Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:08:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FranciscoPBJ_DISSERT.pdf: 5706323 bytes, checksum: 7e213d2df30615621d9d118318bdfa95 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-28 / Petr?leo Brasileiro SA - PETROBRAS / With the increasing of energetic consumption in the worldwile, conventional reservoirs, known by their easy exploration and exploitation, are not being enough to satisfy this demand, what has made necessary exploring unconventional reservoirs. This kind of exploration demands developing more advanced technologies to make possible to exploit those hydrocarbons. Tight gas is an example of this kind of unconventional reservoir. It refers to sandstone fields with low porosity, around 8%, and permeabilities between 0.1 and 0.0001 mD, which accumulates considerable amounts of natural gas. That natural gas can only be extracted by applying hydraulic fracturing, aiming at stimulating the reservoir, by creating a preferential way through the reservoir to the well, changing and making easier the flow of fluids, thus increasing the productivity of those reservoirs. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is analyzing the recovery factor of a reservoir by applying hydraulic fracturing. All the studies were performed through simulations using the IMEX software, by CMG (Computer Modelling Group), in it 2012.10 version / Com o crescimento do consumo energ?tico em todo o mundo, os reservat?rios convencionais, chamados de reservat?rios de f?cil explora??o e produ??o n?o est?o atendendo ? demanda energ?tica mundial, fazendo-se necess?rio a explora??o de reservas n?o convencionais. Esse tipo de explora??o exige o desenvolvimento de tecnologias mais avan?adas para a sua explota??o. Como exemplo dessas reservas, temos os reservat?rios do tipo Tight Gas, onde referem-se aos campos de arenito com baixa porosidade, na faixa de 8%, e permeabilidade na faixa entre 0,1 mD e 0,0001 mD, que acumulam consider?veis reservas de g?s natural, podendo apresentar viabilidade econ?mica para explota??o. O g?s natural nesse tipo de reservat?rio s? pode ser extra?do a partir da aplica??o da t?cnica de faturamento hidr?ulico, que tem por finalidade estimular o po?o, criando um canal de alta condutividade entre o po?o e o reservat?rio alterando e facilitando o fluxo de fluidos, aumentando assim a produtividade do reservat?rio. Assim, o objetivo desse trabalho ? analisar o fator de recupera??o do reservat?rio com a aplica??o do fraturamento hidr?ulico. Os estudos foram realizados atrav?s de simula??es concretizadas no m?dulo IMEX do programa da CMG (Computer Modelling Group), vers?o 2012.10

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / Grafeno, uma rede bidimensional de Ãtomos de carbono, tem sido amplamente estudado durante os Ãltimos anos. O interesse por este material nÃo à apenas devido Ãs suas possÃveis aplicaÃÃes tecnolÃgicas futuras, mas tambÃm porque oferece a possibilidade de investigar fenÃmenos interessantes previstos pelas teorias quÃnticas de campo, que vÃo desde o tunelamento de Klein e outros efeitos quasi-relativÃsticos à existÃncia de novos tipos de graus de liberdade do elÃtron, ou seja, o pseudo-spin, e a existÃncia de dois vales eletrÃnicos nÃo-equivalentes na vizinhanÃa dos pontos sem gap do seu espectro de energia. VÃrias das propriedades exÃticas observadas no grafeno originam-se do facto de que dentro da aproximaÃÃo de baixas energias para o Hamiltoniano tight-binding do grafeno, elÃtrons se comportam como fÃrmions de Dirac sem massa, com uma dispersÃo de energia linear. Assim como no caso de uma monocamada de grafeno, o espectro eletrÃnico de baixas energias para uma bicamada de grafeno à sem gap, mas, neste caso, à dominado pela dispersÃo parabÃlica. No entanto, uma caracterÃstica interessante à compartilhada por ambas monocamada e bicamada de grafeno: o grau de liberdade de vale. Nesta tese, nÃs investigamos teoricamente: (i) as propriedades dinÃmicas em mono e bicamadas de grafeno, realizando um estudo sistemÃtico do espalhamento de pacotes de onda em diferentes formas de interfaces, bordas e potenciais; e, alÃm disso, (ii) os nÃveis de energia de sistemas confinados no grafeno na presenÃa ou ausÃncia de campos magnÃticos e elÃtricos externos. Na primeira parte do trabalho, nÃs utilizamos a abordagem tight-binding para estudar o espalhamento de um pacote de onda Gaussiano nas bordas de uma monocamada de grafeno (armchair e zigzag) na presenÃa de campos magnÃticos reais e pseudo-magnÃticos (induzidos por tensÃo) e tambÃm calculamos as probabilidades de transmissÃo de um pacote de onda Gaussiano