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Optimization Of Tyrosine Hydroxylase Antibody For Immunohistochemistry Fluorescence Detection In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Madison Thurber May 2024

Optimization Of Tyrosine Hydroxylase Antibody For Immunohistochemistry Fluorescence Detection In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Madison Thurber

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter produced through the catecholamine synthesis pathway that affects brain activity. Unregulated dopamine levels can lead to various diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Optimization of an immunohistochemistry protocol will allow for the quantification of tyrosine hydroxylase antibody, which indirectly allows for dopamine quantification in dopaminergic regions within the brain. However, the antibody concentration to give the optimal signal-to-noise ratio in IHC varies across studies. Through this experiment, I determined the concentration of tyrosine hydroxylase (TyrH) antibody for immunohistochemistry that gave the best signal-to-background noise ratio within several known dopaminergic regions …


Exploring Mesolimbic Circuitry Modulation By Opiates, Interleukin-10, And Psychostimulants, Joakim W. Ronström Apr 2024

Exploring Mesolimbic Circuitry Modulation By Opiates, Interleukin-10, And Psychostimulants, Joakim W. Ronström

Theses and Dissertations

The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system originates in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and projects to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and other areas including the basolateral amygdala (BLA), prefrontal cortex, and the hippocampus. Drug use induces reward and leads to dysregulation in these brain areas and eventually to substance use disorders (SUDs). Chapter 1 introduces the mesolimbic DA system and its relationship to drug use and their relevance to each chapter. Chapter 2 explores opioid effects on BLA circuitry which is known to play a role in the emotional response including anxiety and stress in SUDs. We showed that morphine induced …


Methamphetamine-Induced Dna Double-Stranded Breaks: The Impact Of The Dopamine Transporter And Insights Into The Mechanisms Of Dna Damage In Mouse Neuro 2a Cells, Lizette Couto Feb 2024

Methamphetamine-Induced Dna Double-Stranded Breaks: The Impact Of The Dopamine Transporter And Insights Into The Mechanisms Of Dna Damage In Mouse Neuro 2a Cells, Lizette Couto

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Methamphetamine (METH) abuse remains a global health concern, with emerging evidence highlighting its genotoxic potential. In the central nervous system METH enters dopaminergic cells primarily through the dopamine transporter (DAT), which controls the dynamics of dopamine (DA) neurotransmission by driving the reuptake of extracellular DA into the presynaptic neuronal cell. Additional effects of METH on the storage of DA in synaptic vesicles lead to the dysregulated cytosolic accumulation of DA. Previous studies have shown that after METH disrupts intracellular vesicular stores of DA, the excess DA in the cytosol is rapidly oxidized. This generates an abundance of reactive oxygen species …


Neurochemical Signaling Of Reward-Based Learning In Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine Neurons, Kyla F. Wholley Feb 2024

Neurochemical Signaling Of Reward-Based Learning In Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine Neurons, Kyla F. Wholley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons signal and participate in reward-related learning. Specifically, dopamine is postulated to encode reward-related environmental stimuli to compute reward prediction errors (RPEs). It is through the computation and maintenance of RPEs that learning occurs. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms that underlie how dopamine neurons compute RPEs and facilitate reward-related learning. The present study utilized fiber photometry in conjunction with a Pavlovian reward-based task to identify how GABA inputs to VTA dopamine neurons contribute to the computation of RPEs and reward-based behavior. Activity of GABA inputs to VTA dopamine neurons increased for reward-predicting …