Date of Award

Spring 6-15-2024

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Degree Name

B.S.

Organizational Unit

Biological Sciences, College of Natural Science and Mathematics

First Advisor

Daniel Paredes

Keywords

Colocalization, Polyamines, Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Down Syndrome (DS)

Abstract

Polyamines, and their rate-limiting enzyme ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), are crucial for many functions in the central nervous system but levels decrease with age. In neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), polyamine levels begin to increase again. Yet, there are still many unanswered questions surrounding polyamine’s possible role in AD, especially in those with Down Syndrome (DS), who also have an extra copy of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and tend to get AD far earlier than the general population. We aim to investigate if there is colocalization between amyloid plaques and Ornithine Decarboxylase (ODC) in patients with AD and AD/DS, see if there is a relationship between polyamines and amyloid plaques, and if this might be a contributor factor underlying AD pathogenesis. This will be done through immunofluorescence staining of paraffin-embedded human hippocampal tissue for ODC, β-amyloid, and collagen as a molecular marker for vascularity. The results indicate limited to moderate colocalization of ODC and amyloid plaques that tend to be located near vascularity, and that this colocalization is present, especially in those with DS and AD. This suggests a relationship between polyamine metabolism and AD pathology supporting that this may be a factor contributing to AD pathogenesis.

Copyright Date

6-5-2024

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Julia Gielczynski

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

21 pgs

File Size

404 KB

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