Developmental Neuroscience Commons^™

Chromatin Organizer Ctcf In Brain Development And Behaviour, Adrienne Elbert

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Chromatin architecture is an important regulator of gene expression, which dictates development. Mutations in one copy of the CTCF chromatin organizer gene cause intellectual disability and autism. Polymorphisms in CTCF have also been associated with increased risk for schizophrenia, a condition that overlaps in biological etiology with autism and intellectual disability. In this thesis, we sought to understand the role of CTCF in neurodevelopment using brain-specific conditional knockout and heterozygote mouse models. Using the Ctcf-null animals, we identify a cell-autonomous role for CTCF in regulating cortical interneuron development in the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) through the transcriptional control of …

Ethanol Exposure During Synaptogenesis In A Mouse Model Of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Acute And Long-Term Effects On Gene Expression And Behaviour, Morgan L. Kleiber

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Alcohol is a neuroactive molecule that is able to exert variable and often detrimental effects on the developing brain, resulting in a broad range of physiological, behavioural, and cognitive phenotypes that characterize ‘fetal alcohol spectrum disorders’ (FASD). Factors affecting the manifestation of these phenotypes include alcohol dosage, timing of exposure, and pattern of maternal alcohol consumption; however, the biological processes that are vulnerable to ethanol at any given neurodevelopmental stage are unclear, as is how their disruption results in the emergence of specific pathological phenotypes later in life.

The research included in this thesis utilizes a C57BL/6J (B6) mouse model …