The term "promiscuity" is often used in academic literature and pejoratively
proliferated among society at large. The definition of promiscuity has not been clearly
and consistently defined within research and varies significantly from...
Phase II clinical trial are generally single arm trial where a homogeneity assumption is placed on the response. In practice, this assumption may be violated resulting in a heterogeneous response. This heterogeneous or overdispersed response can be...
c-Myc dysregulation is one of the most common abnormalities found in human cancer. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are functionally intertwined with the c-Myc network as multiple miRNAs are regulated by c-Myc, while others directly suppress c-Myc expression. In...
Human adenoviruses (Ads) can infect and replicate in cells at different cell-cycle stages. Ads with the E1 B55K deletion preferentially replicate in cancer cells and cause oncolysis. Our laboratory has previously shown that the Ad E1 b gene is...
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...
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...
While investigating estrogen response element (ERE) binding properties of Erα in de-identified human breast cancer extracts, additional proteins were observed that recognized ERE sequences (ERE-BP). In order to unravel the apparent role of these...
Among gynecological malignancies, carcinoma of the cervix is the leading cancer type worldwide. Conversely, vaginal tumors account for an incidence of approximately 1-2% of lower genital tract malignancies. Interestingly, the major shared risk...
An investigation was made into the relative costs of excavation retention by two systems: conventional soldier pile-wale-tieback support, and support by soil nailing. The investigation included design of excavation supports by the two...
Exocytosis of intracellular granules is critical for conversion of inactive, circulating neutrophils to fully activated cells. The p38 MAPK pathway plays a central role in neutrophil exocytosis, although its mechanism of action is unknown. We used...
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...
Unrepaired DNA damage poses a serious threat to the genetic stability of a replicating cell. One mechanism of tolerating this damage is translesion DNA synthesis (TLS), in which an accessory polymerase synthesizes DNA directly across from a damaged...
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level by repressing translation or stimulating mRNA degradation. In this study, I tested the hypothesis that miRNAs are differentially expressed in antiestrogen-sensitive MCF-7...
20S proteasome, essential component of protein degradation mechanism, is important to maintain homeostasis. Its malfunctions have been associated with several pathological conditions. This study presents an extensive study of murine cardiac 20S...
Arylamine N-acetyltransferase 1 (NAT1) and 2 (NAT2) catalyze the detoxification and/or activation of aromatic and heterocyclic amine carcinogens by two pathways. This metabolism reaction can lead to the detoxification by Nacetylation, or...
Recent studies indicate post-translational deacetylation by members of the superfamily of histone deacetylase complexes (HDACs) is necessary for oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) differentiation into mature oligodendrocytes (OLs). However, it...
Interactions between chemokines and their receptors are involved in organ- specific homing and propagation of metastatic breast cancer (BrCa) cells. BrCa cells express higher levels of CXCR4 and CXCR7 mRNA and cell surface protein, than normal...
Epithelial Ovarian cancer (EOC) is the leading cause of gynecological cancer death in the USA. Recurrence rates are high after front-line platinum chemotherapy and most patients eventually die from platinum-resistant disease. P53 plays an important...
Here, I address the function of the carboxy-terminal hydrophobic helix of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax. There has been considerable controversy as to whether this sequence is required for the targeting and insertion of Bax into the mitochondrial...
The Y family of DNA polymerases in higher eukaryotes contains at least four members which are implicated in potentially error-prone replication through unrepaired damage in the genome. These proteins are encoded by the REV1, POLH, POLI, and POLK...
