Type
Text
Type
Dissertation
Advisor
Canli, Turhan | Henn, Fritz A | Aguirre, Adan | Li, Bo | Peña, Louis.
Date
2014-12-01
Keywords
depression, hippocampus, learned helplessness, major depressive disorder, protocadherin | Genetics
Department
Department of Genetics.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/77625
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
Depression is a disease with a complex etiology that is only beginning to be studied from a genetic perspective. A selectively bred line of rats, susceptible to the learned helplessness model of depression, presents an opportunity to search for genes affecting either the depressive symptoms or the predisposition towards developing the disease. A microarray revealed a small set of genes with altered expression in the hippocampus of the congenitally helpless rats. We selected one of these genes, a member of the γ -protocadherin family, for further study to determine the basis for the change in expression. Helpless animals demonstrated an increased expression of protocadherin gamma A11, primarily in CA1 neurons. In addition, the helpless resistant line displayed changes in expression that favored a more excitotoxic state. Protocadherins have been implicated in synapse development and may alter the connections within the hippocampus in a way that enhances the correlates of depression found in other brain regions of the learned helpless rat. A greater understanding of the function of the clustered protocadherins in the establishment of neuronal networks is required to determine how these molecules affect the functional characteristics of the helpless brain. | 87 pages
Recommended Citation
Garafola, Craig Scott, "Genetic Contributions to Susceptibility and Resistance to Learned Helplessness" (2014). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 3420.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/3420