Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1994. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1994. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted.

by Yung Wing-ho. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references.

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Medicine Johannesburg, 2004 / Malaria is the most prevalent parasitic disease in the world and the emergence of drug resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum has made the search for new antimalarial drugs important. Protein kinases play an important role in cellular function and the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signal transduction pathway is implicated in diverse cellular processes such as glucose transport, cell survival and proliferation. A homology based approach identified an open reading frame (ORF) coding for the catalytic region of part of the 6.4 Kb ORF of PFE0765w gene sequence found at plasmoDB. The ORF consisted of 1 758 base pairs which coded for a 586 amino acid protein with a molecular weight of 68.5 KDa. The PfPI3K ORF was amplified from P.falciparum DNA, subcloned into an expression vector and the sequence verified. Analysis of the expressed protein obtained by Western blotting and probing with anti-His monoclonal antibody showed a protein of 68.5 KDa as well as some smaller products. / IT2018

Mycobacterial cell wall components have been shown to elicit a range of immunological responses in mammalian hosts. A family of cell wall antigens, the phosphatidylinositol mannans (PIMs), have been shown to reduce allergic response in a murine model of allergic airway disease and have been suggested as potential therapeutic agents. Isolation and characterisation of these compounds is not facile. To confirm the structure of PIMs a number of phosphatidylinositols (PIs), 1a-c, PIM1s 2a, 2d and 2e, and AcPIM1s, 2g and 2f, were prepared to allow assignment of the acylation pattern of natural products and for evaluation in immunological assays. As the natural products include 19:0 acylation in the form of (R)-tuberculostearoyl residues, a source of (R)-tuberculostearic acid was needed. To this end, an efficient synthesis of (R)-tuberculostearic acid from (S)-citronellol, utilising a copper-catalysed cross-coupling reaction and a modified Julia olefination, was developed. This material was incorporated into diacylglycerols prepared from (R)-benzyl glycidol. A protected myo-inositol derivative, 188, and two protected pseudo-disaccharides, 10 and 241, were prepared from myo-inositol via desymmetrisation utilising a camphylidene acetal. These were coupled with diacylglycerols via a phosphate ester and deprotected to give PIs, PIM1s and AcPIM1s. Mass spectrometry studies were undertaken on the PIs, 1a-c, PIM1s 2a, 2d and 2e, and AcPIM1s, 2g and 2f which structures that have been established by chemical synthesis. Comparison of these data with those reported for natural PIs and PIMs containing 19:0 ((R)-tuberculostearoyl) and 16:0 (palmitoyl) acyl groups unequivocally established that the 19:0 residue was located at the sn-1 and the 16:0 at the sn-2 position of the glycerol moiety in nature.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of West Florida, 2006. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 53 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

The morbidity of and the mortality from cardiac disease are higher in diabetic patients. Clinical and experimental evidence suggests that diabetes-induced changes at the level of myocardium can, at least partially, contribute to these cardiac problems. The mechanism(s) involved in this diabetic cardiomyopathy is still unclear, but one defect appears to occur in the alpha₁-adrenoceptor system. Altered myocardial sensitivity and responsiveness to alpha₁-adrenoceptor agonists have been reported in experimental diabetes mellitus. Stimulation of alpha₁-adrenoceptors is known to produce a positive inotropic effect and has been recently shown to stimulate the hydrolysis of phosphoinositides. To evaluate the possibility that the changes in the inotropic responsiveness to alpha₁-adrenoceptor stimulation in the diabetic heart could be linked to altered alpha₁-adrenoceptor-stimulated phosphoinositide turnover and further to the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy, we studied contractility and receptor-stimulated phosphoinositide turnover following norepinephrine (in the presence of propranolol) stimulation in right ventricles from male Wistar rats (200-225 g) which were made diabetic with streptozotocin (55 mg/kg, i.v.). Rats were sacrificed six weeks after the induction of diabetes. Diabetic rats were characterized by decreased body weight gain, hypoinsulinemia, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. Stimulation of alpha₁-adrenoceptors by norepinephrine (in the presence of propranolol) in right ventricles resulted in the formation of inositol monophosphate (measured with a radioisotope method) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (measured with an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate protein binding assay kit) in a time- and concentration-dependent manner in both control and diabetic rats. The increase in inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate levels preceded the increase in the alpha₁-adrenoceptor-mediated positive inotropic effect. Diabetic hearts showed a greater maximum inotropic response to norepinephrine stimulation and also had a higher inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate levels. However, with the radioisotope method, a decreased inositol monophosphate formation was shown in diabetic hearts compared with controls. Omega-3 fatty acids supplementation (Promega[symbol omitted], 0.5 ml/kg/day) had no significant effect on the changes in norepinephrine-stimulated inositol monophosphate formation in diabetic hearts. In the presence of the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin or the thromboxane synthetase inhibitor imidazole, the norepinephrine-stimulated positive inotropic effect and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate formation were significantly increased in control hearts, but were unaltered in the hearts from diabetics. The addition of the prostacyclin synthetase inhibitor tranylcypromine reduced the norepinephrine-stimulated positive inotropic effect and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate formation only in diabetic hearts and had no effect in the controls. While inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate may be able to mediate only transient inotropic effects produced by alpha₁-adrenoceptor stimulation, diacylglycerol may provoke a sustained positive inotropic effect by activating slow Ca²⁺ channels through stimulation of protein kinase C. Our results showed that the diabetic hearts had a higher protein kinase C activity in the membrane fraction compared with controls and this was accompanied by a decrease in cytosolic protein kinase C activity. The present study suggests that the increases in inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate levels and the membrane fraction protein kinase C activity may be implicated in the increased inotropic responsiveness to alpha₁-adrenoceptor stimulation in the hearts of the streptozotocin-diabetic rats. The increases in inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate level and protein kinase C activity could induce Ca²⁺ overload in the diabetic heart which might be involved in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. The results from the omega-3 fatty acid study indicate that the changes in cardiac alpha₁-adrenoceptor-mediated inositol phosphates formation cannot contribute to the previously described improved cardiac function of omega-3 fatty acid-treated streptozotocin-diabetic rats. The nature and physiological significance of the enhanced positive inotropic effect and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate formation in the control heart with the addition of indomethacin and imidazole is still unclear. The effect of tranylcypromine may indicate the participation of prostaglandins in mediating the enhanced alpha₁-inotropic effect of norepinephrine in the diabetic heart. / Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of / Graduate

