Cell and Molecular Biology Dissertations

2012

  • Steven Mullenbrock
    Global investigation of transcriptional programs involved in cell proliferation and differentiation.
    Advisor: Cooper
  • Jack Stopa
    Small molecule stabilization of A149P-aldolase, the most prevalent form of aldolase B associated with hereditary fructose intolerance.
    Advisor: Tolan

2011

  • Erin Michelle Coffee
    Hereditary fructose intolerance: Metabolic implications and analysis of aldoB mutations.
    Advisor: Tolan
  • Joshua Charles Doloff
    Conditionally replicating adenoviruses and metronomic chemotherapy-induced innate immune responses in cancer xenograft mouse models.
    Advisor: Waxman
  • Elizabeth Pearl Braverman Ewen
    MEF2A coordinately regulates a costamere gene program in cardiac muscle.
    Advisor: Naya
  • Ondra Michelle Kielbasa
    Myospryn is a calcineurin-interacting protein that negatively modulates slow fiber-type transformation and skeletal muscle regeneration.
    Advisor: Naya
  • Emily Chan Marquez
    Cloning of CDNAs for estrogen receptor alpha, aromatase, and aryl hydrocarbon receptors and environmental effects on gene expression in the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) and the red-eared slider (Pseudemys scripta).
    Advisor: Callard, I.
  • Tracy L. Pritchett
    The Role of the Insulin, JNK, and CHK2 Cell Signaling Pathways in the Regulation of Programmed Cell Death in the Drosophila Ovary.
    Advisor: McCall
  • Elizabeth A. Tanner
    Mitochondrial dynamics during programmed cell death in the Drosophila ovary.
    Advisor: McCall
  • Jolyon Terragni
    PI 3-kinase signaling regulates transcription through a network of NFkappaB, MYC superfamily and forkhead transcription factorsI
    Advisor: Cooper

2010

  • Michael R. Garbati
    Identification of IkappaB kinase phosphorylation sites on human transcription factor REL and characterization of histone acetyltransferase P300 as a REL coactivator.
    Advisor: Gilmore
  • Andrew F. Gardner
    Components of Sulfolobus islandicus rod-shaped virus 2 replication initiation and genome resolution.
    Advisor: Loechler
  • Kendrick Alan Goss
    Cytochromes P450 2B1 and 2B6: Structure-function analysis using DNA shuffling mutagenesis.
    Advisor: Waxman
  • Julie Reger Graham
    The program of gene expression regulated by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling.
    Advisor: Cooper
  • Melanie I. Herscovitch
     Disulfide bond formation in the nuclear factor-kappaB essential modulator and gene expression profiling of a human B-lymphoma cell line expressing an activated REL transcription factor.
    Advisor: Gilmore
  • Sarah Ann McCalmon
    Characterization of the MEF2A target gene Myomaxin and its role in angiotensin II-induced cardiac pathophysiology.
    Advisor: Naya
  • Amy T. McCurley
    The regulation of neuroregeneration in zebrafish (Danio rerio): Global gene expression patterns and the role of estrogen and arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR) signaling.
    Advisor: G. Callard

2009

  • Zhao Chen
    Investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in localization of mRNAs to the vegetal cortex of Xenopus oocytes.
    Advisor: Deshler
  • Bianca Heinrich
    Motor directed transport of localized mRNAs in Xenopus oocytes.
    Advisor: Deshler
  • Minita G. Holloway
    Role of transcription factors STAT5b and HNF4alpha in the regulation of growth hormone-dependent, sex-specific liver gene expression in the mouse.
    Advisor: Waxman
  • Joshua R. Leeman
    Analyses of alternative splicing and deletion mutants identify an inhibitory domain in human transcription factor REL, an oncogenic member of the NF-kappaB family of proteins.
    Advisor: Gilmore
  • Denise Yuen Fung Mak
    Seed modeling, inverted repeat detection and consensus RNA secondary structure prediction.
    Advisor: Benson
  • Utsav Hiralal Saxena
    Regulation of transcription factor LSF by cyclin C-dependent kinases and the prolyl isomerase Pin1 during progression through the G1 phase of the cell cycle.
    Advisor: Hansen
  • Evan Sean Snitkin
    Epistasis in yeast metabolism relative to metabolic flux phenotypes.
    Advisor: Segre
  • Jun Yin
    Structural basis for lesion bypass of the major DNA adduct of the carcinogen, benzo[a]pyrene by Y-family DNA polymerases IV and V of Escherichia coli.
    Advisor: Loechler

