Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Definition Of The Landscape Of Chromatin Structure At The Frataxin Gene In Friedreich’S Ataxia, Eunah Kim

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA) is caused by the transcriptional silencing of the frataxin (FXN) gene. FRDA patients have expansion of GAA repeats in intron 1 of the FXN gene in both alleles. A number of studies demonstrated that specific histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) affect either histone modifications at the FXN gene or FXN expression in FRDA cells, indicating that the hyperexpanded GAA repeat may facilitate heterochromatin formation. However, the correlation between chromatin structure and transcription at the FXN gene is currently limited due to a lack of more detailed analysis. Therefore, I analyzed the effects of the hyperexpanded GAA …

Mcnamara 2011 Mpmicro - Multi-Probe Microscopy (10/31/2011), George Mcnamara

George McNamara

Multi-Probe Microscopy is an ~1500 page Word document summarizing what I know and/or found interesting in light microscopy, fluorescence microscopy and digital image analysis, from 1995-2005. Very little has been updated since 2005.

Interspecies Comparison Of Αii-Spectrin Abundance Between Chinook Salmon And Steelhead, Brielle D. Kemis, Ann L. Miracle, Katie A. Wagner, Christa M. Woodley

STAR Program Research Presentations

Salmonids, such as Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (O. mykiss), are a staple economic, recreational, tribal, and environmental resource, yet many populations are unsustainable. This study was part of a broad scale effort to monitor the impact of downstream migration obstacles on juvenile salmonid health and survival, which is an essential step towards increasing Smolt-to-Adult Return ratios (SARs). The objective of this study was to determine if juvenile Chinook salmon and steelhead exhibit differing quantities of alphaII-Spectrin Breakdown Products (SBDPs) over two consecutive spring migration periods, indicative of neurogenesis rate and/or biological response to head …

Regulation Of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase In Pulmonary Myofibroblasts, Jonathan David Faughn

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an interstitial lung disease leading to decreased lung volume and eventual respiratory failure. At present, the median post-diagnosis lifespan is between three and six years. Myofibroblasts are collagen-secreting cells essential for wound healing, but also implicated in the fibroproliferation and extra cellular matrix deposition commonly seen in IPF. The nitric oxide (NO) signaling pathway is implicated in protomyofibroblast to myofibroblast transition and regulation. Previous work has shown that in pulmonary myofibroblasts, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is the primary NOS isoform expressed. The current study used cultured rat pulmonary myofibroblasts between passages two and five …

The Role Of The Androgen Receptor Cofactor P44/Wdr77 In Astrocyte Activation, Bryce H. Vincent

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Astrogliosis is induced by neuronal damage and is also a pathological feature of the major aging-related neurodegenerative disorders. The mechanisms that control the cascade of astrogliosis have not been well established. In a previous study, we identified a novel androgen receptor (AR)-interacting protein (p44/WDR77) and found that it plays a critical role in the control of proliferation and differentiation of prostate epithelial cells. In the present study, we found that deletion of the p44 gene in the mouse brain caused accelerated aging with dramatic astrogliosis. The p44/WDR77 is expressed in astrocytes and loss of p44/WDR77 expression in astrocytes leads to …

Study Of Rest As A Negative Regulator Of P16ink4a, Monica B. Gireud

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

STUDY OF REST AS A NEGATIVE REGULATOR OF P16^INK4A

Monica Gireud, B.S.

Thesis Advisor: Vidya Gopalakrishnan, Ph.D.

