting polymers; Polymers in medicine; Myocardium
Hydrophilic and conductive characteristics in polymers are mutually exclusive of each other. Hydrophilic polymer properties allow absorption of water up to several magnitudes above their dry weight. However, due to their molecular structure, they...
Copper--Physiological effect; Copper in the body; Heart--Hypertrophy
Previous studies have shown that copper (Cu) supplementation at physiologically relevant levels reverses cardiac myocyte hypertrophy induced by phenylephrine (PE), and that this effect was VEGF-dependent. Yet, the amount of VEGF in the media was...
O -linked β-N-acetylglucosamine ( O -GlcNAc) is an inducible, dynamically cycling, and reversible post-translational modification of serine/threonine amino acid residues of nucleocytoplasmic and mitochondrial proteins. O -GlcNAc transferase (OGT)...
Metastasis is a complex process requiring directed migration of metastatic cells to favorable microenvironments. Increased CXCR4 expression has been implicated in more invasive, aggressive and metastatic tumor phenotypes and poor patient survival...
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...
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...
Drug delivery systems; Curcumin--Therapeutic use--Administration
Curcumin, a plant derived compound has shown significant potency against various chronic diseases like cancer in cell culture and animal studies. However, the introduction of this compound into clinical setting is limited by its poor oral...
Assessing the functionality of the endothelium can provide insight into the initiation and formation of arterial diseases. One of the most important functions of the endothelial layer is its permeability. The integrity of the cell monolayer and its...
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...
Orbital shakers are commonly used in the cell culture industry due to their ease of use, but the fluid dynamics of this system have not been extensively modeled as the system is difficult to quantify analytically. It is desirable to understand how...
This work presents a novel comprehensive effort to understand the fluid dynamics within orbiting dishes and the effects of the resulting oscillating fluid flow on shear and endothelial cellular responses within the dishes. It is well documented...
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have attracted enormous attention in the field of nanotechnology for applications such as, immunoassay, drug delivery, contrast enhancement and tumor therapy. The typical range of gold nanoparticles varies from 1– 150...
Graft rejection; Diagnostic imaging; Postoperative care
The fourth hand transplant recipient in Louisville lost his graft at nine months post transplant from ischemia due to severe graft arteriopathy. Conventional imaging techniques and clinical measurements, including CT angiography and measurements of...
Green tea--Health aspects; Green tea--Therapeutic use; Polyphenols--Physiological effect; Drug delivery systems; Lungs--Cancer--Treatment
Green tea polyphenols (GTPs) are gaining increasing attention because of their potential anti-tumor effects. However, poor oral bioavailability limits their efficacy in vivo. In this dissertation, two hypotheses were tested: 1) GTPs administered...
Heart--Hypertrophy; Heart--Physiology; Sugar in the body; Metabolism; Diabetes--Research
Heart failure is recognized as a major cause of death among diabetics. In type I and II diabetes, glucose uptake, glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation are impaired, and fatty acid utilization increases. These alterations in metabolism contribute...
Heart--Hypertrophy; Hydrogen sulfide--Therapeutic use
Background: Although matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMPs) play a vital role in tumor angiogenesis and TIMP-3 causes apoptosis, their role in cardiac angiogenesis is unknown. Interestingly, a disruption...
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...
Heart failure is the most frequent cause of mortality in western countries. Currently, there is no cure treatment for heart failure and the long term survival rate following heart failure is poor, with one third of patients dying within a year of...
INTRODUCTION: Heart failure is a major and growing public health concern. Although heart failure has been considered an inexorable and progressive disorder, emerging evidence suggests that some patients may have reversible left ventricular...
Hemolysis, the major cause for specimen rejection in clinical laboratories is defined as the rupture of red blood cell membranes, resulting in the release of hemoglobin into the plasma. Blood flow in needles causes hemolysis resulting in...
