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- All Subjects: Telomerase
- All Subjects: Organic Chemistry
- Creators: Ghirlanda, Giovanna
- Creators: Ackerman-Biegasiewicz, Laura
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Status: Published
A unique computational approach combined with in vitro telomerase activity reconstitution studies was used to identify 83 novel TRs from 10 animal kingdom phyla spanning 18 diverse classes from the most basal sponges to the late evolving vertebrates. This revealed that three structural domains, pseudoknot, a distal stem-loop moiety and box H/ACA, are conserved within TRs from basal groups to vertebrates, while group-specific elements emerge or disappear during animal TR evolution along different lineages.
Next the corn-smut fungus Ustilago maydis TR was identified using an RNA-immunoprecipitation and next-generation sequencing approach followed by computational identification of TRs from 19 additional class Ustilaginomycetes fungi, leveraging conserved gene synteny among TR genes. Phylogenetic comparative analysis, in vitro telomerase activity and TR mutagenesis studies reveal a secondary structure of TRs from higher fungi, which is also conserved with vertebrates and filamentous fungi, providing a crucial link in TR evolution within the opisthokonta super-kingdom.
Lastly, work by collabarotors from Texas A&M university and others identified the first bona fide TR from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Computational analysis was performed to identify 85 novel AtTR orthologs from three major plant clades: angiosperms, gymnosperms and lycophytes, which facilitated phylogenetic comparative analysis to infer the first plant TR secondary structural model. This model was confirmed using site-specific mutagenesis and telomerase activity assays of in vitro reconstituted enzyme. The structures of plant TRs are conserved across land plants providing an evolutionary bridge that unites the disparate structures of previously characterized TRs from ciliates and vertebrates.
This thesis is about how Fe catalysts can be degraded using photocatalysis and how Fe catalysts can degrade small molecules in conjunction with light. The goal of this paper is to look further into more sustainable methods of organic chemistry. Many current organic chemistry practices involve the use of precious metals. Iron is a more sustainable catalyst because it is abundant and inexpensive which is important for preserving the earth and making the organic chemistry more accessible. Along the same lines, light is a renewable energy source and has demonstrated its ability to aid in reactions. Overall, the goal of this paper is to explore the more sustainable alternatives to harsh and toxic organic chemistry practices through the use of Iron and light.
Non-canonical amino acids (NCAAs) can be used in protein chemistry to determine their structures. A common method for imaging proteins is cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) which is ideal for imaging proteins that cannot be obtained in large quantities. Proteins with indistinguishable features are difficult to image using this method due to the large size requirements, therefore antibodies designed specifically for binding these proteins have been utilized to better identify the proteins. By using an existing antibody that binds to stilbene, NCAAs containing this molecule can be used as a linker between proteins and an antibody. Stilbene containing amino acids can be integrated into proteins to make this process more access able. In this paper, synthesis methods for various NCAAs containing stilbene were proposed. The resulting successfully synthesized NCAAs were E)-N6-(5-oxo-5-((4-styrylphenyl) amino) pentanoyl) lysine, (R,E)-2-amino-3-(5-oxo-5-((4-styrylphenyl)amino)pentanamido)propanoic acid, (E)-2-amino-5-(5-oxo-5-((4-styrylphenyl) amino) pentanamido) pentanoic acid. A synthesis for three more shorter amino acids, (R,E)-2-amino-3-(3-oxo-3-((4-styrylphenyl) amino) propanamido) propanoic acid, (E)-2-amino-5-(3-oxo-3-((4-styrylphenyl) amino) propanamido) pentanoic acid, and (E)-N6-(3-oxo-3-((4-styrylphenyl) amino) propanoyl) lysine, is also proposed.