Browsing FAS Theses and Dissertations by FAS Department "Biological Sciences in Public Health"
Now showing items 1-20 of 23
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A Tale of Brothers, Sisters, Aunts and Uncles: Using Genomics and Modeling to Uncover the Nature of P. Falciparum Polygenomic Infections and Cotransmission
(2018-01-17)A curious feature of malaria epidemiology is the presence of polygenomic (multiple strain) infections in natural parasite populations. Polygenomic infections are an important aspect of malaria transmission and a necessary ... -
Alterations in Energy Metabolism and Neurodegeneration as a Conseqeunce of DNA Damage
(2017-01-18)The correlation between DNA damage and aging has been discussed since Peter Medawar framed the first modern theory of aging in 1952. In support of a causal relationship between DNA damage and aging, most human segmental ... -
Beyond Mutation: Epigenetic Drivers of Phenotypic Diversity and Survival in Mycobacteria
(2016-05-19)M. tuberculosis is the causative agent of a global health epidemic that kills ~1.5 million people each year. The outcomes of infection with Mtb are highly variable. Although many patients are able to control the infection ... -
Clp-Mediated Regulation of the Mycobacterial Cell Cycle
(2017-04-12)Tuberculosis is currently the most deadly infectious disease worldwide. Given the high rates of treatment failure, new antibiotics are desperately needed. Antibacterial drugs typically target DNA replication, cell growth, ... -
Control of HIV-1C Replication Both in Vivo and in Vitro
(2015-05-18)In this study, we established an HIV latency model using pluripotent stem cells in vitro. We found that a HIV accessory protein nef is responsible for full-length HIV silencing in human pluripotent stem cells. This effect ... -
Free Actin and Effects on Lung Macrophage Bacterial Defenses
(2017-02-10)Actin release into the circulation and extracellular space, with subsequent removal by the actin scavenging protein plasma gelsolin (pGSN), has long been reported in injury and infection. Our laboratory’s recent finding ... -
From Neural Stem Cells to Children: Secreted Phosphoprotein 1 in Lead Neurotoxicity
(2015-05-14)Lead (Pb) exposure in the earliest stages of neurodevelopment leads to lasting deficits in cognitive function and behavior. Neural stem cells (NSCs) are multipotent stem cells and the first cells of the central nervous ... -
Gut and Tissue Microbiome Biogeography and Its Response to Environmental Perturbation
(2018-01-18)The symbiotic relationship between the host and its microbiome, which is composed of trillions of bacteria, archaea, viruses, and fungi, is essential for the host to maintain health. In the past two decades, the intestinal ... -
Investigating the Rates and Drivers of Drug Resistance in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
(2015-05-11)The emergence and transmission of drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) calls for urgency in understanding the barriers to effective treatment. Here we developed a chemostat cultivation system to ... -
Mechanisms of Preconditioning Against Surgical Stress by Short-Term Dietary Protein Restriction
(2016-01-13)Dietary restriction (DR) or reduced food intake without malnutrition encompasses a variety of dietary interventions including reduction of calories or specific macronutrients such as amino acids or total protein. Even ... -
Mechanisms of recognition of HIV-infected cells by CD8+ T cells that mediate effective antiviral responses
(2017-05-12)CD8+ T cells are a major defense against viruses by killing infected cells, and unraveling the molecular mechanisms involved in their control of HIV-1 infection is thus a topic of paramount importance for developing ... -
Microbiome-Targeted Interventions for Colitis-Associated Bacteria
(2016-05-06)Complex interactions between mammalian hosts and their gut microbes have evolved over many millennia and have established a sophisticated communication system that is essential for symbiosis and mutualism. Perturbations ... -
Molecular Determinants of CCR5-Tropic Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 Entry Into Low-CCR5 Expressing Cells
(2017-01-13)Over 80 million people have been infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 (HIV-1) worldwide. Despite advances in the treatment of HIV-1 infected individuals, practical cure or prevention of HIV-1 infections has not ... -
Molecular mechanisms of metabolic adaptation to endurance exercise
(2018-08-31)Adaptation of cellular metabolism allows tissues to perform diverse, specialized functions. Endurance exercise training promotes aerobic oxidation of metabolic substrates in skeletal muscle by increasing mitochondrial ... -
On Aging: Analyses of Long-Term Fine Particulate Air Pollution Exposure, Genetic Variants, and Blood DNA Methylation Age in the Elderly
(2018-04-19)Human aging is often accompanied by the development of chronic disease. Research has identified molecular processes that are shared by aging-related diseases, and it is widely believed that pre-clinical changes in these ... -
Peptidoglycan Synthesis and Rod Shape Maintenance in Mycobacteria
(2018-04-25)Bacteria surround themselves with a cell wall whose foundation is a layer called peptidoglycan. Peptidoglycan is a mesh of linear glycan strands that are linked together by short peptide side chains. As a crucial bacterial ... -
The Role of Nutrient Sensing in Macrophage Polarization
(2016-01-26)Macrophages are essential immune cells that belong to the innate immune system and are key orchestrators in the initiation and resolution stages of inflammation. Macrophages are found in every organ throughout the body ... -
Role of Proteinase 3 in bone marrow hematopoiesis and neutrophil function
(2016-09-07)The hematopoietic system requires finely-tuned regulatory mechanisms to supply the continuous demand of short-lived blood cells while maintaining a healthy hematopoietic stem cell compartment. Proteinase 3 (PR3), a member ... -
Screening the Human Genome for New Mitochondrial and Longevity Regulators
(2015-05-18)Over the past two decades, genes and pathways have been discovered that can prolong lifespan and delay the onset of age-related diseases. The vast majority of these longevity genes were discovered in screens conducted in ... -
Selection at Work in Plasmodium Falciparum: Lessons From the Expanded Acyl CoA Synthetase Gene Family and in Vitro Artemisinin Resistance.
(2016-05-18)Approximately one third of the world’s population is at risk of contracting malaria. The World Health Organization estimates there were over 200 million news cases of malaria in 2015, resulting in nearly 500,000 deaths ...