Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2010.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Sept 22, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-45).

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Dept. of Human Genetics. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2009/06/18). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Molecular Biology) -- University of Colorado Denver, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-149). Free to UCD affiliates. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-82).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 22, 2006). The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. "May 2006" Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The role of Indian hedgehog (Ihh) signalling in the regulation of endochondral bone formation is well established. Ihh controls the rate of bone growth by negatively regulating differentiation and positively regulating growth plate chondrocyte proliferation. It has been well documented also that mutations resulting in constitutive activation of signalling through FGFR3 in chondrodysplasia, lead to a significant decrease in this important signalling factor accompanied by reduced proliferation of the chondrocytes and a dwarf phenotype. / In an attempt to rescue the chondrodysplasia phenotype hedgehog agonist Hh-Ag 1.4 was injected subcutaneously into mice with achondroplasia (ACH) or with severe achondroplasia with developmental delay and acanthosis negricans (SADDAN) with mixed results. / Administration of a hedgehog agonist in SADDAN mice led to a significant up-regulation of both Ptch and Gli1, as measured by quantitative PCR, indicating that Hh-Ag 1.4 does indeed stimulate hedgehog signalling in vivo. Also, in situ hybridization for Ihh seems to show a down regulation of native Ihh expression in pre-hypertrophic chondrocytes, possibly due to the activation of the negative PTHrP feedback loop. In our study, Hh-Ag 1.4 treatment resulted in an increased growth plate length and reduced size of the hypertrophic zone. The cortical bone flanking the growth plate in mice injected with Hh-Ag 1.4 was 2-3 times thicker than in control mice, which may be attributed to the positive effect of increased Ihh signalling in osteoblastogenesis. Contrary to our expectations, there was also a noticeable reduction in chondrocyte proliferation in mice treated with the agonist. / Overall, the effect on the growth of long bones was not beneficial and the treatment with high doses of Hh-Ag 1.4 did not result in an amelioration of the chondrodysplastic phenotype.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 22, 2006). The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Vita. "May 2006" Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

A Síndrome de Marfan (SMF) é a enfermidade hereditária mais comum dentre as que afetam o sistema conjuntivo, causada por mutações da glicoproteína fibrilina-1, o principal componente estrutural das microfibrilas elásticas da matriz extracelular. As manifestações fenotípicas da SMF são sistêmicas e acometem tipicamente os sistemas ocular, esquelético e cardiovascular, este uma importante causa de morbi-mortalidade. Entretanto, não está claro como a mutação induz a doença. Estudos anteriores sugerem anomalias morfológicas do retículo endoplasmático (RE) ou retenção intracelular da fibrilina-1 nos estágios avançados da SMF. Entretanto, a contribuição do enovelamento da fibrilina-1 mutada e do estresse do RE na fisiopatologia celular da SMF não é conhecida. Proteínas mal-enoveladas podem levar à retenção intracelular e/ou aumento da degradação através da via de degradação associada ao RE (ERAD), além da indução da resposta a proteínas mal-enoveladas (UPR), ambas com potencial contribuição à fisiopatologia de doenças, incluindo a SMF. Assim, estudamos em fibroblastos embrionários isolados de camundongos (MEFs) com SMF se a fibrilina-1 mutada é reconhecida pelo controle de qualidade do RE pelo seu mal- enovelamento e induz estresse do RE por sua retenção intracelular. Demonstramos que a mutação na fibrilina-1 per se não promoveu chaperonas marcadoras de UPR ou geração de oxidantes. Além disso, não levou a uma maior sensibilização das células à indução exógena de estresse do RE, nem promoveu maior morte celular após inibição do proteassoma. Além disso, não foi observada retenção intracelular