atravÃs de um contato de ponto quÃntico definido por potenciais eletrostÃticos em bicamadas de grafeno. Estes cÃlculos numÃricos sÃo baseados na soluÃÃo da equaÃÃo de SchrÃdinger dependente do tempo para o Hamiltoniano do modelo tight-binding, usando a tÃcnica Split-operator. Nossa teoria permite investigar espalhamento no espaÃo recÃproco, e dependendo do tipo de borda do grafeno, nÃs observamos espalhamento dentro do mesmo vale, ou entre diferentes vales. Na presenÃa de um campo magnÃtico externo, as bem conhecidas Ãrbitas skipping orbits sÃo observadas. No entanto, nossos resultados demonstram que, no caso de um campo pseudo-magnÃtico induzido por uma tensÃo nÃo-uniforme, o espalhamento por uma borba armchair resulta em um estado de borda nÃo-propagante. NÃs tambÃm propomos um sistema de filtragem de vales muito eficiente atravÃs de um sistema de contato de ponto quÃntico definido por portas eletrostÃticas em uma bicamada de grafeno. Para o sistema de bicamadas sugerido, nÃs investigamos a forma de melhorar a eficiÃncia do sistema como um filtro de vales por diferentes parÃmetros, como comprimento, largura e amplitude do potencial aplicado. Na segunda parte da tese, nÃs apresentamos um estudo sistemÃtico dos espectros de energia de anÃis quÃnticos de grafeno com diferentes geometrias e tipos de borda, na presenÃa de um campo magnÃtico perpendicular. NÃs discutimos quais caracterÃsticas obtidas por meio de um modelo simplificado de Dirac podem ser recuperadas quando os auto-estados de anÃis quÃnticos de grafeno sÃo comparados com os resultados do modelo tight-binding. AlÃm disso, nÃs tambÃm investigamos os estados confinados em dois sistemas hÃbridos diferentes de monocamada - bicamada, identificando estados localizados dentro do ponto e estados de borda para as estruturas de confinamento em bicamadas sugeridas, assim como vamos estudar o comportamento dos nÃveis de energia em funÃÃo do tamanho do ponto e sob um campo magnÃtico externo aplicado. Finalmente, usando o modelo contÃnuo de Dirac de quatro bandas, nÃs tambÃm derivamos uma expressÃo geral para a condiÃÃo de contorno de massa infinita em bicamada de grafeno, a fim de aplicar essa condiÃÃo de contorno para calcular analiticamente os estados confinados e as correspondentes funÃÃes de onda em um ponto quÃntico em uma bicamada de grafeno na ausÃncia e na presenÃa de um campo magnÃtico perpendicular. Nossos resultados analÃticos apresentam boa concordÃncia quando comparados com os resultados tight-binding. / Graphene, a two-dimensional lattice of carbon atoms, has been widely studied during the past few years. The interest in this material is not only due to its possible future technological applications, but also because it provides the possibility to probe interesting phenomena predicted by quantum field theories, ranging from Klein tunneling and other quasi-relativistic effects to the existence of new types of electron degrees of freedom, namely, the pseudo-spin, and the existence of two inequivalent electronic valleys in the vicinity of the gapless points of its energy spectrum. Several of the exotic properties observed in graphene originate from the fact that within the low energy approximation for the tight-binding Hamiltonian of graphene, electrons behave as massless Dirac fermions, with a linear energy dispersion. Just like in single layer graphene, the low-energy eletronic spectrum in bilayer graphene is gapless, but in this case it is dominated by the parabolic dispersion. Nevertheless, one interesting feature is shared by both monolayer and bilayer graphene: the valley degree of freedom. In this thesis, we theoretically investigate: (i) the dynamic properties in mono and bilayer graphene, performing a systematic study of wave packet scattering in different interface shapes, edges and potentials; and furthermore (ii) the energy levels of confined systems in graphene in the presence or absence of external magnetic and electric fields. In the first part of the work, we use the tight-binding approach to study the scattering of a Gaussian wave packet on monolayer graphene edges (armchair and zigzag) in the presence of real and pseudo (strain induced) magnetic fields and also calculate the transmission probabilities of a Gaussian wave packet through a quantum point contact defined by electrostatic gates in bilayer graphene. These numerical calculations are based on the solution of the time-dependent SchrÃdinger equation for the tight-binding model Hamiltonian, using the Split-operator technique. Our theory allows us to investigate scattering in reciprocal space, and depending on the type of graphene edge we observe scattering