Search
Skip to Search Results-
Spring 2015
Besides being the most popular drug in the world, caffeine is an attractive tool used in research to help us answer fascinating scientific questions, because caffeine impinges on a number of molecular pathways. In my research, I used caffeine to study DNA repair pathways and insect xenobiotic...
-
Characterizing novel genes involved in steroidogenesis during the larval development in Drosophila melanogaster
DownloadSpring 2022
The primary steroid hormone in Drosophila melanogaster is called ecdysone, which is synthesized in the larval prothoracic gland (PG) during developmental processes. Ecdysone biosynthesis is significantly up-regulated at the beginning of the third larval instar, resulting in a major ecdysone pulse...
-
Spring 2015
Cholesterol is well known for its adverse cardiovascular effects, however it has crucial cellular roles. For instance, cholesterol is a key component of eukaryotic cell membranes and constitutes the principle steroid hormone precursor in most animals. Cellular cholesterol concentrations have to...
-
Spring 2017
Pulses of ecdysone, a steroid hormone, play an integral role during insect development however, how these ecdysone pulses are regulated has been relatively unexplored. I have shown that the presence of nitric oxide (NO) within the larval prothoracic gland (PG), the principal source of larval...
-
Fall 2020
Ecdysone, the primary steroid hormone in insects produced primarily in the prothoracic gland during larval development, is responsible for coordinating developmental transitions such as larval molts and metamorphosis during the Drosophila life-cycle. The ecdysone biosynthesis pathway, which...
-
Genetic, genomic and molecular studies of signaling pathways controlling ecdysone biosynthesis in Drosophila melanogaster
DownloadFall 2013
In insects, periodic pulses of the molting hormone ecdysone control all major developmental transitions such as the molts and metamorphosis. Ecdysone, a steroid hormone, is produced in the prothoracic gland during larval and pupal development of Drosophila. While we have a relatively good...
-
Investigating the Nuclear Roles of Iron Regulatory Protein-1A (IRP1A) in Drosophila melanogaster
DownloadFall 2023
Iron is an indispensable micronutrient for almost all organisms. Either the lack or excess of iron can result in various human diseases. Therefore, to maintain cellular iron homeostasis, the IRP/IRE (iron regulatory protein/iron responsive element) system tightly regulates iron concentrations....
-
Fall 2022
The ppk20 (pickpocket 20) gene was identified from a two-step screen that was aimed at identifying genes relevant to Drosophila iron and heme homeostasis. Initially, our lab collaborated with two other labs and carried out a prothoracic gland (PG)-specific genome-wide screen of 12,500 RNA...