da fibrilina-1 nas células SMF, e mesmo após inibição da via secretora ou indução de estresse do RE, a inibição da secreção da fibrilina-1 foi similar nos MEFs SMF e wild-type (WT). A dissulfeto isomerase proteica (PDI), uma importante chaperona redox do RE, interage com fibrilina-1, e seu silenciamento levou a um aumento na secreção da fibrilina-1 pelos MEFs WT, mas não SMF. Além disso, o silenciamento da PDI promoveu a desorganização da matriz extracelular depositada de fibrilina-1 nos MEFs WT, enquanto nos MEFs SMF, a desorganização basal da matriz não foi adicionalmente alterada. Em paralelo, investigações in vivo mostraram que o estresse do RE não é induzido em camundongos SMF com 1 ou 3 meses de idade, apesar de manifestações fenotípicas evidentes. Entretanto, concomitante à progressão da doença, detectamos a ocorrência de estresse do RE nas aortas ascendentes dos camundongos aos 6 meses. Esta detecção foi exclusiva desta região da aorta e não ocorreu em outros órgãos afetados ou não afetados pela SMF. Assim, a manifestação do fenótipo clássico da SMF não requer uma perda da homeostase do RE diretamente induzida pela fibrilina-1 mutada. Ao contrário, esta é capaz de evadir mecanismos de controle de qualidade mediados pela PDI, sendo secretada normalmente. Assim, esta evasão do controle de qualidade pela PDI é uma condição permissiva essencial para o fenótipo da SMF. Por outro lado, o estresse do RE é uma característica evolutiva do aneurisma da aorta ascendente na SMF concomitante ao agravamento do fenótipo neste tecido / Marfan syndrome (MFS) is the most common connective tissue hereditary disease, caused by mutations in the glycoprotein fibrillin-1, the main structural component of extracellular matrix elastic microfibrils. MFS phenotypic manifestations are systemic and typically involve the ocular, skeletal and cardiovascular systems, the latter a major cause of morbidity/mortality. However, how gene mutation induxes disease is yet unclear. Previous studies suggest endoplasmic reticulum (ER) morphological abnormalities or fibrillin-1 intracellular retention in advanced MFS stages. However, the contribution of mutated fibrillin-1 folding and ER stress to MFS cellular pathophysiology is unknown. Un/misfolded proteins may associate with their intracellular retention and/or increased degradation through ER-associated degradation (ERAD), in addition to inducing the unfolded protein response (UPR), both sharing potential contributions to disease pathophysiology, including MFS. Thus, we studied in embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) isolated from WT and MFS mice, if mutated fibrillin-1 can be recognized by ER quality control as a misfolded protein, able to induce ER stress due to its intracellular retention. We showed that fibrillin-1 mutation by itself did not promote UPR chaperone markers or oxidant generation. Moreover, it did not sensitize cells to exogenous ER stress nor affected cell survival curves after proteasome inhibition. Furthermore, no intracellular retention of fibrillin-1 was observed in MFS cells, and even after secretory pathway inhibition or ER stress induction, fibrillin-1 secretion inhibition was similar in MFS and wild-type (WT) MEFs. Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), an important ER redox chaperone, interacts with fibrillin-1 and its silencing induced an increased fibrillin-1 secretion in WT, but not MFS MEFs. Besides, PDI silencing promoted fibrillin-1 extracellular matrix disorganization in WT MEFs, whereas in MFS MEFs, the basal matrix disorganization was not further modified. Parallel in vivo evaluations demonstrated that ER stress is also not induced in 1 and 3 month-old mice MFS, despite evident phenotypical manifestations. However, concomitant to accelerated disease progression at 6 months, ER stress was detectable in ascendant aorta, but not in other disease-affected or unaffected organs. Thus, classic MFS phenotype manifestations do not require loss of ER homeostasis directly induced by mutated fibrillin-1. Contrarily, the latter can evade a PDI-mediated quality control mechanism to be normally secreted. Therefore, evading such PDI-mediated quality control is an essential permissive condition for enabling the MFS phenotype. On the other hand, ER stress is an evolutive feature of MFS ascendant aorta aneurysm concomitant to phenotype progression in this tissue