RUcore Resource Object
RUcore Resource Object
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Uniform TitleTime-resolved fluorescence studies of protein aggregation leading to amyloid formation
NameGiurleo, Jason Thomas (author), Talaga, David (chair), Levy, Ronald (internal member), Castner, Edward (internal member), Brodsky, Barbra (outside member), Rutgers University, Graduate School - New Brunswick,
Degree Date2008-10
Date Created2008
SubjectChemistry and Chemical Biology,
Cell aggregation,
Protein folding,
Amyloidosis
DescriptionAggregation of soluble polypeptides or proteins into insoluble amyloid fibrils containing the cross-beta structural motif has been observed in the progression of over 20 diseases. Self-assembly mechanisms have been proposed but are not well-established. Recent evidence has shifted some of the focus from amyloid fibrils to prefibrillar amyloidogenic aggregates as the cause of disease symptoms. We used time-resolved non-covalent fluorescence labeling to follow the conformational changes occurring in a model protein (beta-lactoglobulin) during amyloid aggregation. The data was analyzed using a novel model-free globally regularized fitting technique. This reduction of model space allowed for stable fitting and the ability to identify intermediate species. An aggregation model was then proposed. In the second half of this thesis, our attention is shifted to alpha-synuclein (aSyn). aSyn is the majority protein component of the fibrillar inclusion bodies found in brains of Parkinson's disease patients. We have begun a set of fluorescence lifetime experiments using covalent and non-covalent labeling schemes to elucidate the dynamic, conformational and aggregation properties of aSyn.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references.
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttp://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.17477
LanguageEnglish
CollectionGraduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.