within the same valley, or between different valleys. In the presence of an external magnetic field, the well known skipping orbits are observed. However, our results demonstrate that in the case of a pseudo-magnetic field, induced by non-uniform strain, the scattering by an armchair edge results in a non-propagating edge state. We propose also a very efficient valley filtering through a quantum point contact system defined by electrostatic gates in bilayer graphene. For the suggested bilayer system, we investigate how to improve the efficiency of the system as a valley filter by varying parameters, such as length, width and amplitude of the applied potential. In the second part of the thesis, we present a systematic study of the energy spectra of graphene quantum rings having different geometries and edge types, in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. We discuss which features obtained through a simplified Dirac model can be recovered when the eigenstates of graphene quantum rings are compared with the tight-binding results. Furthermore, we also investigate the confined states in two different hybrid monolayer - bilayer systems, identifying dot-localized states and edge states for the suggested bilayer confinement structures, as well as we will study the behavior of the energy levels as a function of dot size and under an applied external magnetic field. Finally, using the four-band continuum Dirac model, we also derive a general expression for the infinite-mass boundary condition in bilayer graphene in order to apply this boundary condition to calculate analytically the confined states and the corresponding wave functions in a bilayer graphene quantum dot in the absence and presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. Our analytic results exhibit good agreement when compared with the tight-binding ones.

A injúria ao epitélio intestinal é uma das mais importantes complicações da sepse, associada à perda da integridade da barreira epitelial intestinal pela alteração da expressão de proteínas constituintes das tight junctions (TJ). Os dois subtipos de receptores de estrógeno são normalmente expressos na mucosa intestinal, sendo responsável pela manutenção da arquitetura do epitélio intestinal. Além disso, diversos modelos experimentais fisiopatológicos têm atribuído um papel imunomodulador ao estradiol. O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a participação do estradiol na modulação da resposta inflamatória e na proteção da barreira epitelial intestinal durante a inflamação sistêmica induzida por lipopolissacarídeo (LPS; 1,5 mg/kg, i.v.) em ratas. As ratas foram ovariectomizadas e mantidas para recuperação durante 10-12 dias antes do experimento. Por três dias consecutivos, as ratas foram tratadas com cipionato de estradiol (50 ou 100 µg/kg, s.c.) ou óleo. Após 6h da indução da endotoxemia, foram avaliadas a permeabilidade intestinal pela injeção de dextrana FITC no íleo ou cólon, a translocação bacteriana nos linfonodos mesentéricos e as citocinas no plasma e na mucosa intestinal. Adicionalmente, a infiltração de mastócitos e neutrófilos foi avaliada no íleo e no cólon, a integridade das TJ e junções aderentes (JA) foi determinada por microscopia eletrônica de transmissão, e expressão das proteínas (ocludina, claudina-1, JAM-A, E-caderina) bem como suas localizações. Nossos resultados demonstraram que o estradiol reduziu a permeabilidade intestinal bem como preveniu a translocação bacteriana nos linfonodos mesentéricos induzidas pela administração de LPS. Em ratas endotoxêmicas tratadas com estradiol, as concentrações das citocinas pró-inflamatórias (TNF?, IL-6, IFN-? e IL-1?), migração de neutrófilos (atividade da mieloperoxidase) e degranulação dos mastócitos no íleo e no cólon foram reduzidas. O estradiol também reverteu a disfunção da barreira epitelial induzida pelo LPS, aumentando a expressão das proteínas das TJ, reduzindo a abertura das TJ e JA e atenuando os danos histológicos. Em conjunto, os resultados sugerem um papel protetor do estradiol, prevenindo a disfunção da barreira epitelialintestinal induzida pela inflamação sistêmica, possivelmente modulando a resposta inflamatória e a liberação de proteases de mastócitos. / Intestinal injury is one of the most important complications of sepsis, associated with the loss of integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier due to the alteration of the expression of proteins that constitute the tight junctions (TJ). The two subtypes of estrogen receptors are normally expressed in the intestinal mucosa, being responsible for maintaining the architecture of intestinal epithelium. Moreover, several experimental pathophysiological models have been attributed the immunomodulatory role for the estradiol. