Browsing University of Galway Theses (PhD Theses) by Subject "Biochemistry"
Now showing items 21-40 of 78
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Decoy Receptors block tumour cell eradication by TRAIL - Molecular engineering of TRAIL to evade decoy receptors
(2012-06-29)Tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a cytokine expressed by immune cells which selectively eradicates a wide range of cancer cells while leaving normal healthy cells unharmed. TRAIL binds ... -
Desmosomal armadillo proteins in zebrafish cardiac development
(2012-12-18)Plakoglobin and plakophilin-2 are desmosomal armadillo proteins, required for correct cardiac development in zebrafish. Mutations in the human genes can cause the congenital heart defect arrhythmogenic right ventricular ... -
Development of a novel companion diagnostic for IRE1α activity and its application to investigate the role of IRE1α in acute myeloid leukaemia cells
(NUI Galway, 2020-08-28)The unfolded protein response (UPR) is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism activated in response to accumulation of unfolded protein (termed ER stress). Activation of the UPR is observed during many physiological processes ... -
Development of drugs targeting the human tRNA ligase RtcB in breast cancer
(NUI Galway, 2019-02-15)The RNA ligase RtcB has been shown to regulate RNA function by direct exon ligation of spliced XBP1 messenger RNA cleaved by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress sensor IRE1α. Ligation by RtcB leads to the expression of ... -
Development of transgenic and genome editing tools to study the role of Notch signalling in Hydractinia echinata
(2016)Hydractinia is a colony forming marine invertebrate and a member of the phylum Cnidaria. Members of this genus have been models for developmental biologists for over a century and feature many characters of evolutionary ... -
Dissecting the evolution of resistance to microtubule hyper-stabilization
(NUI Galway, 2024-01-31)When microtubules are hyper-stabilized, they do not provide the proper tension at the kinetochore of the metaphase chromosomes. Low tension leads to the activation of the spindle assembly checkpoint which stops cells ... -
DNA methylation and zygotic genome activation during early embryogenesis of animals
(NUI Galway, 2020-10-25)Upon fertilization, after the fusion of two pronuclei, the newly formed zygotic genome is transcriptionally inactive. Hence, early animal development is driven by maternal RNAs and proteins. The zygotic genome becomes ... -
Effects of exogenous B-cell immunoglobulin binding protein (BIP) and BIP protein inducer X (BIX) on myelination
(NUI Galway, 2019-12-12)B-cell immunoglobulin binding protein (BiP) is an essential endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone that belongs to the Hsp70 family, normally found in the ER lumen. However, BiP also has other extracellular and intracellular ... -
Epigenetic regulation of germline stem cell fate by Centromere Protein C
(NUI Galway, 2021-01-21)Germline stem cells (GSCs) divide asymmetrically to produce one new daughter stem cell and one daughter cell that will subsequently undergo meiosis and differentiate to generate the mature gamete. The ‘silent sister ... -
An epigenomics approach to characterize alterations in disease
(NUI Galway, 2023-01-13)Epigenetics is the term that describes all the mechanisms that regulate the genomic activities such as transcription, DNA repair, DNA replication, transposon duplication. There is a great variety of epigenetic mechanisms ... -
Ex vivo investigation of iron handling in the brain
(2016-11-04)Aberrant iron deposition in the brain is associated with aging and neurodegenerative disorders including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. It is unclear whether metabolic dyshomeostasis of ... -
Fractionation of whey protein glycosylation and assessment of prebiotic and immunomodulation bioactivities for valorisation
(NUI Galway, 2021-03-15)Functional foods are defined as food components that, in addition to their nutritional value, improve human health and/or decrease the risk of diseases. Probiotics, ingested live beneficial bacteria, and prebiotics, the ... -
Functional dissection of the Smc5/6 complex: roles of the SUMO ligase Nse2/Mms21 in the maintenance of genome stability
(2011-06)Nse2/ Mms21 is an E3 SUMO ligase component of the Smc5/6 complex, which plays multiple roles in maintaining genome stability. To study the functions of the vertebrate Nse2 orthologue, we generated Nse2-deficient chicken ... -
Generation of natural killer cell-mimic nanoparticles to target tumour cells
(NUI Galway, 2022-05-30)Natural killer (NK) cells are effector immune cells in the innate immune system. It is increasingly recognised that NK cells play a crucial role eliminating emerging tumour cells. Some tumour cells however can escape and ... -
Genetic analysis of ATR, a central regulator of genome stability.
(2016-05-11)To protect the DNA against the constant assaults of endogenous and environmental agents, cells have developed conserved signaling pathways, known as the DNA damage response. Such responses are important to maintain genome ... -
Genomic and transcriptomic investigations into the feed efficiency phenotype of beef cattle
(NUI Galway, 2019-03-06)Improving the feed efficiency of cattle is a method to increase profits while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact of beef production. Residual feed intake (RFI) is a measure of feed efficiency, calculated as ... -
Identification of decisive molecular interactions regulating resistance to apoptosis in tumour cells
(14-07-04)TRAIL is a member of the TNF family of cytokines which can selectively induce apoptosis in cancerous cells. For this reason recombinant TRAIL is being considered for the treatment of cancer. During their development cancer ... -
Identification of IRS4 and TOP2A as novel CDC7 kinase interacting proteins
(2016-02-08)CDC7 is an essential serine/threonine kinase required for the initiation of DNA replication in eukaryotic cells, through phosphorylating the MCM helicase complex. Formation of an active kinase requires the binding to ... -
Identification of novel factors that promote trinucleotide repeat instability
(2013-09-23)Trinucleotide repeat (TNR) expansions are the genetic cause of several inherited neurological diseases. Factors that affect the propensity of TNRs to expand include the characteristics of the TNR DNA, the chromatin ... -
Identifying novel drug therapies for acute myeloid leukaemia by targeting the interactions between leukaemia cells and bone marrow microenvironment
(NUI Galway, 2019-10-25)Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a malignancy caused by a block in differentiation in which aberrant leukemic stem cells drive the production of undifferentiated or partially differentiated leukemic blast cell clones. ...