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Regulation Of Alpha Synuclein Following Chronic Methamphetamine Administration In Guinea Pigs: Correlation With Memory And Synaptic Plasticity, Adnouse Blanc

PCOM Biomedical Studies Student Scholarship

Methamphetamine (METH) is a highly addictive drug of abuse that has a severe impact on neuronal changes in the brain including modulations of plasticity, cognitive dysfunction, as well as memory impairment. These changes can be seen as modifications in the expression of biochemical markers associated with synaptic plasticity. One such marker associated with memory impairment is alpha synuclein (α-syn). Alteration of α-syn expression has been linked to memory impairment in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Here we assess the effect of chronic METH treatment in correlation to cognitive functions.

Twenty-nine guinea pigs (male, 150-250 g) were …

Molecular And Cellular Mechanisms Of Reelin Signaling In The Adult Hippocampus, Justin Howard Trotter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Reelin signaling pathway is critical for neuronal migration during development and the function of excitatory synapses in the adult forebrain. Despite a growing body of evidence implicating impaired Reelin signaling in the pathogenesis of numerous neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, including Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, little is known still regarding the specific molecular and cellular mechanisms whereby Reelin signaling modulates the function of synapses to enable normal learning and memory. In this dissertation, we addressed these knowledge gaps by identifying mechanisms of Reelin proteolysis following synaptic potentiation (Chapter 2) and dissociated the synaptic function of Reelin signaling at excitatory (Chapter …

The Role Of Gadd45b In Hippocampus-Dependent Cognition, Synaptic Plasticity And Activity-Associated Transcriptional Dynamics, Faraz Sultan

All ETDs from UAB

An expanding body of literature argues for a pivotal role of molecular epigenetic mechanisms in memory. Defined as mechanisms that regulate gene expression in the absence of DNA sequence modifications, these regulate various stages of memory-associated transcription. These phenomena are present at diverse anatomical subregions of the central nervous system (CNS) and regulate corresponding behaviors. Epigenetic mechanisms comprise a unique category of behavioral and physiological modulators because of their potential to modify the cellular phenotype in a stable manner. Hence, epigenetics offers a novel potential solution to a central paradox in memory retention: the finding that most putative molecular substrates …

Intrinsic And Extrinsic Factors Required For Cd4 T Memory Cell Formation And Function, Sarah B. Mollo

All ETDs from UAB

CD4 T cells are central to the organization of the immune response through the secretion of cytokines that recruit and activate other immune cells. Following infection and pathogen control, the majority of the effector CD4 T cells undergo apoptosis, leaving a subset that persists and gives rise to the memory T cell pool. Upon encountering the same pathogen, memory CD4 T cells respond rapidly, providing enhanced protection from re-infection. What determines which effector CD4 T cells will survive is unclear; however, there are a number of factors both intrinsic to the cell as well as external signals from the environment …