Browsing Biological Engineering - Ph.D. / Sc.D. by Title
Now showing items 235-254 of 347
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Olfactory-related receptors : methods towards enabling structural and functional studies
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011)Mammalian noses can detect and distinguish an inestimable number of odors at minute concentrations. Four classes of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are responsible for this remarkable sensitivity: olfactory receptors ... -
Optimization of primary endothelial culture methods and assessment of cell signaling pathways in the context of inflammation
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012)Tissue engineering is a potentially valuable tool for clinical treatment of diseases where host tissues or organs need to be replaced. Progression of engineering metabolically complex organs and tissues has been severely ... -
Optimizing chondrogenic factors and protein delivery methods for cartilage repair
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012)Joint injuries are common and often result in damage to cartilage, which has a limited ability to repair itself. Tissue engineering is a promising approach for improving cartilage healing in which biomaterials and chemical ... -
Overcoming dendritic cell-mediated suppression of T cell responses in a prostate tumor environment
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010)Prostate cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in American men, leading to significant mortality each year. This is in part due to a lack of effective treatments for advanced disease. The prostate is considered an ideal ... -
Oxidative DNA damage : mutagenic properties of 5-hydorxycytosine, 5-hydroxyuracil and uracil glycol in Eschericia coli
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1998) -
Parameter and topology uncertainty for optimal experimental design
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014)A major effort of systems biology is the building of accurate and detailed models of biological systems. Because biological models are large, complex, and highly nonlinear, building accurate models requires large quantities ... -
Pathogenesis of the carcinogenic bacterium, Helicobacter pylori
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007)Gastric cancer is the second most common malignancy in the digestive system and the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Epidemiological data and experimental studies have identified several risk factors ... -
Pheochromocytoma-induced cardiomyopathy : a model of synergistic effects of multifactorial tumor secretions
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)One specific thesis of pathogenesis holds that diseases are dependent upon the complex interactions of multiple compounds and cofactors. While one agent may dominate, its powerful effects are mediated by ancillary factors ... -
Physicochemical characterization of immortal strand DNA
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004)Adult tissue differentiation involves the generation of distinct cell types from adult stem cells (ASCs). Current understanding of tissue differentiation mechanisms is based on studies of protein and RNAs that asymmetrically ... -
Physiological effects of heterologous expression of proteorhodopsin photosystems
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012)Proteorhodopsin (PR) phototrophy plays an important role in the marine ecosystem, harvesting energy from sunlight for a diverse community of hetertrophic organisms. The simple proteorhodopsin photosystem (PRPS) composed ... -
Point mutations in normal lungs of smokers and non-smokers
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004)It is a widely-held hypothesis that environmental mutagens play an essential role in human somatic and germinal cell mutagenesis. In particular, the finding of small amounts of chemical mutagens in cigarette smoke has led ... -
Polymer-tethered epidermal growth factor as an inductive biomaterial surface for connective tissue progenitors
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006)Connective tissue progenitors (CTP) can act as a pluripotent source of reparative cells during injury and therefore have great potential in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. However, the response of CTP to most ... -
Principles for composing genetic circuits in mammalian cells with a focus on miRNA sensing
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018)In this thesis, we developed two synthetic biology frameworks to facilitate the construction of useful genetic circuits, with a focus on circuits that sense miRNAs. miRNAs are an attractive biomarker for sensing since they ... -
Principles for the design and construction of synthetic circuits utilizing protein-protein interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016)Within synthetic biology, significant progress in creating networks using transcriptional and translational control has been made, but a network comprised solely of protein-protein interactions has not yet been built. To ... -
Probing nanomechanics of aggrecan and the aggrecan-rich pericellular matrix of chondrocytes in cartilage
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005)The mechanical properties of articular cartilage are associated with the extracellular matrix network of type II collagen and the proteoglycan, aggrecan, which in combination provide the tensile, shear, and compressive ... -
Progression of chondrocyte signaling responses to mechanical stimulation in 3-D gel culture
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008)Mechanical stimulation of 3-D chondrocyte cultures increases extracellular matrix (ECM) production and mechanical stiffness in regenerating cartilage. The goal of this study was to examine the progression of chondrocyte ... -
Protein engineering design principles for the development of biosensors
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015)Investigating protein location and concentration is critical to understanding function. Reagentless biosensors, in which a reporting fluorophore is conjugated to a binding scaffold, can detect analytes of interest with ... -
Quantification of benzo[a]pyrene-diol-epoxide adducts by laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999)Quantification of adducts in human samples is a challenging task in analytical chemistry. Humans are typically exposed to low levels of a wide range of different carcinogens. As a result, adduct quantification requires ... -
Quantitative analysis and characterization of intracellular gene delivery mechanisms
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003)A goal for gene delivery research is to design vectors capable of (a) delivering transgenes to target cells, (b) yielding efficient gene expression, and (c) minimizing any immune, inflammatory, or cytotoxic response. Current ... -
Quantitative analysis of 2D and 3D models for epidermal growth factor receptor-dependent cell migration in the context of the extracellular microenvironment
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009)Major therapeutic efforts have been devoted to targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is aberrantly expressed in many cancers and is correlated with tumor progression and invasiveness. In the current ...
