Theses and Dissertations

Advisor

Krishnan, Natraj

Committee Member

Ahn, Seung-Joon

Committee Member

Rai, Aswathy

Date of Degree

5-16-2025

Original embargo terms

Visible MSU Only 1 year

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Campus Access Only

Major

Agriculture Life Sciences (Biochemistry)

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Biochemistry, Nutrition and Health Promotion

Abstract

Neurodegenerative diseases affect over 36 million people and are characterized by loss of motor control, neuronal degradation, and behavioral changes. The most common of these diseases exhibit sexually dimorphic effects. In this study, Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) was modeled in the Drosophila central nervous system using the yeast hybrid UAS/GAL4 system. Locomotor activity and clock gene expression was monitored for male and female SCA1 and control flies. Clock genes such as per, tim, Clk, and cyc were monitored over a 24-hour period using qRT-PCR, and distinct sexual dimorphism was detected in locomotor activity and in gene expression for SCA1 flies. Biomarkers of oxidative stress and glial phagocyte receptor expression also revealed significant sexual dimorphism in SCA1 flies. In summary, the results indicate that male SCA1 flies show a significant deviance from normal sleep patterns, down-regulation in expression of the two core clock genes per and tim at peak expression time and enhanced oxidative stress biomarkers with increased expression of glial phagocyte receptors compared to females.

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