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of estradiol in the modulation of the inflammatory response and the protection of the intestinal epithelial barrier during systemic inflammation induced for lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1.5 mg / kg, i.v.) in rats. The female rats were ovariectomized and allowed to recover for 10-12 days before the experiment. For three consecutive days, rats were pretreated with estradiol cypionate (50 or 100 µg/kg, subcutaneous) or corn oil. At 6h after of endotoxemia induction, were evaluated the intestinal permeability by injecting FITC dextran into the ileum or colon, bacterial translocation in the mesenteric lymph nodes and plasma and intestinal mucosa cytokines levels. In addition, the infiltration of mast cells and neutrophils was evaluated in the ileum and colon, the integrity of the TJ and adherent junctions (JA) integrity was determined by transmission electron microscopy, and the protein expression (occludin, claudin-1, JAM-A, E-cadherin) as well as their localization. Our results demonstrated that estradiol reduced intestinal permeability as well as prevented bacterial translocation in the mesenteric lymph nodes induced by the LPS administration. In the endotoxemic rats treated with estradiol, the concentration of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF?, IL-6, IFN-? e IL-1?), neutrophil infiltration (myeloperoxidase activity), and mast cells degranulation were reduced in the ileum and colon. Estradiol also reverted the LPS-induced epithelial barrier dysfunction, increasing the expression of the TJ proteins, reducing TJ and AJ opening and attenuating the histological damages. Together, these results suggest a protective role for estradiol, attenuating damage to the intestinal epithelium induced by systemic inflammation, possibly due to modulation of the inflammatory response and the release of mast cells proteases.

One of the most central concepts in condensed matter physics is the electronic band structure. Although band theory was established more than 80 years ago, recent developments have led to new insights that are formulated in the framework of topological band theory. In this thesis a subset of topological band theory is presented, with particular focus on topological supercon- ductors and accompanying Majorana fermions. While simple models are used to introduce basic concepts, a physically more realistic model is also studied intensely in the papers. Through self- consistent tight-binding calculations it is confirmed that Majorana fermions appear in vortex cores and at wire end points when the superconductor is in the topologically non-trivial phase. Many other properties such as the topological invariant, experimental signatures in the local density of states and spectral function, unconventional and odd-frequency pairing, the precense of spin-polarized currents and spin-polarization of the Majorana fermions, and a local π-phase shift in the order parameter at magnetic impurities are also investigated.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Anatomy and Physiology / Bruce Schultz / Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) is a cytokine that reportedly affects the severity of cystic fibrosis lung disease. The goal of this project was to define the effect of TGF-β1 on vas deferens, an organ that is universally affected in male cystic fibrosis patients. In the first study, experiments were conducted using freshly isolated porcine vas deferens epithelial cells. Primary porcine vas deferens epithelial cells exposed to TGF-β1 exhibited a significantly reduced basal transepithelial electrical resistance (Rte). TGF-β1-induced reduction in Rte was prevented by SB431542, a TGF-β receptor I inhibitor, indicating that the effect of TGF-β1 requires the activation of TGF-β receptor I. Western blot and immunohistochemistry results showed the expression of TGF-β receptor I in native vas deferens epithelia, indicating that the impaired barrier function and anion secretion that were observed in cultured vas deferens cells can likely be observed in the native context. Immunohistochemical outcomes showed that TGF-β1 exposure led to loss of organization of tight junction proteins occludin and claudin-7. These outcomes suggest that TGF-β1 impairs the barrier integrity of epithelial cells lining the vas deferens. In a parallel study that employed PVD9902 cells that are derived from porcine vas deferens, TGF-β1 exposure significantly reduced anion secretion stimulated