This dissertation was intended to identify potential roles for phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI-3 kinase) in the responses of lymphocytes to activation. To understand what functions PI-3 kinase is performing in lymphocytes, experiments were performed to identify proteins that will stably associate with the p85 subunit of PI-3 kinase. Co-precipitation revealed an activation dependent association of p85 with two different phosphotyrosine containing proteins. One protein, pp36-38, is a membrane protein that interacts with PI-3 kinase, PLCγ1, and Grb2/S0S. The other associated protein was identified as the proto-oncogene c-Cbl. The interaction of p85 with cbl was shown to be mediated through the SH2 domains of p85. More importantly, the interactions of p85 with p36-38 and cbl were found to be specific for p85 isoforms. Although the SH2 domains of the α and β isoforms are highly similar in amino acid sequence, they are shown to establish distinct protein interactions in intact cells. Experiments on the cbl/PI-3 kinase complex revealed a stimulation dependent translocation into membrane and insoluble/cytoskeletal fractions of wild type, but not mutant cells. The movement of cbl did not require tyrosine phosphorylation or PI-3 kinase activity. The cbl/PI-3 kinase complex was greatly enhanced in the membrane fraction in contrast to the cytosol, where the largest concentration of cbl can be found. In addition, these complexes were found to form at the membrane in the absence of the tyrosine kinase, p56lck.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 306 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) regulate and organize diverse cellular processes through their role in converting GTPases from the inactive GDP bound state to the active GTP bound state. An increasing number of GEFs undergo autoregulatory mechanisms through complex intramolecular interactions. Relief of autoinhibition involves specific phosphorylation or binding to lipid and/or effector proteins at sites distal from the catalytic domain, and is often coupled to membrane recruitment. In Cytohesin Arf GEFs, the catalytic Sec7 domain is autoinhibited by a linker region and C-terminal helix flanking a Pleckstrin Homology (PH) domain. Upon binding of the PH domain to low abundance phosphoinositides, the GTPase Arf6-GTP can both relieve autoinhibition and recruit Cytohesins to the plasma membrane. This thesis focuses on determining the molecular mechanism underlying both these functions. The structural mechanisms by which Arf6-GTP binding relieves autoinhibition were studied using biochemical and crystallographic studies. The crystal structure of the Grp1 PH domain in complex with Arf6 revealed that Arf6-GTP binding relieves autoinhibition through competitive sequestration of the inhibitory elements into grooves formed at the periphery of the interface. Importantly, the interaction orients all known membrane targeting components to a common surface. Detailed biochemical studies showed a common mode of binding among Cytohesin family members in which phosphoinositide head group binding primes the interaction with Arf6, and membrane recruitment of both stimulatory and substrate Arf enhances the effect. To assess changes in the Sec7 domain conformation upon activation, Size Exclusion Chromatography in line with Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SEC-SAXS) was performed. The unique nature of this data led to the development of a novel data analysis and processing strategy. A graphically based, python-extensible software package was created for data normalization, buffer correction, Guinier Analysis, and constant background subtraction. As an unbiased substitute for traditional buffer subtraction, a method to reconstruct the protein scattering through singular value decomposition (SVD) and linear combination of the basis vectors was developed. These methods produced exceptional data quality and allowed versatility for application to other data collection techniques or systems, especially those lacking confident buffer matching or low signal. SEC-SAXS confirmed the overall structure of autoinhibited Grp1 in solution and showed only slight overall changes upon activation by deletion of the autoinhibitory Cterminal helix. Fusion of Arf6 with Grp1 produced a consistently elongated shape in the active state that was incompatible with the autoinhibited or theoretical active positions of the Sec7 domain. Monte Carlo and rigid body modeling using known structural domains revealed a requirement for Sec7-PH linker flexibility in addition to Sec7 domain mobility. These data support an integrated structural model whereby phosphoinositides and Arf-GTP support nucleotide exchange at membranes through allosteric activation, membrane recruitment, and large-scale rearrangement of the Sec7 domain. Overall, these findings offer insight into Cytohesin function that can be applied to assess relief of autoinhibition in the context of other GEFs and GTPases.