Show simple item record

Force-extension of the Amylose Polysaccharide

dc.contributor.authorvan den Berg, Rudolfen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-08-13T19:25:47Z
dc.date.accessioned2018-11-26T13:52:37Z
dc.date.available2014-08-13T19:25:47Z
dc.date.available2018-11-26T13:52:37Z
dc.date.issued2009en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/6372
dc.identifier.urihttp://repository.aust.edu.ng/xmlui/handle/11427/6372
dc.description.abstractMyasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder in which auto-antibodies directed at the acetylcholine receptors (AChR) of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) block, alter or destroy their targets. The anti-AChR antibodies cause activation of the classical complement pathway leading to inflammatory injury at the NMJ. Decay Accelerating Factor (DAF), a member of complement regulatory proteins, prevents activation of autologous components of complement pathways. The absence of DAF, in knock-out mouse models, has been shown to significantly increase the susceptibility to experimental autoimmune MG. A previous study showed that a high proportion of South African MG patients of African genetic ancestry develop immunosuppressive therapy-resistant extraocular muscle (EOM) dysfunction. We hypothesized that these patients have deficient DAF expression in their EOMs resulting in less protection from complement injury. Sequence analysis of relevant regions of the DAF gene revealed a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), c.-198C>G, in the promoter region in MG patients of African genetic ancestry with severe EOM MG involvement (MG n=101; Control n= 132; Odds ratio= 6.6; p=0.009). DAF-luciferase reporter assays, using 3 different cell lines (COS-7, HT1080 and C2C12) revealed that the c.-198C>G SNP (Mut-DAF) led to an increase in DAF promoter activity (en_ZA
dc.subject.otherInformation Technologyen_ZA
dc.titleForce-extension of the Amylose Polysaccharideen_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
dc.type.qualificationlevelMastersen_ZA
dc.type.qualificationnameMScen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Computer Scienceen_ZA


Files in this item

FilesSizeFormatView
thesis_sci_2009_4994_van_den_berg_rudolf.pdf1.482Mbapplication/pdfView/Open

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record