Thesis (M.S.) in Marine Bio-Resources--University of Maine, 2006. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-70).

Disseminated neoplasia (DN) is a proliferative cell disorder that occurs in the circulatory system of bivalves. The condition is progressive and lethal. At least 15 species of bivalves over a wide range of geographic locations have been reported to contract DN. Prevalence levels of disseminated neoplasia can reach up to 90% in some populations. In the laboratory, the condition can be transferred to healthy individuals by injection of hemolymph from animals of the same species with high intensity levels of DN. Studies were conducted to investigate transmission of disseminated neoplasia in the soft shell clam, Mya arenaria. It was determined that soft shell clams from two Oregon bays were susceptible to DN by injection, and that the lack of DN in these west coast populations of soft shell clams was not due to disease resistance in these animals. Additionally, it was demonstrated that onset, development of DN, and survival were directly correlated to the number of neoplastic cells injected into the animal. Experiments investigating water-borne transmission showed that the disease is infectious, and an exposure to DN cell in the hemolymph of highly affected clams was sufficient to cause disease. In a cohabitation study, transmission of DN from one DN positive animal to healthy animals was observed, with specific information collected on the length of exposure and DN intensity of the animals involved. Finally, transmission of disseminated neoplasia was not found to be successful using cell-free filtrates prepared from DN cells and DN positive soft shell clam tissue. A PCR enhanced reverse transcriptase assay was employed, and reverse transcriptase activity was detected in samples prepared from DN positive materials. / Graduation date: 1998

Thesis (M.S.) in Biochemistry--University of Maine, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-87).

Orientadores: Paulo Mitsuo Imamura, Vera Lúcia Garcia Rehder / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T08:25:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Oliveira_AdrianadaSilvaSantosde_M.pdf: 8021269 bytes, checksum: 306143b7220c2915586bf3c7c8c9d70e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: O câncer é uma das doencas que mais aflige a humanidade, principalmente pelo alto índice de mortalidade. Dados da OMS estimam 13,1 milhões de mortes em 2030. Aldama arenaria Baker, Asteraceae, é uma erva cespitosa a subarbusto, que mede 0,8 a 3 m de altura. Várias atividades farmacológicas foram atribuídas a esta espécie ou a compostos isolados desta, como por exemplo, ação vaso-relaxante, tripanossomicida, antimicrobiana e esquistossomicida. Desta forma, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a atividade antiproliferativa in vitro de óleos essenciais (OEfs) obtidos de diferentes órgãos vegetativos de A. arenaria em diferentes fases fenológicas, além do extrato clorofórmico das raízes (EC), frações e compostos isolados. As linhagens celulares tumorais utilizadas nos experimentos foram: K-562 (leucemia), MCF-7 (mama), NCI/ADR-RES (ovário com fenótipo de resistência a múltiplos fármacos), UACC-62 (melanoma), NCI-H460 (pulmão), PC-3 (próstata), HT29 (cólon), OVCAR-3 (ovário), U251 (glioma) e 786-0 (rim). Na fase de dormência o EC das raízes e OE dos xilopódios foram mais ativos frente às linhagens de melanoma, ovário resistente, pulmão, próstata e cólon. Já na fase de floração o OE dos caules foi mais ativo para as linhagens de glioma, mama, ovário resistente, rim, pulmão e próstata. O fracionamento químico dos OELs e EC revelou que as frações ricas em monoterpenos foram inativas enquanto as frações enriquecidas em sesqui e diterpenos apresentaram atividades moderada e potente. Nas frações mais ativas do EC (Fr 3 e 4) os compostos majoritários identificados foram dois derivados de pimarano: o ácido ent-pimara-8(14),15-dien-19-óico (1) e ent-8(14),15-pimaradien-3b-ol (3). Nas frações mais ativas dos OELs (Fr 3 e 4 ; R3, R5, R6, X5, F5, F6 E F7) foram os compostos: carotol, palustrol, espatulenol, pimaral e diterpeno (3). Os compostos 1 e 3, isolados e testados, apresentaram atividade fraca e moderada, respectivamente, demonstrando possível sinergismo com outros compostos. Os resultados demonstraram que 56% das 50 amostras avaliadas possuíam potencial atividade antiproliferativa in vitro e perfil concentração-dependente para a maioria das linhagens avaliadas. Dentre estas, 34% apresentaram atividade moderada e 22% potente para pelo menos uma linhagem, com valores de TGI (Total Growth Inhibition) menores do que 15 mg.mL-1. Estes resultados indicam que Aldama arenaria apresenta potencial atividade antiproliferativa in vitro e estudos posteriores de atividade anticâncer in vivo poderão comprovar sua ação antitumoral / Abstract: Cancer is a disease that afflicts people all over the world with a high mortality rate and World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that by 2030 cancer will be responsible for 13.1 million deaths. Aldama arenaria Baker (Asteraceae) is a medicinal plant that is known to contain several compounds with pharmacological properties including vasorelaxant, trypanocidal, antimicrobial and schistosomicidal activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro antiproliferative activity of the essential oils (EO's) obtained from vegetative organs of A. arenaria in differents phenological phases, chloroform extract (CE), fractions and isolated compounds. The tumor cell lines used in these experiments were: leukemia (K-562), breast cancer (MCF-7), multidrug resistant ovarian cancer (NCI/ADR-RES), melanoma (UACC-62), lung (NCI-H460), prostrate (PC-3), colon (HT29), ovarian (OVCAR-3), glioma (U251) and kidney (786-0). In dormant phase, CE (roots) and EO (xylopodium) were more actives against the strains of melanoma, resistant ovarian, lung, prostate and colon. At flowering, the stem EO was more active to the strains of glioma, breast, resistant ovary, kidney, lung and prostate cancer. The chemical fractionation of EO's and CE revealed that fractions rich in monoterpenes were inactive, while the fractions enriched in sesqui and diterpenes showed moderate and potent activities. In the most active fractions of EC (Fr 3 and 4), two major pimarane derivatives compounds were identified as: ent-pimara-8(14),15-dien-19-oic acid (1) and ent-8(14)15 pimaradien-3b-ol (3). From the the most active fractions of EO's (Fr 3 and 4; R3, R5, R6, X5, F5, F6 and F7) the following compounds were identified: carotol, palustrol, spathulenol, pimaral and diterpene 3. The compounds 1 and 3, isolated and tested, presented weak and moderate activity, respectively, suggesting a possible synergism with other compounds. These results showed that from 50 evaluated samples, 56% had potential in vitro antiproliferative activity and concentration-dependent for most strains evaluated. Among these, 34% had moderate activities and 22% had potent activities, with TGI (Total Growth Inhibition) values lower than 15 mg.mL-1 in at least one of the cancer cell lines. This study indicate that Aldama arenaria has, in vitro, a good antiproliferative activity and further evaluations of the in vivo anticancer activities are needed in order to validate this antitumor potential / Mestrado / Quimica Organica / Mestra em Química

Thesis (Ph. D.) in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology--University of Maine, 2001. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-113).

Thesis (M.S.) in Marine Biology--University of Maine, 2009. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-41).

No description available.

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Thesis (M.S.) in Biochemistry--University of Maine, 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-72).

No description available.