Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Murray V. Johnston, III, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p.113-118).

The main work presented in this thesis describes proteomics strategies applied to study the trafficking and turnover of glutathione reductase (Glr1) isoforms in the cytosol and mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Additional work was performed in order to understand mass spectrometric response factors and how they can affect peptides representation in the mass spectra. The opportunity to study two sub proteomes involved in biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 arose during my PhD and their analysis is also presented. Glr1 is a low abundant protein involved in the defence mechanisms against reactive oxygen species, which are sources of many diseases. Because of its biological relevance, considerable effort has been made in order to understand its functional role in the cell. This protein has been studied using biochemical strategies. In yeast, the cytosolic and mitochondrial forms of glutathione reductase are expressed by the same gene, GLR1, using alternative start codons. Translation from the first AUG codon generates the mitochondrial form incorporating a transit peptide necessary for import into the mitochondria. If the translation starts at the second AUG codon, the cytosolic counterpart is generated. Biochemical approaches show that the first AUG codon is not in favourable context and it has been suggested that leaky scanning accounts for the abundance of the cytosolic protein. The analysis of Glr1 forms by mass spectrometry was demanded because only the N-terminal region is informative about similarities and differences between cytosolic and mitochondrial forms. The protein is also of low abundance in both cytosol and mitochondrial compartments. A genetically modified strain, over-expressing this protein was, therefore, used throughout this work in order to analyse glutathione reductase in the mitochondria. This was not possible with the wild-type strain. Because the first AUG codon is now in context, the over-producing strain (MORF) yields both cytosolic and full length mitochondrial isoforms in the cytosol. Analysis of the mitochondrial protein shows that the cleavage of the pre-sequence is not specific. Three different forms of the mitochondrial N-terminal peptide were detected. Some attention was also devoted to glutathione reductase turnover in both cytosol and mitochondrial compartments using the genetically modified strain. Both N-terminal peptides generated from translation starting in the first and second AUG codon as well as mid-chain peptides from the cytosol fraction and one mid-chain peptide from the mitochondrial fraction, were used to calculate relative turnover measurements. My results illustrate that the mitochondrial protein is in faster turnover than the cytosolic counterpart. Moreover, the long and short forms observed in the cytosol also show slightly different turnover rates, the long form presenting faster turnover than the short form. Rapid turnover therefore maintains the level of glutathione reductase in the mitochondria. Despite the exquisite sensitivity of mass spectrometry, its restricted dynamic range compared with the dynamic range of the entire proteome is limiting for such studies. Peptides have different responses in the mass spectrometry and factors such as hydrophobicity and gas-phase basicity, can also contribute to low detectability of some peptides. To maximise the mass spectrometric response of peptides especially the ones derived from low abundant proteins, is extremely important. My thesis therefore includes a study of mass spectrometric response of peptides generated by different enzymes. Applying the kinetic method, the importance of the position of basic residues on gas-phase basicity and thus on the mass spectrometric response was demonstrated. In addition, the opportunity to carry out a related study on the proteome analysis of membrane vesicles and matrix within biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 has arisen and results of this study were presented in the final results chapter. It is the first time that two-dimensional chromatography was applied to analyse these sub-proteomes. Moreover, previous studies were mostly limited to the planktonic population; here the proteomes of membrane vesicles and extracellular matrix with the biofilm were addressed.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Statistics, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 28-29).

No description available.

Pesticides including organophosphates (OPs) and carbamates (CBs) are widelyused to control undesirable pests. These compounds are neurotoxic and inhibithydrolysis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine by acetylcholinesterase. Public healthconcerns have increased with the escalating usage of pesticides. Reliable monitoringprograms are required to detect and quantify pesticide exposure, as well as to promotean understanding of their neurotoxic properties. In this dissertation, both theanticholinergic (Part I) toxicity and neurotoxicity in neuroblastoma cells (Part II) ofpesticides were explored using mass spectrometry (MS). The high sensitivity andhigh-throughput of this technique renders it well-suited for proteomics analysis.Part I describes the study of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibition resultingfrom OP and CB exposure. The main hypothesis of Part I is that the specialmodification of BChE can provide the origin and extent of pesticide exposure. A novelmethod for detection and quantification of pesticide exposure was designed using aproteomics approach and equine BChE (eBChE) as a model system. The methodologyfeatured detection and analysis of phosphorylated or carbamylated peptides at theactive site serine residue. The developed technique was successfully applied towardsthe study of human BChE (hBChE) inhibition in vitro and in serum samples. Aspecially designed affinity column enabled an isolation of BChE from serum. EnrichedBChE was subjected to enzymatic digestion by a novel on-bead double digestionprotocol. LC/MS/MS was employed to produce a calibration system for the analysis ofhBChE inhibition, which was then applied towards quantification of the enzyme.Part II describes a proteomic study of the neurotoxicity in neuroblastoma cellscaused from chlorpyrifos (CPF), an organophosphate pesticide. The concerns of CPFexposure to pregnant women, infants and children are increasing due todevelopmentally neurotoxic effects of this chemical. The main hypothesis of Part II isthat CPF can cause protein alterations and these altered proteins can be detected usingproteomics. Systematic studies at subcellular levels evaluated proteome changes inSH-SY5Y cells exposed to CPF. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) wasapplied with MALDI-TOF-MS to analyze differential protein expression. Thirty sevencommon unique altered proteins were identified, which play important roles inmetabolic pathway.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2009. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, 2007. / Härtill 3 uppsatser.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive, irreversible, neurodegenerative disease. The key to understanding AD is to elucidate the pathogenesis of neuron degeneration in specific brain regions.We hypothesize that there is increased DNA oxidation in AD brain compared to age-matched control subjects, especially in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and that the changes in DNA bases will affect protein expression in mitochondria and contribute to neurodegeneration in AD. To test this hypothesis:1) We quantified multiple oxidized bases in nuclear DNA (nDNA) and mtDNA of frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes and cerebellum from late-stage AD (LAD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and age-matched control subjects using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with selective ion monitoring (GC/MS-SIM). Also, we quantified oxidized DNA bases in cortex of APP/PS1 transgenic mice. (a) nDNA and mtDNA were extracted from eight LAD and eight control subjects. We found levels of multiple oxidized bases were significantly higher in frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes and that mtDNA had approximately 10-fold higher levels of oxidized bases than nDNA. Eight-hydroxyguanine was approximately 10-fold higher than other oxidized base adducts in both LAD and control subjects. These results suggest that oxidative damage to mtDNA may contribute to the neurodegeneration of AD. (b) Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), the phase between normal aging and early dementia, is a common problem in the elderly with many subjects going on to develop AD. Results from eight amnestic MCI and six control subjects suggest oxidative damage to DNA occurs in the earliest detectable phase of AD. (c) Analysis of nDNA from the cortex of four groups (3m, 6m, 9m, 12m) of APP/PS1 and wild type mice showed elevations of 8-hydroxyguanine in 12 month old APP/PS1 mice.2) To analyze mitochondrial protein changes in LAD, 2D gels were run to separate proteins and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was used to identify proteins.Five mitochondrial proteins were significantly decreased in LAD. This proteomic study provides a proteome map of mitochondria in LAD brain and an insight into the pathogenesis of neuron degeneration in Alzheimer's disease.