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Examining The Role Of Ganglioside Homeostasis In Neurodegeneration And Aging Using Maldi Imaging Mass Spectrometry, Sarah Caughlin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Gangliosides are a family of membrane lipids enriched in the central nervous system (CNS) that play an important role in cell signaling processes on the membrane. Alterations in the homeostatic distribution of the a-series family of gangliosides has been observed in both pre-clinical models and human patients with neurodegenerative diseases and injuries, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and strokes. Ganglioside dysregulation has been implicated as an important mechanisms driving pathology in the aging brain, yet there is little information on where and when these lipid changes occur as well as the role of dysregulation during neurodegeneration. Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization (MALDI) …