Thesis (doctoral)--Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 1991. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references.

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Yao, Yao. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-151). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese.

Developmental Dyslexia (DD) refers to a reading disorder affecting individuals that possess otherwise normal intelligence. Having demonstrated by familial and twin studies, genetic factors are found to be of major significance to DD development. A strong dyslexia susceptibility gene KIAA0319 (K), of which crucial role in DD had been revealed by various linkage and association studies, was found to have 40% reduction in expression in the DD risk haplotype. Besides, both up- and down-regulation of K would result in impaired neuronal migration in rat. Despite the undoubtedly strong linkage of K to DD, biological and molecular knowledge of K is still lacking. Consequently, how K plays its role in DD remains unclear. To address this question, investigations of human K protein and its interactions in molecular level were performed. K protein is a large transmembrane protein which consists of four main parts, including the N-terminus of K which has a MANSC domain downstream of the signal peptide, a large cluster of five PKD domains in the middle of the protein sequence, a Cysteine -rich C6 region together with a transmembrane domain which had been demonstrated to be critical for forming K protein homodimer, and the only cytoplasmic C-terminus of K. Having shown that no gross effect on gene expression at both mRNA and protein level was found with overexpressing K by DNA microarray and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, protein interactions involving K were targeted for investigation. Towards this goal, a monoclonal antibody against K was raised, which is capable for recognizing native full-length K proteins in immunoblotting, indirect immunofluorescence staining, as well as in immunoprecipitation. A novel K interaction partner protein KIAA0319-Like (KL), which is a homologous protein of K with high sequence similarity (59%), has been found and confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation. No interaction was shown for truncation mutants of Cysteine-rich C6 region in either K or KL proteins, cuing that the interaction of K and KL at C6 region is a mimic of K homodimer, and led to a hypothesis that the function of K is regulated by KL, which serves as a molecular control of neuronal migration by regulating the formation of K dimer. Another known interaction partner of K protein, the mu---subunit of Adaptor protein 2 complex (AP2M1) which binds to cytoplasmic C-terminus of K (55% similarity to that of KL), was found to have similar binding behaviour towards K as well as KL by co-immunoprecipitation and molecular docking. In addition to AP2M1, two adaptor proteins FEM and SH2 were also confirmed to be interacting with cytoplasmic C-terminus of K, suggested that cytoplasmic region of K is responsible for interactions of downstream cellular pathways. Interaction of K with adaptor proteins also suggested that K might be a membrane receptor that mediates signalling via various adapter proteins. The N-terminus of K protein which has the least sequence similarity to KL (31%) is hence thought to confer to the specificity of the receptor and is critical to the function of K in DD. / Chan, Hoi Ling. / Adviser: Mary M. Y. Waye. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-04, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-170). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

Chen, Shuyan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-98). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / ACKNOWLEGGMENTS --- p.v / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.vi / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / ABBREVIATIONS --- p.viii / CONTENTS --- p.ix / Chapter Chapter I --- Introduction / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction of BRE / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Discovery of BRE --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Isoforms of BRE --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Homology and orthologs of BRE --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.4 --- Expression studies of BRE mRNA --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.5 --- Expression and cellular localization of BRE protein --- p.5 / Chapter 1.1.6 --- Interaction between BRE and death receptor --- p.6 / Chapter 1.1.7 --- Anti-apoptotic effect of BRE in cell line studies --- p.9 / Chapter 1.1.8 --- Anti-apoptotic effect of BRE in vivo --- p.11 / Chapter 1.1.9 --- BRE's role in DNA repair and ubiquitination --- p.12 / Chapter 1.1.10 --- BRE's role in regulation of Prohibitin and p53 expression --- p.13 / Chapter 1.2 --- Hepatocellular carcinoma / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Carcinogenesis --- p.15 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Diethylnitrosamine -induced HCC --- p.15 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Mouse model for HCC studies --- p.17 / Chapter 1.2.4 --- BRE in human HCC --- p.18 / Chapter 1.3 --- Green Fluorescent Protein / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Application of GFP in biological research --- p.19 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Advantage of GFP applied in protein localization --- p.19 / Chapter Chapter II --- Materials and Methods / Chapter 2.1 --- Materials / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Primer used for cloning --- p.20 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- DNA clones used in the studies --- p.21 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Materials for DNA manipulation --- p.24 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Materials for protein manipulation --- p.24 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- Antibodies --- p.25 / Chapter 2.1.6 --- Chemicals --- p.25 / Chapter 2.1.7 --- Kits --- p.26 / Chapter 2.1.8 --- Culture media and reagents --- p.26 / Chapter 2.1.9 --- Bacterial strain used for transformation and cloning --- p.26 / Chapter 2.1.10 --- Instrumentation --- p.27 / Chapter 2.1.11 --- Animals --- p.27 / Chapter 2.1.12 --- Slides --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2 --- Methods / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Construction of Plasmids / Chapter 2.2.1.1 --- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) --- p.28 / Chapter 2.2.1.2 --- Enzyme Digestion and Ligation --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2.1.3 --- Transformaion / Chapter 2.2.1.3.1 --- Preparation of competent cells --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2.1.3.2 --- Heat-shock Transformation --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2.1.4 --- Midi Prep of plasmids --- p.30 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Cell Culture --- p.30 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Transfection --- p.30 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- MG-132 treatment --- p.31 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Flow Cytometry --- p.32 / Chapter 2.2.6 --- Western blotting / Chapter 2.2.6.1 --- SDS-PAGE --- p.32 / Chapter 2.2.6.2 --- Immunoblotting --- p.32 / Chapter 2.2.7 --- Production of Monoclonal Antibody --- p.33 / Chapter 2.2.8 --- Mice --- p.34 / Chapter 2.2.9 --- Tissue Processing --- p.35 / Chapter 2.2.10 --- Tissue Section --- p.35 / Chapter 2.2.11 --- Immunostaining --- p.36 / Chapter 2.2.12 --- H&E staining --- p.36 / Chapter 2.2.13 --- Picture Capture --- p.37 / Chapter 2.2.14 --- Confocal imaging --- p.37 / Chapter 2.2.14 --- Statistical Analysis --- p.37 / Chapter Chapter III --- BRE promotes growth of chemically-induced hepatocellular carcinoma / Chapter 3.1 --- DEN induced HCC in male mice --- p.38 / Chapter 3.2 --- BRE facilitates HCC in female mice --- p.44 / Chapter 3.3 --- Over-expression of BRE in tumor portion --- p.45 / Chapter 3.4 --- Direct effect of DEN on BRE expression --- p.47 / Chapter 3.5 --- Contribution of infiltrating cells in up-regulation of BRE --- p.50 / Chapter Chaper IV --- Subcellular localization of BRE / Chapter 4.1 --- GFP-BRE fusion constructs --- p.55 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Transfection of GFP-BRE fusions --- p.58 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Flow cytometry analysis of GFP-BRE fusions --- p.59 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Western blot analysis of GFP-BRE fusions --- p.62 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Stabilities of GFP-BRE fusions --- p.64 / Chapter 4.2 --- Fusions between GFP and the deletion mutants of BRE --- p.66 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Transfection of mutants --- p.68 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Low expression of mutants --- p.69 / Chapter 4.3 --- MG-132 treatments / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Increased expression of fusion proteins --- p.74 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Subcellular localization of GFP-BRE fusions --- p.77 / Chapter Chapter V --- Discussion / Chapter 5.1 --- Functional role of BRE in HCC / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Stage model of carcinogenesis --- p.81 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Anti-apoptotic genes in cancer --- p.84 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Limitation of the study --- p.85 / Chapter 5.1.4 --- Conclusion --- p.85 / Chapter 5.2 --- Subcellular localization of BRE / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Low expression of GFP-BRE fusions --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Additional study --- p.90 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Conclusion --- p.90 / Reference --- p.91 / Appendix --- p.99