by forskolin, forskolin/IBMX, and 8-pCPT-cAMP, suggesting that TGF-β1 affects downstream targets of the cAMP signaling pathway. Real-time RT-PCR and western blot analysis showed that TGF-β1 exposure reduced both the mRNA and the protein abundance of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Pharmacological studies showed that the inhibitory effect of TGF-β1 on forskolin-stimulated anion secretion was abrogated by SB431542 and attenuated by SB203580, a p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor. These outcomes suggest that TGF-β1, via the activation of TGF-β receptor I and p38 MAPK signaling, reduces CFTR expression, and thus impairs CFTR-mediated anion secretion. Outcomes from these studies suggest that, in epithelial cells lining the vas deferens, TGF-β1 exposure leads to an impaired physical barrier and/or reduced anion secretion, which is expected to modify the composition and the maintenance of the luminal environment and thus, is expected to reduce male fertility.

The technological interest in a material depends very much on its electrical, magnetic, optical and/or mechanical properties. In carbon nanotubes the atoms form a cylindrical structure with a diameter of the order 1 nm, but the nanotubes can be up to several hundred micrometers in length. This makes carbon nanotubes a remarkable model for one-dimensional systems. A lot of efforts have been dedicated to manufacturing carbon nanotubes, which is expected to be the material for the next generation of devices. Despite all the attention that carbon nanotubes have received from the scientific community, only rather limited progress has been made in the theoretical understanding of their physical properties. In this work, we attempt to provide an understanding of the electron-phonon and electron-defect interactions in semiconducting zigzag carbon nanotubes using a tight-binding approach. The electronic energy dispersion relations are calculated by applying the zone-folding technique to the dispersion relations of graphene. A fourth-nearest-neighbour force constant model has been applied to study the vibrational modes in the carbon nanotubes. Both the electron-phonon interaction and the electron-defect interaction are formulated within the tight-binding approximation, and analyzed in terms of their quantum mechanical scattering rates. Apart from the scattering rates, their components in terms of phonon absorption, phonon emission, backscattering and forward scattering have been determined and analyzed. The scattering rates for (5,0), (7,0), (10,0), (13,0) and (25,0) carbon nanotubes at room temperature and at 10K are presented and discussed. The phonon scattering rate is dependent on the lattice temperature in the interval 0-0.17 eV. We find that backscattering and phonon emission are dominant over forward scattering and phonon absorption in most of the energy interval. However, forward scattering and phonon absorption can be comparable to backscattering and phonon emission in limited energy intervals. The phonon modes associated with each peak in the electron-phonon scattering rates have been identified, and the similarities in the phonon scattering rates between different nanotubes are discussed. The dependence of the defect scattering rate on the tube diameter is similar to that of the phonon scattering rate. Both the phonon and the defect scattering rates show strong dependence on the tube diameter (i.e., the scattering rate decreases as a function of the index of the nanotube). It is observed that the backscattering and forward scattering for electrons interacting with defects occur with same frequency at all energies, in sharp contrast to the situation for phonon scattering. It is demonstrated that the differences in the scattering rate between different tubes are mainly due to the differences in their band structures.

Impaired function of the human intestinal epithelial barrier (IEB) might allow for permeability of harmful substances, such as obesogens, which induce obesity and further implications. Tight junction (TJ) proteins are the key component for normal functions of the barrier. In this master thesis, the correlation between increased TJ permeability of the IEB and absorption of obesogens was studied. The effect of obesogens on TJ expression was also investigated. Permeability tests performed on Caco-2 cell monolayers exposed to obesogens showed altered permeability, indicating that obesogens might have an effect on TJ protein expression. Furthermore, impaired monolayers showed increased permeability, which implies that impaired functions of IEB lead to increased absorption of obesogens.

