Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Li, Zhongwei

Abstract

Oxidative stress (OS) is strongly implicated in age-related neurodegeneration and other diseases. Under OS, the production of excessive oxidants leads to increased damages to cellular components. Recently, RNA has been discovered as a major target of oxidative damage, including the creation of abasic sites. In this work, we developed a method for quantifying abasic RNA in cell. Using this method, we have examined the potential role of the RNA-processing cellular foci, stress granule (SG) and processing bodies (PB) in eliminating abasic RNA in situ. We demonstrated that RNA is a major target of oxidative damage, constituting the majority of OS-induced abasic nucleic acids in HeLa cell. Importantly, the level of abasic RNA is strongly correlated with SG abundance. Furthermore, inhibition of SG/PB formation causes accumulation of abasic RNA, suggesting that SG/PB participates in removing oxidized RNA and protects cells under OS, which offers novel targets for therapeutic intervention in age-related diseases.

Extent

94 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00004702

Format

pdf

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