Identification and validation of small molecule inhibitors for the Tiam1/SDC1 interaction

has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis requirement for the Interdisciplinary Studies-Master of Science degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the May 2014 graduation. ii In memory of my grandfathers, Abel Garcia and Daniel Lopez iii A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor English Proverb iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I will like to acknowledge my mentor Dr. Fuentes for allowing me to join his lab and for his support. Thank you for your mentoring, patience and for constantly pushing me to strive for the best. Thanks to my thesis committee, Dr. Charles Yeaman and Dr. Frederick Domann for their important critiques, suggestions and encouragement. I also have to thank Kris DeMali and David Roman for their input and the support of their lab facilities, as well the reagents kindly provided to conduct research. I must thank the MCB program and its administrative staff, Paulette Villhauer and Joshua Lobb. They did a wonderful job keeping me on track with deadlines and orchestrating my committee meetings and defense. for friendship and mentorship. To our lab undergraduate students, Frances Hindt and Lisa Golden, for keeping the lab fun and providing friendly conversations. Especially I would like to thank future Dr. Xu Liu for working with me from my rotation project to the very end, answering all my questions, providing valuable feedback and suggestions. For his patience showing me the ways in the lab and for never having a dull moment working with him. Another important person is Dr. Cait Runne who helped me trouble shoot my experiments and kept me on task. Thanks to my family for their support from afar and understanding when they didn't hear from me in weeks. Special thanks to my two lovely nieces Leilani and Ayanna who celebrated my birthday every year even though I was not home and mailed me enough letters to fully cover my fridge. Lastly I would like to thank my girlfriend Breanna for surviving my stressful moments, for helping me edit this document and not letting me forget to enjoy the little things in life.