Determining Parvalbumin-expressing Interneuronal Loss in Dp16 Down Syndrome Model Mice

Cotto, Samantha Grace

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Determining Parvalbumin-expressing Interneuronal Loss in Dp16 Down Syndrome Model Mice Public Deposited

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/pg15bg60h

Abstract

Studies have shown that individuals living with Down Syndrome (DS) are prone to experiencing sleep disturbances as well as the early-onset development of neurodegenerative disease. Although scientists are not entirely sure why individuals with DS express the sleep phenotypes they do, research has shown that a lack of sufficient sleep is linked to the development of neurodegenerative disorders in the future. To further investigate the mechanisms behind these sleep disturbances, this study utilized a DS mouse model to explore the phenotypic effects of reducing the Rcan1 gene from three copies to the typical two copies via a process known as dosage correction. This study also seeks to compare the quantity of parvalbumin-expressing interneurons (PV+) found in three genotypic groups; the first being wildtype, the second being the down syndrome model Dp16, and the third group also stemming from Dp16; however, only two copies of the Rcan1 gene are present instead of three. A significant difference in PV+ cells was found following the first quantification, however, an increase in the sample size contradicted this significance after the second quantification, indicating that some inconsistencies may have been introduced between stains. Because a power calculation still deemed the amount of data insufficient for accurate results, we are currently in the process of conducting a third quantification where all staining and quantifying will be done at the same time, simultaneously achieving sufficient power, and mitigating potential technical confounds.

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