Orientador: Eduardo Galembeck / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T00:57:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Brum_ItarajuJuniorBaracuhy_M.pdf: 1893501 bytes, checksum: 59afb345a47fb8e963452a41b2327f1c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: A área de proteômica visa estudar um conjunto completo de proteínas expressas por um organismo ou tecido numa dada situação, através da identificação e quantificação. Apesar de limitações nas técnicas disponíveis, vem se aumentando o volume de informações oriundos desta área, situação que exige o emprego de ferramentas computacionais para permitir o uso eficiente de dados disponíveis, além de buscar-se novas formas de análise destes. Este projeto visa o desenvolvimento de ferramentas de bioinformática para aplicação em proteômica. Estas ferramentas abrangem as seguintes aplicações: Cálculo Teórico de Ponto Isoelétrico e Peso Molecular de seqüências de aminoácidos, eletroforese-bidimensional teórica, digestão teórica e simulação de eletroforese e identificação de peptídeos, ferramenta para análise de Vias Metabólicas a partir de dados de proteômica / Abstract: The proteomics field aims to study sets of proteins expressed in a cell or tissue, according to a specific situation, through protein identification and quantification. Though technical limitations do exist, the amount of information derived from this field increases each day. And so, there is a need for employing computational tools that enable efficient analysis of data. This project aims developing bioinformatics tools for application in proteomics. The tools here presented comprehend the following tasks: theoretical computation of isoeletric point and molecular weight of aminoacid sequences, theoretical two-dimensional electrophoresis, theoretical triptic digestion and electrophoresis simulation for peptide identification, and analysis of metabolic pathways with proteomics data / Mestrado / Bioquimica / Mestre em Biologia Funcional e Molecular

Aging can be defined as the accumulation of changes affecting the maintenance of homeostatic processes over time, leading to functional decline and increased risk for disease and death. In its simplicity, aging is the systemwide deterioration of an organism. Genetic studies have identified many potential molecular mechanisms of aging including DNA damage, telomere shortening, mitochondrial dysfunction, increased oxidative stress, uncontrolled inflammation, and hormone dysregulation (reviewed in [1]). However, in reality, aging is likely to be a combination of some (or potentially all) of these mechanisms. Interestingly, aging and metabolism are tightly coordinated. Aging is a major contributor to metabolic decline and related diseases, including type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. One of the best characterized metabolic pathways implicated in aging is the insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway. Downstream signaling components of the IIS pathway receptor have been well studied and include an interconnected network of signaling events that regulate many physiological outputs. However, less is known about the role of upstream signaling components and how intracellular pathways and physiology are regulated accordingly. In Part I, I present my work towards understanding upstream IIS pathway components using a systems biology approach. The goal of this study is to gain insight into the redundancy and specificity of the insulin gene family responsible for initiating IIS pathway activity in Caenorhabditis elegans. The information gained will serve as a foundation for future studies dissecting the molecular mechanisms of this pathway in efforts to uncouple the downstream signaling and physiological outputs. The clear impact of metabolism on aging and disease stimulated questions regarding the potential of promoting health and longevity through diet and dietary mimetics. Recent findings indicate reduced food intake, meal timing and nutritional modulation of the gut microbiome can ameliorate signs of aging and age-associated diseases. Aging, therefore, is also the result of dynamic and complex interplay between genes of an organism and its environment. In Part II, I will discuss my efforts to gain insight into how diet influences aging. This preliminary study has demonstrated that diet can affect lifespan in the model organism, C. elegans. Additionally, we observe diet-specific effects on drug efficacy that, in turn, modulates C. elegans lifespan and reproduction. The implications of these experiments, while limited, illustrate a potentially greater role in diet- and drug-mediated effects on lifespan.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online through Digital Dissertations.