Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Committee on Neurobiology, December 2003. / CD-ROM includes PDF files of the entire dissertation and of the figures alone. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

No description available.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Univ., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Some properties of the adenyl cyclase activity in the maturing testis of Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (chinook salmon) were characterized. The enzymic reaction was linear at 30° and at 15° for at least 60 min. The divalent cation requirement of the salmon testis enzyme was reexamined (33). The optimal concentration of Mg was about 10 mM and of Mn2+ was 5 mM; Mn2+ concentrations above 15 mM caused a marked decrease in enzyme activity. A higher maximal activity was achieved in the presence of Mn2+ than in the presence of Mg2+. Stimulation of the enzyme with the optimal concentration of F-, 12 mM, resulted in a 7-fold increase in the reaction rate over the basal activity. In efforts to solubilize the enzyme, it was found that Lubrol PX and Triton X-100 destroyed enzymic activity but Nonidet P40 and Tween 80 did not. The adenyl cyclase activity in salmon testis homog-enates was stable for at least 6 hours at 0° to 4° but was very unstable at 24°; storage of the homogenate for 24 hours at either 0° to 4° or 24° resulted in a total loss of activity. Differential centrifugation of salmon testis homog-enates which were prepared in isotonic medium revealed tnat all subcellular fractions contained some adenyl cyclase activity. About 55% of the activity sedimented at 600g while only 10% of the activity was recovered in the 105,000g supernatant. The 6300g sediment had a very high specific activity compared with the specific activity of the other fractions. The ATP analogue, adenylyl imidodipho3phate (AMP-PNP), tritium labeled in adenosine, was synthesized from tri-butylammonium imidodiphosphate and adenosine-5’ phosphor-imidazolate. Salmon testis adenyl cyclase catalyzed the conversion of AMP-PNP to cyclic AMP. / Medicine, Faculty of / Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of / Graduate

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2001. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, May, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-142).

Bordetella pertussis produces a number of virulence determinants believed to contribute to its survival in the host as well as to the pathogenesis of disease. One of these factors, adenylate cyclase toxin (ACT), has been implicated to penetrate human neutrophils and macrophages and abrogate their function by virtue of unregulated production of intracellular cAMP. In order to adequately study the nature of ACT and its role in pathogenesis, it is necessary to isolate the toxin from other virulence factors produced by the organism. Attempts by other investigators to purify ACT and maintain both its invasive and catalytic properties have not been successful. B. pertussis produces a cell associated ACT during mid-log phase of growth in Stainer-Scholte medium. Purification of ACT with both activities from urea extracted whole cells has been achieved by hydroxylapatite and calmodulin-sepharose chromatography. ACT is a single protein of 220 kd molecular weight with an isoelectric point of 7.0. The protein probably contains regions which are strongly hydrophobic. ACT has a specific activity of nearly 17,000 μM cAMP formed/min. An 850 ng sample of ACT induced over 1,400 pmoles cAMP/10⁶ S49 mouse lymphoma cells while 660 ng of ACT inhibited human neutrophil chemiluminescence by 65%.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, August, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-220).

No description available.

ABSTRACT The Southern Rocklobster, Jasus edwardsii, supports a commercial fishing industry worth $180 million AUD per annum, the majority of which is exported live to Asia. The current market demands for smaller rocklobsters can sometimes result in discounting of the larger individuals, a significant financial loss for the industry. Value adding of large rocklobster into processed product may help combat this loss; however, there is financial risk associated with the development of new products for new markets without first understanding the product variability. The aims of this thesis were to quantify raw product flesh characteristics using physical, biochemical and sensory approaches, determining the extent of variation in those characteristics, and finally to investigate the potential biological and post-harvest sources of that variation. One of the initial requirements was the establishment of previously undefined key descriptors of sensory properties for raw rocklobster flesh, which were texture (chewiness and crunch), flavour (metallic, lobster and sweetness) and appearance (pinkness and translucency) (Chapter 2). These were tested using a combination of triangle tests and a hybrid descriptive test using a trained sensory panel. The trained panel found no significant difference in the texture, flavour or appearance of raw flesh between large and small rocklobster (Chapter 4). However, differences in the sensory descriptors of flesh translucency, pinkness and lobster flavour were significantly influenced by frozen storage of the product and the section of tail from which a sample was sourced (Chapter 4). Biochemically, these differences were largely associated with variation in flesh adenylates, with AEC, IMP load, total adenylate pool and K value being identified as the key contributors. Of all the potential sources contributing to variation in flesh biochemical properties, post-harvest factors such as �batch� (i.e. rocklobsters processed on a single day) had a dominant influence (Chapter 3). The difference detected in flesh characteristics between batches was greater than any seasonal pattern such as moult stage. Biological variables such as rocklobster condition and shell colour had no significant influence on flesh properties (Chapters 3 & 4). White rocklobsters are currently discounted in the live export trade; however this does not appear to be necessary for value added product owing to the lack of significant differences to red rocklobsters across a range of biochemical parameters (Chapter 3). Rocklobster physical condition (which has previously been associated with prior stress) was not shown to affect flesh biochemistry or sensory properties (Chapter 4). This result was not expected and may reflect the potential recovery of rocklobsters sampled in this study prior to processing. These findings suggest that commercial rocklobsters, which have had similar recovery, are unlikely to show reduced sensory properties. Recent commercial interest has focussed on holding rocklobster in tanks to provide year-round supply. As a result, the impacts of tank-holding and feeding on rocklobster flesh sensory properties were investigated (Chapter 5). Rocklobsters that were tank-held and fed for up to four months produced flesh with similar physical, biochemical and sensory properties to freshly caught rocklobster. Tank-holding therefore offers a viable solution to operators wanting a year-round supply of fresh product from a resource which is subjected to a restricted fishing season. A Japanese consumer panel was established to assess the greatest differences in flesh properties as detected by the trained sensory panel. The Japanese consumer panel assessed raw flesh from fresh, short and long-term frozen storage treatments (Chapter 4). This consumer panel detected similar differences in taste, texture and flavour as the trained panel, and whilst no significant overall preference was detected, half of the panellists showed a preference for rocklobster product that had been stored frozen for 18 months. The findings from this research are useful for the commercial industry as they indicate that raw rocklobster flesh has little variation associated with discounting factors such as size and shell colour. Although the greatest variation in flesh biochemistry was seen with frozen storage, even long term storage produced rocklobster flesh properties which were favourable for some panellists. The commercially caught Southern Rocklobster appears to have raw flesh properties well suited for a value added product.