Extent of Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs on Entrepreneurial and Technological Empowerment

Empowerment of women entrepreneurs in the context of technology entails building up the abilities and skills of women to gain insight into the issues affecting them and also building up their capacity to voice their concerns. Technological empowerment of women entrepreneurs will open up avenues to further nrichment. By the use of technology women can broaden the scope of their activities. Hence the present paper focused on analyzing the entrepreneurial and technological empowerment of women entrepreneurs. Majority of the women entrepreneurs had medium level of entrepreneurial and low level of technological empowerment

Striated Rootlet and Nonfilamentous Forms of Rootletin Maintain Ciliary Function

SummaryPrimary cilia are microtubule-based sensory organelles whose structures and functions must be actively maintained throughout animal lifespan to support signal transduction pathways essential for development and physiological processes such as vision and olfaction [1]. Remarkably, few cellular components aside from the intraflagellar transport (IFT) machinery are implicated in ciliary maintenance [2]. Rootletin, an evolutionarily conserved protein found as prominent striated rootlets or a nonfilamentous form, both of which are associated with cilium-anchoring basal bodies, represents a likely candidate given its well-known role in preventing ciliary photoreceptor degeneration in a mouse model [3, 4]. Whether rootletin is universally required for maintaining ciliary integrity, and if so, by what mechanism, remains unresolved. Here, we demonstrate that the gene disrupted in the previously isolated C. elegans chemosensory mutant che-10 encodes a rootletin ortholog that localizes proximally and distally to basal bodies of cilia harboring or lacking conspicuous rootlets. In vivo analyses reveal that CHE-10/rootletin maintains ciliary integrity partly by modulating the assembly, motility, and flux of IFT particles, which are critical for axoneme length control. Surprisingly, CHE-10/rootletin is also essential for stabilizing ciliary transition zones and basal bodies, roles not ascribed to IFT. Unifying these findings, we provide evidence that the underlying molecular defects in the che-10 mutant stem from disrupted organization/function of the periciliary membrane, affecting the efficient delivery of basal body-associated and ciliary components and resulting in cilium degeneration. Together, our cloning and functional analyses of C. elegans che-10 provide the first mechanistic insights into how filamentous and nonfilamentous forms of rootletin play essential roles in maintaining ciliary function in metazoans

MKS and NPHP modules cooperate to establish basal body/transition zone membrane associations and ciliary gate function during ciliogenesis

Eight proteins, defects in which are associated with Meckel-Gruber syndrome and nephronophthisis ciliopathies, work together as two functional modules at the transition zone to establish basal body/transition zone connections with the membrane and barricade entry of non-ciliary components into this organelle

Theoretical Modeling of the o-Cresolphthalein Complexone Assay for Bone Calcium Resorption

O-cresolphthalein complexone (Ocpc) is a widely-used colorimetric indicator used to assess the Ca2+ concentration of biological and non-biological samples. To minimize interference by the ~ 0.8 - 1 mM Mg2+ present in culture media and biological samples, Ocpc has been used with 8-Hydroxyquinoline (8HQ) which preferentially binds to Mg2+ over Ca2+. The Ocpc + 8HQ assay could be useful in in-vitro bioassays to estimate changes in Ca2+ concentration from the ~2 mM normally present in cell culture media. While several formulations of the Ocpc+8HQ assay have been suggested, their utility for such applications is unclear. The overall objectives of this project were (1) to develop a theoretical model of the Ocpc + 8HQ assay to assess Ca2+ release, and (2) to validate and apply this model to media in a bone resorption assay. Such a model can provide a quantitative understanding of how the different molecules of the assay system interact and contribute to the final output signal (OD). Models of increasing complexity were developed, ranging from 1.1. Model I - the reaction between Ocpc and Ca2+ to form the colored complex Caocpc 1.2. Model II - including interactions with 8HQ and 1.3. Model III - including interactions with Mg2+. Next, the model was 2.1. Validated by comparing the linear region slopes of the predicted and experimental calibration curves, and then 2.2. Applied to a bone resorption scenario by computing the sensitivity and specificity of the assay using relevant cell culture and bone resorption assay parameters. These theoretical models contribute to understanding the effect of the different complexes formed on the output signal. The results indicate the utility and limitations of an Ocpc + 8HQ assay for analysing Ca2+ from bioassays in culture medium. The modeling approach may be useful for other assays with target and interferent molecules

