Project Description

This project investigates dopaminergic axon development in the context of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). Using tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry to stain the dopaminergic axons and ImageJ Axon Tracer to trace them, I will determine to what extent PAE impacts dopaminergic axon development. The project includes analysis of coronal and sagittal brain sections at two different time points during embryonic development (E14.5 and E18.5) to determine the persistence of any alcohol effects. Additionally, I investigate these in both wildtype and fractalkine receptor knock-out mice to elucidate the role of fractalkine in dopaminergic axon development. Fractalkine is investigated because it is a cytokine involved in microglial guidance of dopaminergic axons at the time points examined.

Department

Neuroscience

Faculty Advisor

Carlita Favero