Date of Award
Spring 5-2014
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Biological Sciences
First Advisor
Hao Xu
Advisor Department
Biological Sciences
Abstract
Mast cells play an important role in the immune system by releasing chemicals such as chemokines and cytokines once they are stimulated. These products are released after stimulation by a process called mast cell degranulation. Mast cell degranulation is accomplished when vesicles containing the chemicals inside the mast cell fuse with the mast cell membrane via SNARE-mediated (Soluble NSF Attachment Protein Receptors) membrane fusion. This family of proteins consists of syntaxin, SNAP 25-like protein, and synaptobrevin/VAMP (Vesicle Associated Membrane Protein)(2). Comlexin isoforms (complexin 1,2,3,and 4) have been known to regulate this system in a fashion that is still unclear. In order to study the mechanism in which these complexins regulate SNARE-mediated membrane fusion, each isoform was cloned and ligated to the pTYB12 vector to be expressed in E. coli. An induction process using IPTG was used in order to induce production of each isoform via the T7 promoter. In this experiment, we were able to clone all of the complexin isoforms, but only complexin 1 and 3 were successfully expressed.
Copyright
Copyright for this thesis is owned by the author. It may be freely accessed by all users. However, any reuse or reproduction not covered by the exceptions of the Fair Use or Educational Use clauses of U.S. Copyright Law or without permission of the copyright holder may be a violation of federal law. Contact the administrator if you have additional questions.
Recommended Citation
King, Cameron Blake, "Subcloning and Expression of Complexin Isoforms Involved in Mast Cell Degranulation" (2014). Honors Theses. 226.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/226