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- All Subjects: Biochemistry
- All Subjects: Biophysics
- Creators: School of Molecular Sciences
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Status: Published
Lyme disease is a common tick-borne illness caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. An outer membrane protein of Borrelia burgdorferi, P66, has been suggested as a possible target for Lyme disease treatments. However, a lack of structural information available for P66 has hindered attempts to design medications to target the protein. Therefore, this study attempted to find methods for expressing and purifying P66 in quantities that can be used for structural studies. It was found that by using the PelB signal sequence, His-tagged P66 could be directed to the outer membrane of Escherichia coli, as confirmed by an anti-His Western blot. Further attempts to optimize P66 expression in the outer membrane were made, pending verification via Western blotting. The ability to direct P66 to the outer membrane using the PelB signal sequence is a promising first step in determining the overall structure of P66, but further work is needed before P66 is ready for large-scale purification for structural studies.
The field of biomedical research relies on the knowledge of binding interactions between various proteins of interest to create novel molecular targets for therapeutic purposes. While many of these interactions remain a mystery, knowledge of these properties and interactions could have significant medical applications in terms of understanding cell signaling and immunological defenses. Furthermore, there is evidence that machine learning and peptide microarrays can be used to make reliable predictions of where proteins could interact with each other without the definitive knowledge of the interactions. In this case, a neural network was used to predict the unknown binding interactions of TNFR2 onto LT-ɑ and TRAF2, and PD-L1 onto CD80, based off of the binding data from a sampling of protein-peptide interactions on a microarray. The accuracy and reliability of these predictions would rely on future research to confirm the interactions of these proteins, but the knowledge from these methods and predictions could have a future impact with regards to rational and structure-based drug design.
In this formative research project, we seek to better understand the general barriers to refugee access to higher education. Using mixed methods research--which included surveys, interviews, and course data--we evaluate the benefits and challenges experienced by refugee students in Israel who are enrolled in Arizona State University's Education for Humanity programs. In the end, this case study resulted in 24 recommend programmatic changes designed to eliminate the barriers that prevent refugee students from accessing and succeeding in higher education.
Apolipoprotein (ApoE) plays an important role in the transport of lipids in the brain for normal functioning. There are three different isoforms of ApoE which are coded for by three alleles (E2, E3, E4). Patients carrying at least one copy of ApoE E4 are known to be at higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and earlier onset of symptoms. This is due to the buildup of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles of the brain from the accumulation of tau proteins, which are associated with the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. However, findings on ApoE E2 have shown that it may be a protective allele since it is linked to a decreased risk of formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. To study this phenomenon within the context of a local population group, polymerase chain reaction and gel electrophoresis were conducted on extracted DNA samples. The principal goal in this research study was to genotype ApoE variants using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) specific primers, and polymerase chain reaction to analyze the frequency in the Tempe population to determine future healthcare needs.
In this formative research project, we seek to better understand the general barriers to refugee access to higher education. Using mixed methods research--which included surveys, interviews, and course data--we evaluate the benefits and challenges experienced by refugee students in Israel who are enrolled in Arizona State University's Education for Humanity programs. In the end, this case study resulted in 24 recommend programmatic changes designed to eliminate the barriers that prevent refugee students from accessing and succeeding in higher education.
for facile, low cost scaling of nanostructures. However, current benchtop experiments have
limitations based on the placement of molecular species that exhibit greater than singlemolecular binding. In addition, reliance upon bottom-up self-assembly of close-packed
nanospheres makes it problematic to resolve images using low-cost light microscopes due to the
spacing limitations smaller in magnitude than light wavelength. One method that is created to
resolve this issue is iterative size reduction (ISR), where repetitive ‘iterative’ processes are
employed in order to increase the precision at which single molecules bind to a given substrate.
ISR enables inherent separation of nanospheres and therefore any subsequent single molecule
binding platforms. In addition, ISR targets and encourages single-molecule binding by
systematically reducing binding site size. Results obtained pursuing iteratively reduced
nanostructures showed that many factors are needed to be taken into consideration, including
functionalization of nanosphere particles, zeta potential, and protonation-buffer reactions.
Modalities used for observation of nanoscale patterning and single-molecule binding included
atomic force microscopy (AFM) and ONI super-resolution and fluorescence microscopy. ISR
was also used in conjunction with zero mode waveguides, which are nanoapertures enabling realtime single molecule observation at zeptoliter volumes. Although current limitations and
obstacles still exist with reproducibility and scalability of ISR, it nonetheless exhibits limitless
potential and flexibility in nanotechnology applications.