To obtain accurate adsorption energies of molecules on surfaces is a challenging task as the methods with sufficient accuracy are too computationally demanding to be applied to the systems of interest. Embedding theories provide a natural remedy: focus the computation on a small region and incorporate the effects of the environment. In this thesis, embedding schemes and the response of many-electron systems to an adsorbed impurity are investigated. To this end, two approaches are used: tight-binding and ab initio. In the tight-binding method, the Green's function formalism is studied and explicit expressions for Green's functions of various one- and two-dimensional models are obtained. Using this formalism, we study qualitatively the local density of states and adsorption energies. In the second part of this thesis, state-of-the-art ab initio methods are employed to study convergence of the subtractive embedding scheme for adsorption energies of small closed-shell systems on two-dimensional graphene and hexagonal boron nitride. The efficiency and applicability of the scheme are assessed for neon and hydrogen fluoride as adsorbates. We found that the studied embedding method works better for neon compared to hydrogen fluoride, which may be explained by the use of a two-body dispersion correction.

Die Integrität der Blut-Hirn-Schranke (BHS) ist bei vielen Erkrankungen des humanen zentralen Nervensystems (ZNS) beeinträchtigt. Unter verschiedenen neuroinflammatorischen Bedingungen, wie bei zerebralen Ischämien, Traumata, Hirntumoren oder der Multiplen Sklerose (MS), kommt es zum Verlust der protektiven Schrankenfunktion. Zu den ersten Anzeichen des BHS-Zusammenbruchs zählt der Verlust der Zell-Zell-Adhäsion: der Adhärens- und Occludenskontakte. Therapeutische Maßnahmen dieser Krankheiten beinhalten Behandlungen mit Glukokortikoiden (GCs), wobei der Mechanismus und die Wirkungsweise dieser Substanzen bis heute nicht vollkommen aufgeklärt sind. In der zerebralen Hirnendothelzelllinie cEND [Forster C, Silwedel C, Golenhofen N, Burek M, Kietz S, Mankertz J & Drenckhahn D. (2005). Occludin as direct target for glucocorticoid-induced improvement of blood-brain barrier properties in a murine in vitro system. J Physiol 565, 475-486] wurde eine Funktionsverbesserung der Endothelbarriere durch die Expressionerhöhung von Occludin nach GC-Behandlung bereits analysiert. Daraufhin wurden andere Kandidaten des apikalen Junktionssystems gesucht, die positiv auf GC-Gabe ansprechen. Der erste Teil der Arbeit präsentiert den positiven Einfluss der Dexamethason-Behandlung auf die Expression des Adhärenskontakt-Proteins VE- (Vascular-Endothelial) Cadherin in cEND-Zellen. Dabei wurde eine Reorganisation des Zytoskeletts, eine verstärkte Verankerung des VE-Cadherins an das Zytoskelett, sowie eine einhergehende Morphologieänderung der behandelten Zellen beobachtet. Untersuchungen der Transkriptionsaktivierung des VE-Cadherin-Promoters nach Dexamethason-Behandlung, wiesen auf einen indirekten Steroid-Effekt hin, der zu einer Erhöhung der VE-Cadherin-Proteinsynthese führte. Somit sind GCs wichtig für die Proteinsynthese und -organisation beider Kontaktproteinarten: der Adhärens- und Occludenskontakte in mikrovaskulären Hirnendothelzellen. Die Beeinträchtigung der BHS-Integrität mit Veränderungen der Occludenskontaktexpression zählt zu den frühen Ereignissen bei der Entstehung einer Inflammation des ZNS, wie beispielsweise bei der MS. Im zweiten Teil der Dissertation wurde die Herunterregulation von Occludenskontaktproteinen in der cEND-Zelllinie untersucht. Dabei wurden cEND-Zellen mit Seren von Patienten, die sich in zwei verschiedenen Stadien der MS befanden, behandelt: in der akuten Exazerbationsphase oder der Remissionsphase, und auf die Protein- und Genexpression mit und ohne Dexamethasons-Behandlung untersucht. Es konnte ein negativer Effekt auf den Barrierewiderstand und die Occludenskontaktexpression, sowie eine erhöhte MMP-9-Genexpression nach Krankheitssereninkubation gezeigt werden. Die Dexamethason-Behandlung ergab eine geringe, aber keine vollständige Rekonstitution der Barrierefunktion. Anhand