Theoretical Modeling of the o-Cresolphthalein Complexone Assay for Bone Calcium Resorption

O-cresolphthalein complexone (Ocpc) is a widely-used colorimetric indicator used to assess the Ca2+ concentration of biological and non-biological samples. To minimize interference by the ~ 0.8 - 1 mM Mg2+ present in culture media and biological samples, Ocpc has been used with 8-Hydroxyquinoline (8HQ) which preferentially binds to Mg2+ over Ca2+. The Ocpc + 8HQ assay could be useful in in-vitro bioassays to estimate changes in Ca2+ concentration from the ~2 mM normally present in cell culture media. While several formulations of the Ocpc+8HQ assay have been suggested, their utility for such applications is unclear. The overall objectives of this project were (1) to develop a theoretical model of the Ocpc + 8HQ assay to assess Ca2+ release, and (2) to validate and apply this model to media in a bone resorption assay. Such a model can provide a quantitative understanding of how the different molecules of the assay system interact and contribute to the final output signal (OD). Models of increasing complexity were developed, ranging from 1.1. Model I - the reaction between Ocpc and Ca2+ to form the colored complex Caocpc 1.2. Model II - including interactions with 8HQ and 1.3. Model III - including interactions with Mg2+. Next, the model was 2.1. Validated by comparing the linear region slopes of the predicted and experimental calibration curves, and then 2.2. Applied to a bone resorption scenario by computing the sensitivity and specificity of the assay using relevant cell culture and bone resorption assay parameters. These theoretical models contribute to understanding the effect of the different complexes formed on the output signal. The results indicate the utility and limitations of an Ocpc + 8HQ assay for analysing Ca2+ from bioassays in culture medium. The modeling approach may be useful for other assays with target and interferent molecules

Functional aspects of ciliary maintenance in Caenorhabditis elegans

Primary cilia are cellular antennae found on many cell types in metazoans. Their biogenesis and maintenance is critical throughout lifespan of an animal to support signal transduction pathways essential for development, and physiological processes such as vision and olfaction. Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is a process that is required to form and maintain cilia. Studies in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Caenorhabditis elegans have revealed several components required for ciliogenesis and IFT, but the function and mechanism of many of these proteins are poorly understood. In this dissertation, I identify and characterize two genes, che-10 and dyf-18, that maintain ciliary function at least in part by modulating IFT. I identified CHE-10 as the rootletin ortholog in C. elegans. Rootletin is an evolutionarily conserved protein that exists as polymerized striated rootlets, a cytoskeleton-like structure associated to the cilium-nucleating basal bodies, or as non-filamentous form associated to the ciliary base. Similar to its disruption in mouse model, che-10 mutants initiate ciliogenesis but the cilia degenerate over time. I showed that rootletin maintains cilia by modulating the assembly, motility and flux of IFT components. I also demonstrated that rootletin is essential for the stability of the axoneme, the transition zone, which forms a ciliary gate, and the basal bodies. Finally, I present evidence that the molecular basis of these defects may be due to inefficient delivery of ciliary components and organization at the periciliary membrane compartment, leading to cilium degeneration. DYF-18, a C. elegans CCRK-related Ser-Thr kinase, was uncovered in a screen for genes expressed during ciliogenesis. I show that DYF-18 is expressed in all ciliated sensory neurons. Similar to C. reinhardtii, disruption of DYF-18 leads to ciliary length defects. Finally, I demonstrated that dyf-18 mutants have abnormal accumulation of key IFT components. Specifically, OSM-5 is at the base of cilia and OSM-3 kinesin accumulates between and middle and distal segments of the axoneme. Intriguingly, in spite of the loss of OSM-3 kinesin in the distal segments, dyf-18 mutants can build a full-length cilium. Altogether, my studies offer insights into functional aspects of two novel proteins required for the maintenance of ciliary function in C. elegans