Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed on June 26, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

<p>Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, has during the last decade received a lot of attention due to its involvement in a large number of pathological conditions. Since death is always irreversible, it is important for cells to fully control the initiation and execution of this process. One of many apoptosis-regulatory proteins is XIAP, which blocks the action of caspases, a family of proteases that are important during apoptosis. However, apoptosis inhibitors have to be tightly controlled since too little cell death can lead to the development of tumors and other diseases. This thesis is the result of an aspiration to fully understand the function and regulation of XIAP.</p><p>By using the yeast-2-hybrid system, we identified two novel binding partners of XIAP. The first, GPS2, was found to bind XIAP and inhibit its ability to block caspase-activity. In addition, GPS2 induced caspase-mediated cell death in two different tumour cell lines and XIAP inhibited this effect.</p><p>The second binding partner, Nulp1, preferentially bound XIAP in the presence of the apoptosis-inducer staurosporine. Nulp1 induced or sensitized cell lines to cell death when overexpressed, but this was not blocked by caspase-inhibitors or XIAP, suggesting a different reason for binding than apoptosis regulation. With the aim to understand the Nulp1-XIAP interaction, we continued to study Nulp1 <i>in vivo</i> and <i>in vitro</i>. We studied three different splice variants of Nulp1 and found that they were regulated by poly-ubiquitination and nuclear shuttling. Also, Nulp1 was expressed in embryonic mice, especially in the cortical plate, hippocampal neurons and cerebellar granular neurons. Expression of Nulp1 decreased with age but was still present in cerebellar deep nuclei and Purkinje cells of adult mice. </p><p>To summarize, we have identified GPS2 as an apoptosis-inducing factor and an inhibitor of XIAP <i>in vitro</i>, and Nulp1 as a XIAP-interacting protein during staurosporine-induced apoptosis.</p>

Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, has during the last decade received a lot of attention due to its involvement in a large number of pathological conditions. Since death is always irreversible, it is important for cells to fully control the initiation and execution of this process. One of many apoptosis-regulatory proteins is XIAP, which blocks the action of caspases, a family of proteases that are important during apoptosis. However, apoptosis inhibitors have to be tightly controlled since too little cell death can lead to the development of tumors and other diseases. This thesis is the result of an aspiration to fully understand the function and regulation of XIAP. By using the yeast-2-hybrid system, we identified two novel binding partners of XIAP. The first, GPS2, was found to bind XIAP and inhibit its ability to block caspase-activity. In addition, GPS2 induced caspase-mediated cell death in two different tumour cell lines and XIAP inhibited this effect. The second binding partner, Nulp1, preferentially bound XIAP in the presence of the apoptosis-inducer staurosporine. Nulp1 induced or sensitized cell lines to cell death when overexpressed, but this was not blocked by caspase-inhibitors or XIAP, suggesting a different reason for binding than apoptosis regulation. With the aim to understand the Nulp1-XIAP interaction, we continued to study Nulp1 in vivo and in vitro. We studied three different splice variants of Nulp1 and found that they were regulated by poly-ubiquitination and nuclear shuttling. Also, Nulp1 was expressed in embryonic mice, especially in the cortical plate, hippocampal neurons and cerebellar granular neurons. Expression of Nulp1 decreased with age but was still present in cerebellar deep nuclei and Purkinje cells of adult mice. To summarize, we have identified GPS2 as an apoptosis-inducing factor and an inhibitor of XIAP in vitro, and Nulp1 as a XIAP-interacting protein during staurosporine-induced apoptosis.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2006. / Härtill 3 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Dept. of Neurology and Neurosurgery. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/05/14). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Toledo, 2008. / "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences." Title from title page of PDF document. Bibliography: pages 49-62.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Cell & Developmental Biology) -- University of Colorado Denver, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-158). Free to UCD affiliates. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

