Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Commons^™

Dissecting The Tissue-Specific Contributions To Seizures, Cardiorespiratory Dysfunction, And Sudden Death In The Kv1.1 Mouse Model Of Epilepsy Using Conditional Knockout Approaches, Kelsey Paulhus

Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), the primary cause of mortality in epilepsy, remains poorly understood. Studies suggest seizures may trigger dangerous signals affecting the heart and lungs leading to collapse and death. The Kv1.1 deficiency mouse model mirrors clinical SUDEP cases, showing spontaneous seizures, cardiorespiratory issues, and premature death. However, this model lacks regional specificity in Kv1.1 deletion, hindering insights into SUDEP’s mechanisms and anatomical substrates.

This dissertation employs three distinct conditional knockout (cKO) techniques to investigate the individual roles for the forebrain, brainstem, and heart in SUDEP related phenotypes. The findings reveal that the forebrain alone can trigger …

Rela/P65 Blocks Histone Deacetylase-3 Neurotoxicity And Protects Neurons Against Neuronal Death Induced By Polyq-Expanded Huntingtin And Ataxin-1 In A P65 Phospho S276 Dependent Manner, Yiyu Zhang

Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Neurodegenerative diseases have a large negative impact to human society. Symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases includes memory loss, impaired recognition, motor dysfunction due to dysregulated neuronal loss in different brain regions. However, the neurobiological basis of these brain diseases is not fully understood and there are no cures or effective treatments. Polyglutamine (Poly-Q) disorders is a class of neurodegenerative diseases that are caused by polyglutamine expansion within the protein coding regions of specific genes. Huntington’s disease (HD), Spinal Cerebellar Ataxia Type 1 (SCA1) and Spinal Cerebellar Ataxia Type 3 (SCA3) are three common diseases among Poly-Q disorders. To better understand the …