Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

From Young To Old: The Effects Of Sedentary-Aging And Exercise Interventions On Structural Plasticity Of Lumbar Motor Neurons, Nmj, And Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Expression, Alberto Felipe Cintron-Colon

Dissertations

Neuromuscular weakness has been associated with age progression. A possible reason is a disconnection between muscle and neuron, causing components from both the central and peripheral nervous systems to deteriorate. Exercise, however, has beneficial effects for both muscle and nervous tissue, inducing neuroprotection. Neurotrophic factors are powerful regulators of neuronal maintenance and synaptic strength. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a neurotrophic factor that has been shown to be a potent survival factor for somatic motor neurons that innervate skeletal muscle.

This study aims to evaluate changes in structural plasticity of motor neurons in the lumbar spinal cord and …

The Impacts Of Aging, Sedentarism, And Exercise On Neurotrophic Factor Expression And Innervation In The Heart And The Effects Of Treatment With Α-Cgrp On Heart Function, Gabriel Almeida Alves

Dissertations

Neurotrophic factors (NFs) are important molecules responsible for development, differentiation, regeneration, and maintenance of new and mature neurons. Neurotrophic factors act as neurocytokines and may assist with the regulation of axonal and dendritic arrangements and synaptic plasticity between neurons themselves or with other non-neural target tissues. In this study, we analyze the levels of two NFs: glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF). Cardiomyocytes produce these neurotrophic factors which assist with the innervation pattern of the heart. The heart is innervated by the two branches of the autonomic nervous system; namely the sympathetic nervous system and …

Walk-Training Increases Expression Of Gdnf In Pectoralis Muscle But Not Diaphragm From Mouse, Erin Donovan

Honors Theses

Neurotrophic factors are proteins that play an important role in the development and maintenance of neurons. Recent studies have shown that neurotrophic factors may hold promise for treating damage to the nervous system caused by trauma or diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is expressed in skeletal muscles and affects peripheral motor neurons. Results of previous studies have demonstrated that exercise can increase GDNF content in skeletal muscle of rat. The goal of the current study was to examine whether expression of GDNF in skeletal muscle of mouse is also regulated …