Life Sciences Commons^™

Sexually Dimorphic Alterations In Brain Morphology Of Astrocyte Conditional System Xc- Knockout Mice, Gabrielle Emily Samulewicz

Biology - All Scholarship

Astrocytes play a vital role in orchestrating the precise brain wiring that occurs during development and are essential for maintaining homeostasis into adulthood. The cystine/glutamate antiporter, system xc-, in the central nervous system is especially abundant in astrocytes and itself is known to contribute importantly to the basal extracellular glutamate concentration as well as the intracellular and extracellular glutathione levels, either of which, if perturbed, could alter brain development and/or contribute to degeneration. Thus, to determine whether loss of astrocyte system xc- might alter brain morphology, I studied a conditional astrocyte system xc- knockout mouse (AcKO). Tissue was harvested from …

Sexually Dimorphic Alterations In Brain Morphology Of Astrocyte Conditional System Xc- Knockout Mice, Gabrielle Emily Samulewicz

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Astrocytes play a vital role in orchestrating the precise brain wiring that occurs during development and are essential for maintaining homeostasis into adulthood. The cystine/glutamate antiporter, system xc-, in the central nervous system is especially abundant in astrocytes and itself is known to contribute importantly to the basal extracellular glutamate concentration as well as the intracellular and extracellular glutathione levels, either of which, if perturbed, could alter brain development and/or contribute to degeneration. Thus, to determine whether loss of astrocyte system xc- might alter brain morphology, I studied a conditional astrocyte system xc- knockout mouse (AcKO). Tissue was harvested from …

Developmental Changes In The Activation And Structure Of The Contextual Fear Neural Circuit From Infancy To Adulthood, Anthony John Santarelli

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The contextual fear circuit, centered on the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA), is comprised of projections from the hippocampal formation and prefrontal cortex, and mediates an animals ability to learn and predict associations between the environment and biologically relevant stimuli. While the function and structure of this circuit has been well characterized in adult species, relatively little is known about its development as an animal transitions from infancy to adulthood. Recent evidence has begun to suggest that infants, juveniles, and adolescents may show remarkable heterogeneity in the behavioral, activational, and structural properties of the circuit. In this thesis, I …

Placental Insufficiency Resulting In Fetal Growth Restriction Alters Synaptic Development And Neuronal Myelination In Guinea Pigs At Term, Karolina Piorkowska

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Aberrant neuronal connectivity in utero may underlie the association between fetal growth restriction (FGR) and increased risk for later cognitive disorders and encephalopathy. This study examines changes in synaptic development and myelination focussing on the hippocampus using a guinea pig model of placental insufficiency. Placental insufficiency was induced at mid-gestation by uterine artery ligation or cauterization which produced fetuses with a range of body weight and proportion at term. Synaptic markers, synaptophysin and synaptopodin, were decreased in FGR animals suggesting fewer synapses were formed and furthermore that fewer synapses matured with symmetrical growth restriction when compared to appropriate for gestational …

Standardised Classification Of Pre-Release Development In Male-Brooding Pipefish, Seahorses, And Seadragons (Family Syngnathidae), Stefan Sommer, Camilla M. Whittington, Anthony B. Wilson

Publications and Research

Background: Members of the family Syngnathidae share a unique reproductive mode termed male pregnancy. Males carry eggs in specialised brooding structures for several weeks and release free-swimming offspring. Here we describe a systematic investigation of pre-release development in syngnathid fishes, reviewing available data for 17 species distributed across the family. This work is complemented by in-depth examinations of the straight-nosed pipefish Nerophis ophidion, the black-striped pipefish Syngnathus abaster, and the potbellied seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis.

Results: We propose a standardised classification of early syngnathid development that extends from the activation of the egg to the release of newborn. The classification consists …