Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Stanley J. Roux. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Orientador: Fabio Erminio Mingatto / Banca: Flavia Thomaz Verechia Pereira / Banca: Tiago Rodrigues / Resumo: Abamectina é uma lactona macrocíclica pertencente à família das avermectinas, utilizada mundialmente como agente antiparasitário em animais de criação e estimação, além do emprego agrícola como princípio ativo dos inseticidas e nematicidas. Mitocôndrias são responsáveis pela conversão da energia liberada pelo transporte de elétrons e armazenamento como energia de ligação na molécula de ATP, um componente metabólico essencial. Interferências em sua síntese ou utilização caracterizam mecanismos pelos quais os xenobióticos podem expressar toxicidade aguda ou crônica. Neste trabalho, os efeitos da abamectina na bioenergética de mitocôndrias isoladas de fígado de rato foram avaliados. Nas concentrações utilizadas (5 a 25 µM), abamectina causou inibição da cadeia respiratória, sem afetar a atividade das enzimas NADH desidrogenase, succinato desidrogenase e o potencial de membrana, comportando-se de maneira semelhante à oligomicina e ao atractilosídeo. A principal atuação da abamectina foi reduzir o potencial mitocondrial de fosforilação oxidativa, diminuindo os níveis de ATP provavelmente como resultado de sua ação direta sobre a FoF1-ATPase, uma vez que inibiu a atividade desta enzima, e/ou sobre o translocador de ADP/ATP. A inibição mais acentuada da atividade fosfohidrolase em mitocôndrias intactas desacopladas do que em mitocôndrias rompidas juntamente com a inibição da despolarização do potencial de membrana induzida pelo ADP sugerem que a abamectina atuou inibindo mais especificamente o translocador de ADP/ATP do que a FoF1-ATPase / Abstract: Abamectin is a macrocyclic lactone belonging to the avermectin family, used worldwide as antiparasitic agent in farm animals and pets, and agricultural employment as the active ingredient of insecticides and nematicides. Mitochondria are responsible for converting the energy released by electron transport and storage as the binding energy molecule ATP, an essential metabolic component. Interference in its synthesis or utilization characterize mechanisms by which xenobiotics can express acute or chronic toxicity. In this study, the effects of abamectin in the bioenergetics of mitochondria isolated from rat liver were evaluated. At the concentrations used (5-25 mM), abamectin caused inhibition of the respiratory chain without affecting the activity of enzymes NADH dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase and the membrane potential, behaving similarly to oligomycin and Atractyloside. The main activity of abamectin was to reduce the potential of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, decreasing ATP levels probably as a result of its direct action on the Fo-F1 ATPase, since it inhibited the activity of this enzyme, and/or the ADP/ATP translocator. The more pronounced inhibition of the fosfohydrolase activity in intact uncoupled mitochondria than in disrupted mitochondria, in addition to the inhibition of the ADP-stimulated depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential suggest that abamectin acted more specifically by inhibiting the ADP/ATP translocator than the FoF1-ATPase / Mestre

Abstract Ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1. 17) is the first and the rate-controlling enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis. It decarboxylates L-ornithine to form diamine putrescine. ODC activity in cells is strictly regulated and one of the central elements of ODC regulation is an inhibitory protein called antizyme. Antizyme binds to ODC, inhibits its activity and targets ODC for the proteasomal degradation. Essentiality of polyamines for the normal cell growth and proliferation is well known. Recently their roles in the regulation of several classes of cation channels have been discovered. Some of these channels are expressed abundantly in the brain, which has increased interest in the polyamine metabolism in the central nervous system. In this study guanosine 5'-triphosphate activatable ODC was detected in the rat brain lysates. This activation was more significant after antizyme was separated from ODC. GTP-activatable ODC was more resistant to heat and displayed higher Vmax than kidney ODC. Previously GTP-activatable ODC had been found in mammalian tissues only in some tumors. ODC and antizyme expression in brain was localized by in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry. Both proteins displayed wide and largely overlapping expression patterns restricted to neurons. The proteins were localized predominantly to cytoplasm at the most brain regions, but antizyme had a main localization in nuclei in some regions of the brain. In addition, the role of one of the most highly conserved regions in eukaryotic ODCs was studied using site-directed mutagenesis. The aspartate-233 to valine mutation was made and detected to increase Km values for the cofactor PLP and the substrate L-ornithine as well as Ki value for the inhibitor DFMO. In another part of this study a transgenic mouse line expressing ODC under the control of viral promotor was generated. The most significant changes in ODC activity were detected in reproductive organs of male mice. The high number of infertile transgenic males supported earlier reports about the importance of balanced polyamine metabolism for spermatogenesis. Infertility of female mice was increased as well, but the involvement of polyamines remained unproven. Transgenic mice were prone to various pathological conditions such as inflammations and tumour formation, which may be due to deregulated polyamine metabolism.

