| Publication Type |
dissertation |
| School or College |
School of Medicine |
| Department |
Oncological Sciences |
| Author |
Han, Hsiao-Fen |
| Title |
Dissecting the role of ALP-1 and EAT-1 proteins in regulation of muscle structure and function |
| Date |
2010-04-21 |
| Description |
The purpose of this dissertation is to define how muscle cells maintain their contractile machinery and how a rhythmic muscle contraction is regulated. These studies employed C. elegans as a model system to characterize pathways required for normal muscle structure and function. With easy manipulation and a wide variety of genetic tools, C. elegans is a powerful and efficient system to study gene function and to dissect underlying molecular mechanisms. In the first part of this dissertation, Z-disc-associated muscle proteins of the ALPEnigma family were characterized. The alp-1 gene in C. elegans encodes multiple ALPEnigma proteins. The ALP-1 proteins are broadly expressed at actin-anchorage sites, and play a role in maintaining actin filament organization within muscles. Genetic analysis revealed that ALP-1 and alpha-actinin act together to support the integrity of actin cytoarchitecture. The second part of this dissertation is focused on the characterization of the eat-1 gene in C. elegans. Mutations in eat-1 cause defects in the rhythmic contraction of the pharynx, an organ in the C. elegans digestive tract that is comprised of muscle, neuronal and epithelial cells, eat-1 encodes adenosine kinase, an evolutionarily conserved enzyme that catalyzes adenosine to adenosine monophosphate. Molecular and genetic studies showed that EAT-1 acts noncell autonomously and modulates adenosine receptormediated signaling to regulate pharyngeal muscle contraction. The studies reveal the important role of ALP-Enigma proteins in maintaining muscle structural integrity, and of adenosine kinase in regulating rhythmic muscle contraction, enhancing our knowledge of how muscle cells maintain their structure and contract properly. |
| Type |
Text |
| Publisher |
University of Utah |
| Subject |
Muscle Contraction; Muscle Proteins; Caenorhabditis elegans |
| Subject MESH |
Muscle Contraction; Muscle Proteins; Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins |
| Dissertation Institution |
University of Utah |
| Dissertation Name |
PhD |
| Language |
eng |
| Relation is Version of |
Digital reproduction of "Dissecting the role of ALP-1 and EAT-1 proteins in regulation of muscle structure and function." Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library. Print version of "Dissecting the role of ALP-1 and EAT-1 proteins in regulation of muscle structure and function." available at J. Willard Marriot Library Special Collection. QP6.5 2009.H25. |
| Rights Management |
© Hsiao-Fen Han |
| Format Medium |
application/pdf |
| Format Extent |
2,104,895 bytes |
| Source |
Original: University of Utah Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library |
| Conversion Specifications |
Original scanned on Fujitsi fi-5220G as 400 dpi to pdf using ABBYY FineReader 10 |
| ARK |
ark:/87278/s69g627c |
| Setname |
ir_etd |
| ID |
192067 |
| Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s69g627c |
