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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

The Estradiol-Induced Transcriptome Of The Female Mouse Anteroventral Periventricular Nucleus: More Than Just A Kiss, Leah K. Aggison Nov 2014

The Estradiol-Induced Transcriptome Of The Female Mouse Anteroventral Periventricular Nucleus: More Than Just A Kiss, Leah K. Aggison

Doctoral Dissertations

Estradiol (E2) is critical in the reproductive mechanisms of mammals. In female rodents E2 acts through the neurons of the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) to exert neuroendocrine control over ovulation, via synaptic activation of the gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons. The neurocircuitry of the AVPV is complex, receiving input from the suprachiasmatic nucleus and ventral premammillary nucleus and the as well as projecting to organum vasculosum of lamina terminalis and the arcuate. This suggests a broader role for the AVPV as a center of multisignal-integration in regards to ovulation. I used full genome expression microarrays to assess …


Novel Strategies To Modulate Synaptic Communication And Investigate The Role Of Hdac6 In Alzheimer’S Disease, Kathryne A. Medeiros Aug 2014

Novel Strategies To Modulate Synaptic Communication And Investigate The Role Of Hdac6 In Alzheimer’S Disease, Kathryne A. Medeiros

Doctoral Dissertations

Neuronal communication is mediated by chemical signaling at the synapse. The underlying molecular mechanisms of learning and memory are poorly understood. Very few tools are available to study how memories are formed in the mammalian brain. This dissertation focuses on developing novel strategies to study neural activity. Here we develop and use a chemical-genetic approach to enable target-specific photocontrol of inhibitory synaptic neurotransmission of GABAA receptor subtypes. The tools developed here selectively photocontrolled GABAA receptor subtypes. This enabled the investigation of the functional role these receptor subtypes have in inhibitory synaptic neurotransmission. This dissertation also focuses on identifying …


Engineering Probes To Detect Cholesterol Accessibility On Membranes Using Perfringolysin O, Benjamin B. Johnson Aug 2014

Engineering Probes To Detect Cholesterol Accessibility On Membranes Using Perfringolysin O, Benjamin B. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

Cholesterol is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes and it is important to regulate the structure and function of lipid bilayers. Changes in cholesterol levels are involved in many physiological and pathological events such as the formation of arterial plaques, viral entry into cells, sperm capacitation, and receptor organization. Determination of cholesterol trafficking and distribution is essential for understanding how cells regulate cholesterol. A key factor in the regulation of cholesterol is cholesterol accessibility. Through it interactions in the membrane, cholesterol is sequestered below the surface of the membrane. Based on the composition of the membrane, a certain amount …