Honors Theses and Capstones

Date of Award

Fall 2021

Project Type

Senior Honors Thesis

College or School

COLSA

Department

Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology

Program or Major

Biochemistry

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

First Advisor

Xuanmao Chen

Abstract

Primary cilia have been known to regulate neurological functions, as primary cilia exist on astrocytes and neurons in the mature brain. More is being discovered about primary cilia and their role in the vertebrate nervous system; however, little is known about their functions and molecular pathways in the mature brain. There also lacks methods of diagnosis for primary cilia-related defects and diseases. The purpose of this project was to provide more information on the involvement of cilia in the neurological functions and offer a potential means for diagnosis of cilia-related disorders by comparing the EEG and EMG signals of wildtype mice with the signals of IFT88 knockout and Arl13b-mCherry transgenic mice. The study was successful in identifying several potential points of comparison in the EEG/EMG plots of wildtype, IFT88 knockout, and Arl13b-mCherry transgenic mice. More data must be collected and analyzed to confirm these findings; however, the comparisons found in this project could be crucial in furthering knowledge of how we understand and study primary cilia and how they affect neurological functions and patterns in humans.

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