dieser Studie konnte jedoch erstmals eine Erniedrigung der Protein- und mRNA-Synthese von Claudin-5 und Occludin in Remissionspatientenseren inkubierten cEND-Zellen demonstriert werden. Somit könnten diese Erkenntnisse zur Prädiagnose einer bevorstehenden Exazerbationsphase der MS eingesetzt werden. Eine Langzeit-GC-Behandlung führt zu zahlreichen Nebenwirkungen, u. a. zum Bluthochdruck, welcher aufgrund einer eingeschränkten Produktion des vasodilatativen Faktors Stickstoffmonoxid, NO, im myokardialen Endothel hervorgerufen wird. Veränderungen in der NO-Produktion, wie auch anderer Faktoren der NO-Signalkaskade in der myokardialen Endothelzelllinie MyEND unter Einfluss von Dexamethason standen im Zentrum des dritten Teils dieser Arbeit. Während keine Veränderungen in der Expression der endothelialen NO-Synthase, eNOS, nach GC-Behandlung gezeigt werden konnten, wurden repressive Einflüsse von Dexamethason auf die Enzymaktivität der eNOS in MyEND-Zellen untersucht. GC-Gabe führte zur einer herabgesetzten Synthese des essenziellen Co-Faktors der eNOS, des Tetrahydrobiopterins, BH4, sowie zu einer Herunterregulation der GTP-Cyclohydrolase-1 (GTPCH-1), des geschwindigkeitsbestimmenden Enzyms der BH4-Produktion. Im Gegensatz zu bisherigen Ergebnissen anderer Arbeitsgruppen, konnte in der vorliegenden Studie belegt werden, dass die Herunterregulation der GTPCH-1 mRNA-Level auf den Liganden-abhängigen proteasomalen Abbau des Glukokortikoid-Rezeptors (GR) zurückzuführen ist. Das 26S-Proteasom moduliert die GR-abhängige Genexpression durch Kontrolle des Umsatzes und des Recyclings des Rezeptors selbst, wodurch eine regulierte Hormonresponsivität gewährleistet wird. Die Aufhebung des Liganden-abhängigen Abbaus des GR-Proteins durch gezielte Proteasominhibition, sowie durch eine Überexpression des ubiquitinylierungsdefekten GR-Konstruktes, K426A-GR, in Dexamethason-behandelten MyEND-Zellen resultierte in einer Erhöhung der GTPCH-1-Expression, sowie einer gesteigerten eNOS-Aktivität. Die hier beschriebenen Ergebnisse erlauben einen innovativen Einblick in die Erkenntnisse zur GC-vemittelten Hypertonie. Zusammenfassend kann festgestellt werden, dass GC-Behandlungen von mikrovaskulären Hirnendothelzellen zu einer Stabilisierung der Endothelbarriere führen. Unter pathologischen Bedingungen, wie der MS, wird der protektive GC-Effekt durch andere Faktoren beeinträchtigt / The integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is compromised in many disorders of the human central nervous system. A breakdown of the blood-brain barrier under conditions of neuroinflammation and cerebral ischemia, but also traumas, brain tumours and multiple Sclerosis (MS), leads to loss of the protective function of the barrier. In its breakdown one of the first observable changes is the loss of intercellular adhesion and concomitant an increase of permeability. Although therapeutic strategies for diseases with impaired BBB function include the treatment with glucocorticoids (GCs) but the mechanism explaining GC action still remains unclear. Recent studies showed the influence of GCs on the expression of the tight junction protein occludin in the brain capillary endothelial cell line cEND, contributing to improvement in endothelial barrier functions. In this study, we investigated GC effects on the expression of the adherens junction proteins VE- (vascular-endothelial) cadherin. It was possible to show a positive influence of dexamethasone administration on VE-cadherin protein levels as well as a rearrangement and the anchorage of VE-cadherin protein to the cytoskeleton. Investigation of transcriptional activation of the VE-cadherin promoter by dexamethasone, however, did not point to direct glucocorticoid-mediated VE-cadherin gene induction. But it rather suggested indirect steroid effects leading to increased VE-cadherin protein synthesis. We thus propose that glucocorticoid effects on VE-cadherin protein synthesis and organization are important for the formation of both adherens and tight junctions, and for improved barrier properties in microvascular brain endothelial cells. Abnormalities in the expression