The RE1 Silencing Transcription Factor (REST) is a negative regulator of neuronal differentiation. It is expressed ubiquitously in early embryos, but downregulated in neural progenitors concomitant with onset of neuronal differentiation in these cells. REST has been widely studied as a negative regulator of neuronal differentiation genes. Our recent work identified a novel role for REST in control of cell proliferation. However, the underlying molecular mechanism(s) are not known and is a focus of the current thesis project. Here, we provide evidence …

Nuclear Receptors In Ecdysone-Mediated Programmed Cell Death In Drosophila Melanogaster, Ritika Sehgal

Masters Theses

The steroid hormone ecdysone plays vital roles during Drosophila development. Pulses of 20E during Drosophila life cycle function as temporal cues, signaling the onset of metamorphic processes, including the stage specific programmed cell death of larval tissues. Ecdysone is the critical developmental cue orchestrating the metamorphic reformation of CNS, resulting in the formation of adult-specific neural circuitry. Ecdysone signaling is transduced by a heterodimeric receptor complex formed between two nuclear receptors: EcR and Ultraspiracle (USP). There are 18 nuclear receptors known in Drosophila and EcR is the only receptor whose functions in neuronal PCD have been well recognized. Therefore, the …

Embraining Culture: Leaky Minds And Spongy Brains, Julian Kiverstein, Mirko Farina

Mirko Farina

We offer an argument for the extended mind based on considerations from brain development. We argue that our brains develop to function in partnership with cognitive resources located in our external environments. Through our cultural upbringing we are trained to use artefacts in problem solving that become factored into the cognitive routines our brains support. Our brains literally grow to work in close partnership with resources we regularly and reliably interact with. We take this argument to be in line with complementarity or “second-wave” defences of the extended mind that stress the functional differences between biological elements and external, environmental …

Delineating The Mechanism(S) Of Bdnf/Trkb Mediated Proliferation In Neuroblastoma, Timothy C. Graham

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Delineating the mechanism(s) of BDNF/TrkB mediated proliferation in Neuroblastoma

Timothy Christopher Graham, B.S.

Supervisory Professor: Patrick Zweidler-McKay, MD/PhD

Neuroblastoma is the most common extra-cranial solid tumor in children, arising from neural crest precursor cells. The neurotrophin receptors (TrkA/B/C) have been implicated as important prognostic markers, linking the biology of the tumor to patient outcome. High expression of TrkA and TrkC receptors have been linked to favorable biological features and high patient survival, while TrkB is expressed in unfavorable, aggressive tumors. Several studies suggest that high levels and activation of TrkB by its ligand brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) stimulates tumor cell …

Modulation Of Glutamate-Mediated Neuronal Cell Death By Neurosteroids, Benjamin J. Phelps

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and permanent disability in the United States. Approximately 1.7 million cases of TBI are reported annually. After an injury to the head, excessive glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, is released into the extracellular fluid resulting in the excitotoxic death of neuronal tissue. Recent studies have suggested neurosteroids, may serve as an effective means by which to modulate excitotoxicity via the excitatory neurotransmitter alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA). Using mixed astrocyte-neuronal cell cultures (14-16 DIV) exposed to increasing concentrations of AMPA as the model for TBI, the experiments examined the effect of the neurosteroids, …

Sex Difference In Calbindin Cell Number In The Mouse Preoptic Area: Effects Of Neonatal Estradiol And Bax Gene Deletion, Richard F. Gilmore Iii

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area (SDN-POA) was first discovered in rats and is one of the most famous and best studied sex differences in the field of neuroscience. Though well documented in rats (larger in males than females), this sex difference was only recently able to be observed in mice due to the discovery of the protein calbindin-D28k as a marker. Recent studies have shown a larger, more distinct calbindin-immunoreactive (ir) cell cluster in male mice compared to females. However, the exact location of the cluster and whether the sex difference is one of total cell number …

Examination Of Sexually Dimorphic Cell Death In The Pubertal Mouse Brain, Amanda Holley

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

A period of cell death during a critical period early in life is responsible for causing permanent structural changes to many brain areas, but it is not known whether cell death plays a role in brain organization outside of early postnatal life. Puberty is considered a second sensitive period because the brain is the target organ of gonadal hormones. This study looked at global and regional patterns of cell death during pre-puberty and puberty in the mouse brain. My findings show there is more cell death happening during pre-puberty than during puberty. Cell death does happen during puberty but at …

Cognitive Systems And The Extended Mind, Mirko Farina

Mirko Farina

No abstract provided.