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-106).

Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that regulates neurite branching, induces neurite outgrowth, and synapse formation. Because of its various roles in neuronal activities, acetylcholine-based materials may also be useful in nerve repair. We present a series of biodegradable polymers with varying concentrations of acetylcholine-like motifs. We hypothesize that neurite sprouting and extension can be enhanced by using materials to present biochemical and physical cues. Acetylcholine-like motifs were incorporated by the polycondensation of diglycidyl sebacate, aminoethyl acetate, and leucine ethyl ester, which permitted control over acetylcholine motif concentration. Interactions between the polymers and neurons were characterized using rat dorsal root ganglia explants (DRG). We screened the potential application of these materials in nerve tissue engineering using the following criteria: 1) neurite sprouting, 2) neurite length, and 3) distribution of the neurite lengths. The ability of DRG to sprout neurites was influenced by the concentration of acetylcholine motifs of the polymer. Addition of acetylcholine receptor antagonists to DRG cultured on the polymers significantly decreased neurite sprouting, suggesting acetylcholine receptors mediate sprouting on the polymers. Future studies may examine how neurons on acetylcholine-based polymers exhibit changes in downstream signaling events and cell excitability that are associated with receptor activation. In preparation for testing the acetylcholine-based polymers in vivo, porous scaffolds with longitudinally oriented channels were fabricated using fiber templating and salt leaching. Micro computed tomography, scanning electron microscopy, and cryo-sectioning revealed the presence of longitudinally oriented channels. Channel volume and average pore size of the scaffolds were controlled by the number of fibers and salt fusion time. Future studies may involve testing the effect of acetylcholine-motifs by coating polymers onto such scaffolds or assessing the effect of the scaffold's dimensional properties on nerve regeneration.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Yes / Current nerve tissue engineering applications are adopting xenogeneic nerve tissue as potential nerve grafts to help aid nerve regeneration. However, there is little literature that describes the exact location, anatomy and physiology of these nerves to highlight their potential as a donor graft. The aim of this study was to identify and characterise the structural and extracellular matrix (ECM) components of porcine peripheral nerves in the hind leg. Methods included the dissection of porcine nerves, localisation, characterisation and quantification of the ECM components and identification of nerve cells. Results showed a noticeable variance between porcine and rat nerve (a commonly studied species) in terms of fascicle number. The study also revealed that when porcine peripheral nerves branch, a decrease in fascicle number and size was evident. Porcine ECM and nerve fascicles were found to be predominately comprised of collagen together with glycosaminoglycans, laminin and fibronectin. Immunolabelling for nerve growth factor receptor p75 also revealed the localisation of Schwann cells around and inside the fascicles. In conclusion, it is shown that porcine peripheral nerves possess a microstructure similar to that found in rat, and is not dissimilar to human. This finding could extend to the suggestion that due to the similarities in anatomy to human nerve, porcine nerves may have utility as a nerve graft providing guidance and support to regenerating axons.