profile of tight junctions in cerebral endothelium constituting barrier functions occur early during neuroinflammation, as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). In the second part of this study, the disruption of tight junction proteins in the cEND cell line was analysed. cEND cells were incubated with sera from patients, which were in two different states of MS: in the acute exacerbation or the remission phase of the disease, and protein levels and gene expression of claudin-5, occludin and VE-cadherin with and without dexamethasone treatment were investigated. There arised a downregulation of claudin-5 and occludin on protein and mRNA levels and an accompanying upregulation of MMP-9 activity revealed. A minor reconstitution of barrier functions related to dexamethasone treatment could be shown. However, no reconstitution could be detected to the control level. Especially, observations in downregulation of claudin-5 and occludin in cEND cells incubated with sera from patients in remission phase of MS could not be demonstrated before. Thus, this finding is proposed to be a new useful prediagnostic tool for an early detection of upcoming exacerbation phase. One of the numerous side effects of GC therapy is hypertension arising from reduced release of the endothelium-derived vasodilator nitric oxide, NO, being in the centre of the third part of this study. While effects of dexamethasone on endothelial NO synthase, eNOS, expression itself could not be demonstrated, repressive effects of dexamethasone on eNOS enzyme activity were shown in the myocardial endothelial cell line MyEND. Following GC-treatment we observed decreased levels of the essential cofactor of eNOS, tetrahydrobiopterin, BH4. We also determined a downregulation of GTP cyclohydrolase-1, GTPCH-1, the key enzyme of BH4 synthesis. In contrast to recent data from other groups, we postulate that this downregulation of GTPCH-1 mRNA levels is not a direct downregulation effect of GC action. But it is rather a consequence of the ligand-dependent proteasomal degradation of the GC receptor, GR. The 26S-proteasome modulates GR-dependent gene transcription by regulation of its turnover and the recycling of receptor/transcriptional DNA complexes, thereby ensuring continued regulation of hormone responsivity. In this work, the inhibition of proteasome-mediated proteolysis of GR by using inhibitors of the 26S-proteasome, or overexpression of a point-mutated, ubiquitination-defective GR construct, K426A-GR, which attenuates endothelial GC responsivity, was demonstrated. The abrogation of ligand-dependent degradation of GR protein resulted in increased levels of GTPCH-1 hence expression, leading to an increased eNOS-activity. These results provide a new insight into the research of GC-induced hypertension. Taken together, these data demonstrate, that GC treatment in microvascular brain endothelial cells leads to barrier stabilisation, but under conditions of MS there are many other factors like cytokines and chemokines, which abrogate this positive action.

Soluble form of Junctional adhesion molecule C (sJAM-C) has been identified to cause angiogenesis as well as chemotaxis in endothelial cells. However, the role of sJAM-C in the context of cancer has not been elucidated. Our atomic force microscopy (AFM) stiffness measurements of normal mammary epithelial cells (MCF 10A) have shown a two-fold decrease in cell's stiffness in response to sJAM-C. Changes in cell stiffness are indicative of modulations in a cell's mechanical properties. Our results indicated that sJAM-C increased the MCF 10A cell migration about two-fold and also promoted a three-fold increase in chemotaxis. Additionally, sJAM-C treatment resulted in considerable filamentous-actin loss and peripheral actin ring breakage. We also found activation of Rho signaling pathway to be the main mechanism behind sJAM-C mediated alterations in MCF 10A cell cytoskeleton and motility. Our data present for the first time that sJAM-C is a pro metastatic mediator for normal mammary epithelial cells. / by Anila Qureshi. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.