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Quantitative analysis of cytokine-induced hepatocellular death in the context of hepatotoxic therapeutics
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)
Numerous therapeutics, such as viral gene therapy vectors, have unintended toxicity in part due to interactions with inflammatory cytokine signaling to elicit hepatocyte death, thus limiting their clinical use. Although ...
Relating topology and dynamics in cell signaling networks
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)
Cells are constantly bombarded with stimuli that they must sense, process, and interpret to make decisions. This capability is provided by interconnected signaling pathways. Many of the components and interactions within ...
Self-assembling peptide hydrogels promote in vitro chondrogenesis of bone marrow-derived stromal cells : effects of peptide sequence, cell donor age, and method of growth factor delivery
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)
The inability of articular cartilage to heal after damage or disease has motivated investigation of novel cartilage tissue engineering technologies. The objective of this thesis was to advance the use of self-assembling ...
Modulating cell behavior with engineered HER-receptor ligands
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)
The primary motivation for this work is the manipulation of EGFR family signaling to influence regenerative responses of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). Underlying the potential of regenerative medicine is the need to ...
Engineering optical traps for new environments and applications in the measurement of biological adhesives and motors
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)
Optical traps have played a central role in the exploration of biological systems through the examination of molecular motors, biopolymers, and many other interactions at the nano and micro length scales. This thesis seeks ...
Mechanistic investigation of anticancer agents that damage DNA and interact with the estrogen receptor
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)
One of the primary goals of cancer chemotherapy is the design of antitumor agents that achieve selective targeting of tumor cells while minimizing toxicity to normal tissues. We have synthesized a series of DNA damaging ...
Intrinsic heterogeneity in the survival and proliferation capacities of naïve CD8⁺ T cells
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)
This thesis describes the identification and characterization of a novel 'layer' of intrinsic non-genetic functional heterogeneity within the seemingly homogeneous naive CD8⁺ T cell population in their survival and ...
Glycans in host-pathogen interactions : an integrated biochemical investigation
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)
The epithelial cell-extracellular matrix interface primarily comprises of complex glycans and glycoconjugates. The widespread distribution of these glycans on the epithelial cell surface makes them ideal targets for ...
Use of a 3D liver microreactor as an in vitro model for the study of bile acid synthesis and hepatobiliary circulation
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)
The liver regulates a myriad of vital functions including bile acid synthesis, hepatobiliary circulation, cholesterol homeostasis, drug metabolism, etc. This thesis focuses on the use of a 3D in vitro model of liver to ...
Identification of therapeutic targets to revert tamoxifen resistance by quantitative proteomic analysis of signaling networks
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)
Tamoxifen resistance is the biggest problem in endocrine treatment against hormone receptor positive breast cancer patients. HER2 is a membrane receptor tyrosine kinase that is known to correlate with poor disease outcome ...