Une craniosynostose est une pathologie caractérisée par la fusion prématurée d'une ou plusieurs sutures crâniennes. C'est un défaut de naissance assez fréquent (1/2500 naissances) qui résulte en une forme anormale du crâne et qui peut être accompagné d'une déficience mentale dans certains cas. Des mutations du gène TWIST1, qui encode un facteur de transcription basique Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) de classe II, causent le syndrome de Saethre-Chotzen qui est associé à une synostose de la suture coronale (El Ghouzzi et al. 1997; Howard et al. 1997). Un nouveau gène a récemment été découvert comme étant une nouvelle cause du syndrome Saethre-Chotzen ainsi que de synostose coronale asyndromique (Sharma, Fenwick, Brockop, et al., 2013): il s'agit du gène TCF12, qui encode un facteur de transcription bHLH de classe I.Nous démontrons qu'une reduction de l'expression génique de Twist1 et Tcf12 chez la souris cause une synostose coronale, et nous suggérons que les protéines bHLH Twist1 et Tcf12 forment des hétérodimères dont le dosage est critique pour le développement de la suture coronale.Nous nous concentrons aussi sur Twist1 et prouvons que son expression est requise dans les tissus dérivant du mésoderme ainsi que ceux dérivant des crêtes neurales pour le développement normal de la suture coronale.De plus, nous notons que dans la suture coronale, Twist1 exclut Notch2 afin de garder la suture ouverte, et beta-catenin joue un rôle dans la maintenance de l'ouverture de la suture en ciblant Jagged1 lors du développement de la suture coronale chez la souris.Enfin, nous mentionnons de nouveaux gènes qui pourraient avoir un impact sur le développement normal de la suture coronale: Aggrecan, Goosecoid, Gucy1a3 et Gucy1b3. / Craniosynostosis, the premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures, is a common birth defect (1/2500 live births) that results in abnormalities in skull shape and sometimes in neurological deficiencies (Wilkie, 1997; Wilkie and Morriss-Kay, 2001). Mutations in TWIST1, which encodes a class II basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, cause Saethre-Chotzen syndrome, associated with coronal synostosis (El Ghouzzi et al. 1997; Howard et al. 1997). We recently discovered a new craniosynostosis gene, TCF12, which encodes a class I bHLH transcription factor. Tcf12 causes.Saethre-Chotzen syndrome and asyndromic coronal synostosis. (Sharma, Fenwick, Brockop, et al., 2013). We show that a reduction in the dosage of Twist1 and Tcf12 in mouse causes coronal synostosis, and we suggest that the Twist1 and Tcf12 form heterodimers whose dosage is critical for coronal suture development. We also demonstrate that Twist1 is required in both neural-crest and mesoderm-derived tissues for the normal coronal suture development. Moreover, we show that in the coronal suture, Twist1 excludes Notch2 thus maintaining suture patency. and we show that beta-catenin also plays a role in the maintenance of suture patency by regulating Jagged1. Finally, we identified Aggrecan, Goosecoid, Gucy1a3 and Gucy1b3 as Twist1-regulated genes that could have an impact on the normal development of the coronal suture.

In mammals, circadian rhythms are generated by transcriptional-translational feedback loops consisting of a set of clock genes and their protein products. Among them, Bmal1 is a critical clock gene in generating and maintaining circadian rhythms. Moreover, orphan nuclear receptors REV-ERBs and RORs were known to respectively repress and activate Bmal1 transcription. In our study, we further demonstrated that: (1) REV-ERBalpha might be the main regulator in maintaining Bmal1 oscillation in thymus. (2) Rorgamma mRNA is constant in muscle and testis, and rhythmic in liver, while Rorgammat mRNA is only expressed in thymus, at constant levels. Moreover, the expressions of these two Rorgamma isoforms are affected in Clock mutant mice in a distinct way. (3) RORgamma and RORgammat can activate Bmal1 transcription at a similar level. (4) Rorgamma is a clock-controlled gene. Altogether, our results suggest that the crucial role of REV-ERBs and RORs in peripheral clocks. Furthermore, our work highlights functional differences among mammalian peripheral clocks, which provides important insights into the complexity of the circadian system.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-63).