This study has been concerned with the design and synthesis of A TP analogues with the potential to act as inhibitors of glutamine synthetase - a novel target for therapeutic intervention in the treatment of tuberculosis. Using a structural -analogy approach, various 3-indolylalkanoic acid, benzimidazole and pyrazolo[3,4-dJpyrimidine derivatives have been prepared and characterized. Alkylation of the heterocyclic bases using 4-(bromomethyl)-2,2-dimethyl-1 ,3-d ioxolane, 2-(bromomethoxy)ethyl acetate and 2-(chloroethoxy)ethanol in the presence of either NaH or BulOK afforded the corresponding N-alkylated derivatives of benzimidazole and 4-aminopyrazolo[3,4-dJpyrimidine (4-APP). Similar reactions with 3-indo lylalkanoic esters resulted in O-alkyl cleavage with the formation of new esters. Alkylation of benzimidazole with allyl bromide, 4-bromobutene and 2-methylbut-2-ene has also been shown to afford the corresponding l-alkenylbenzimidazoles in moderate to excellent yield (43-96%). Subsequent oxidation of these products using CTAP, gave the dihydroxy derivatives in poor to good yields (26-77%). Phosphorylation of various hydroxy derivatives of benzimidazole and 4-APP has been achieved using diethyl chlorophosphate to afford the corresponding monophosphate and 1,2-diphosphate esters. Glycosylation of each of the heterocyclic bases has been successfully achieved using 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-acetyl-D-glucopyranose and SnCl4 in acetonitri le, while methanolysis of the resulting tetraacetates, using methanolic NaOMe, afforded the hydroxy derivatives in good yield (50-70%). Various 1- and 2-dimensional NMR spectroscopic methods (e.g., IH, 13C, lip, COSY, HSQC and HMBC) have been used to confirm the structures of the synthesized A IP analogues. The application of NMR prediction programmes has been explored, permitting assessment of their agreement with the experimental data and confirmation of assigned structures. High-resolution electron impact (EI) mass spectrometric data have been used to explore the mass fragmentation pathways exhibited by selected derivatives, and certain common fragmentations have been identified. Molecular modelling of selected products as potential glutamine synthetase ligands has been performed on the Accelrys Cerius2 platform, and interactive receptor-ligand docking studies have been conducted using the Ligand-Fit module. These studies have revealed possible hydrogen-boding interactions between the selected analogues and various amino acid residues in the glutamine synthetase active site.

The molecular mechanisms of synaptic function and development have been studied extensively, but little is known about the energy requirements of synapses, or the mechanisms that coordinate their energy production with their metabolic demands. These are oversights, as synapses with high energy demands are more susceptible to degeneration and degrade in the early stages of diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscle atrophy and Parkinson’s disease. Here, in a structure-function study at Drosophila motor neuron terminals, a neurophysiological model was generated to investigate how power (ATP/s) supply is integrated to satisfy the power demand of presynaptic terminals. Power demands were estimated from six nerve terminals through direct measurements of neurotransmitter release and Ca2+ entry, as well as theoretical estimation of Na+ entry and power demands at rest (cost of housekeeping). The data was leveraged with a computational model that simulated the power demands of the terminals during their physiological activity, revealing high volatility in which power demands can increase 15-fold within milliseconds as neurons transition from rest to activity. Another computational model was generated that simulated ATP production scenarios regarding feedback to the power supply machinery (Oxphos and glycolysis) through changes in nucleotide concentrations, showing that feedback from nucleotides alone fail to stimulate power supply to match the power demands of each terminal. Failure of feedback models invokes the need for feed forward mechanisms (such as Ca2+) to stimulate power supply machinery to match power demands. We also quantified mitochondrial volume, density, number and size in each nerve terminal, revealing all four features positively correlate with the terminals power demands. This suggests the terminals enhance their oxidative capacity by increasing mitochondrial content to satisfy their power demands. And lastly, we demonstrate that abolishing an ATP buffering system (the phosphagen system) does not impair neurotransmission in the nerve terminals, suggesting motor nerve terminals are capable of satisfying their power demands without the ATP buffering system. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemistry, 1980 / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Victor Manuel Rios-Mercadillo. / Ph. D. / Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemistry

Limnological study of Moss Reservoir from May, 1975 through August, 1976 was conducted to evaluate the use of ATP assay in describing planktonic changes within the water column.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 145-165). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 2008. / Title from title page. [gamma] and [epsilon] in title are the Greek letters. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online through Digital Dissertations.