2008

  • Britton Paige Bass
    Genetic analysis of programmed cell death during Drosophila oogenesis.
    Advisor: McCall
  • Roxanne Gergis Cacioppo
    Protein phosphatase 2A regulates phosphorylation of the transcription factor LSF in a cell growth-dependent manner.
    Advisor: Hansen
  • Michelle Audrey Cronin
    Light-dependent subcellular translocation of signaling components in Drosophila photoreceptors.
    Advisor: Tsunoda
  • Kelly Bonner Engel
    The regulation and toxicology of spermatogenesis.
    Advisor: Gloria Callard
  • Joseph Grattin Reynolds
    Myospryn functions as a muscle-specific protein kinase A anchoring protein and its expression is dysregulated in muscular dystrophy.
    Advisor: Naya
  • Kristy L. Townsend
    Mechanisms of high fat-induced obesity in mice and premigration/prehibernation fattening in bats.
    Advisor: Widmaier

2007

  • Kenneth W. Adams
    Rapid turnover of Mcl-1 couples translation to cell survival and apoptosis.
    Advisor: Cooper
  • Jason S. Baum
    A requirement for caspases during programmed cell death in Drosophila oogenesis.
    Advisor: McCall
  • Jie Chen
    Transcriptional targets of glycogen synthase kinase 3[beta] in the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt signaling pathway.
    Advisor:Cooper
  • Karl H. Clodfelter
    Computational analysis of cytochrome P450 structure and expression.
    Advisor: Waxman
  • Adnan Derti
    Mammalian ultraconserved sequences avoid segmental duplications and copy-number variants.
    Advisor: Hansen
  • Raegan B. O'Lone
    Characterization of promoter elements typifying estrogen-responsive genes and downstream pathways in mouse vasculature.
    Advisor: Hansen
  • Sherilyn J. Sawyer
    Orphan nuclear receptors Nur77, Nurr1 and Nor1 in zebrafish (Danio rerio): Characterization, regulation, and roles in development.
    Advisor: Gloria Callard
  • Michael E. Schaffer
    Elucidation of human growth factor mediated transcriptional programs and computational inference of their regulation.
    Advisor: Cooper
  • Nan Zhu
    Role of high mobility group nucleosomal binding protein HMGN1 in estrogen-mediated transcription activation.
    Advisor: Hansen

2006

  • Alexandra Zilz Adams
    Germ cell nuclear factor and testicular receptor 4: Potential regulators of c-mos transcription.
    Advisor: Cooper
  • Kristen M. Cullen
    Regulation of programmed cell death in the development of the Drosophila antenna and ovary.
    Advisor: McCall
  • Brad R. Evans
    Characterization of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor in zebrafish, Danio rerio.
    Advisor: Gloria Callard
  • Sarah Rothberg Greytak
    Effects of long-term multigenerational exposure to a polluted environment (New Bedford Harbor) on estrogen synthesis, signaling and response systems in killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus).
    Advisor: Gloria Callard
  • Demetrios Kalaitzidis
    Characterization of the mis-regulated REL/NF-kappaB pathway in the RC-K8 human lymphoma cell line and characterization of a conditionally active REL-estrogen receptor fusion protein.
    Advisor: Gilmore
  • Mei-Chih Liang
    Derivatives of epoxyquinoid natural products that block activation of transcription factor NF-kappaB at multiple steps.
    Advisor: Gilmore
  • John A. Pezza
    Interactions among isozyme-specific residues in fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate aldolase.
    Advisor: Tolan
  • Karen J. Repetny
    LBP-1a/b binds to a subset of immunoglobulin switch regions in vivo and represses class switch recombination.
    Advisor: Hansen
  • Daniel T. Starczynowski
    A mutational and functional analysis of C-terminal sequences of human transcription factor REL: Their role in cellular transformation and transcriptional activation.
    Advisor: Gilmore