Ciencias Exactas y Ciencias de la Salud
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11285/551039
Pertenecen a esta colección Tesis y Trabajos de grado de las Maestrías correspondientes a las Escuelas de Ingeniería y Ciencias así como a Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud.
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- Development of an aptazyme-driven toehold switch platform for colorimetric detection of SARS-CoV-2 N gene conserved regions(Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, 2024) Esquivel Ortiz, Karla Mariel; Antonio Pérez, Aurora; emipsanchez; Benítez Cardoza, Claudia Guadalupe; School of Engineering and Sciences; Campus Estado de México; Torres Huerta, Ana LauraIn response to the urgent need for advanced diagnostic tools highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this thesis project aimed to develop a novel, label-free colorimetric diagnostic platform using parallel G-quadruplex/hemin-aptazymes for detecting the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This work, rooted in designing these aptazymes in-silico that specifically target conserved regions of the SARS-CoV-2 N gene, namely TV1 and TV2, and to experimentally evaluate their potential as highly specific bioreceptors for biosensing technologies. First, extensive in-silico analyses were carried out to identify the potential targets and to evaluate the aptazyme sequence and interaction design. Multiple Sequence Alignment analyses helped us to identify SARS-CoV-2 N gene regions with high conservation across betacoronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2 variants present in Mexico, which would serve us as stable targets for our diagnostic platform. The designed aptazymes and identified target sequences were then studied for their secondary structure and stability at different working parameters using the mFold software. Tertiary structures were retrieved using RNAComposer, 3DNA, and PyMol software to evaluate structural changes at different working parameters. Finally, molecular docking simulations were carried out using PyDock DNA online server to predict the aptamer-target interactions. These initial studies determined the experimental working parameters in terms of ionic concentrations and provided an understanding of the molecules individually and in complex. Characterization techniques included Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) to understand the size change behavior of the molecules, both individually and in complex; UV-Vis Spectroscopy to assess the aptazymes’ catalytic activity, analytical sensitivity and specificity, and capability of producing a colorimetric response when in complex; and Circular Dichroism (CD) to gain insights into the structural changes of the aptazymes alone and in complex. UV-Vis spectroscopy analyses revealed that aptazymes were non-specific to their targets, consistently demonstrating a colorimetric shift within the first five minutes of reaction. CD showed that the predominant structure observed after complex formation was the B-form hairpin topology for all aptazymes. These structural changes explained the non-specific results observed in UV-Vis spectroscopy. Consequently, the overallaptazyme sequence design should be refined. Following our aptazyme toehold design, increasing the length of the oehold sequence might improve the formation of a parallel G-quadruplex structure instead of a B-form hairpin. Further experiments or refinements are recommended to better characterize TV2 aptazyme which appeared to be a more promising andidate than TV1, based on its greater stability, fewer structural conformation, higher specificity, and lower limit of detection.
- Physicochemical and techno-functional evaluation of native Mexican fruit by-products for their application in industry(Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, 2021-12-07) Ramírez Aguirre, Mayra Deyanira; García Amézquita, Luis Eduardo; puelquio/tolmquevedo; Tejada Ortigoza, Viridiana Alejandra; Rodríguez Martínez, Verónica; García Gamboa, Ricardo; Escuela de Ciencias e Ingeniería; Campus Monterrey; García Cayuela, TomásIn recent years it has been observed that consumers are more aware of the food intake that can bring more benefits to their health or that can reduce the risk of suffering from various diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes, cancer, among others). In Mexico there are a large number of unknown native fruits that potentially have a preventive effect on these diseases. These fruits are rich in multiple nutrients, among which it could be highlighted the content of fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. In fact, recent studies have shown that these fruits also contain a large number of bioactive compounds such as phenolic compounds, carotenoids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, just to mention some. These elements are highly related to beneficial health effects since they present bioactivity as antioxidants, anticancer, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, among others. Additionally, due to the composition of native Mexican fruits, their use has been proposed for the development of techno-functional ingredients, in other words, of additives that can improve the physicochemical characteristics of foods, replacing some of the conventional chemical additives. After a long review in the literature, it was found that the representative fruits of the western zone of Mexico that could be used in this first stage are the following: aguama (Bromelia pinguin L.); nance (Byrsonima crassifolia L. Kunth); hawthorn fruit (Crataegus mexicana); ayale (Crescentia alata Kunth); black sapote (Diospyros digyna); sapodilla (Manilkara sapota (L.) Royen); xoconostle (Opuntia joconostle Weber ex Diguet); guamuchil (Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth); papache (Randia echinocarpa); and yellow plum (Spondias mombin L.). These fruits seem to be a potential source of bioactive ingredients that combined with their nutrients can have a high impact as additives in the food industry. In addition, because they are under exploited fruits and therefore not much used, they could generate a positive impact on society. Due to the increase in food consumption, currently large amounts of food waste are generated. This food waste have proven to be rich sources of bioactive compounds, even more than fresh fruits and vegetables, therefore, the study of these fruits as by-products is proposed, that is, as those industrial waste that can still be used such as shells, bagasse, seeds, juice, peels, among others. Therefore, the separation of pulps, peels and seeds parts of each fruit is proposed to similar these by-products. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to make a physicochemical characterization, as well as the state of maturity of the selected fruits. Additionally, a characterization of the fruits by-products composition will be carried out, determining the content of soluble dietary fiber, insoluble dietary fiber, total dietary fiber, digestible carbohydrates, protein, fat, minerals, as well as the energy content of the samples. After obtaining ingredients from these fruits, a techno-functional characterization will be accomplished: water and oil retention capacity (WRC and ORC, respectively), solubility (SOL), swelling capacity (SWC), and tapping density (TD). Finally, the functional capacity measured with three different assays were studied in terms of antioxidant compounds, Folin-Ciocalteu for total phenolic content (TPC) and radical scavenging ability determination by DPPH and ABTS. These studies were achieve in order to fully characterize these ingredients and to be able to relate their nutraceutical and techno-functional properties with their composition so that, native Mexican fruits by-products powders can be used to obtain ingredients to different industries, mainly in the food industry.
- Evaluation of Forged composite on 3D Carbon Fiber composites for exoskeletons(Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey) Pérez Salazar, Miguel Alejandro; MARTINEZ ROMERO OSCAR; 2278430; Martínez Romero, Oscar; puelquio, emipsanchez; Elías Zuñiga, Alex; Olvera Trejo, Daniel; Ramírez Herrera, Claudia Angélica; School of Engineering and Sciences; Campus Monterrey; Jimenez Cedeño, Isaac HumbertoComposite materials have been widely used in recent years for their outstanding mechanical properties in different industries, especially aerospace and automotive. However, the use of these materials has impacted the development of Exoskeletons to increase physical performance to complete specific tasks or movements in the human body. Exoskeletons have been developed using aluminum and different alloys, but it has been migrated to the composite material. The evolution of the composite material to 3D woven has shown good out-of-plane mechanical properties. In most cases, composites are developed by infusion processes even though compaction has proven an increase the mechanical properties. The research aims to create an infusion and compression manufacturing system to produce 3D composite materials, delivering stable and better mechanical properties for exoskeletons components. Several experiments and tests were developed to define the best manufacturing process based on the resin distribution and the mechanical properties obtained. The mechanical properties of 3D woven composites were improved using infusion and compression molding by ensuring better impregnation and distribution of the resin through the composite and increase the mechanical properties significantly for tension and flexion. Finally, it was applied in designing a component of an exoskeleton, obtaining a saving in weight and reduction of volume.