Circadian Regulation of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Neurons in Per1 Gene Expression
Circadian rhythms are timed events that are caused by certain clock genes found within the a cell. These events are regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) found in the hypothalamus of the brain. The SCN receives information from the external environment and processes it to communicate with peripheral targets. The purpose of this project is to study the interactions between the suprachiamatic nucleus and gonadotropin releasing hormone neurons(GnRH). It was hypothesized that the SCN will allow only one peak in Per1 clock gene expression of GnRH neurons instead of the normal three peaks per day, thus, causing a circadian rhythm. This projectwas carried out by forming a co-culture of the cell lines of the SCN and gonadotropin releasing hormone (SCN2.2 and GT1-7, respectively) and observing their interactions with each other. The results of this experiment showed that there was a slight peak in Per1 expression of the GT1-7 cell. This was indicative that the SCN was indeed communicating with the cells because the GT1-7 control graph did not show a peak in expression. It was concluded that the SCN does cause a circadian pattern of expression of Per1 genes in gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons.
School:
Jackson State University
Department:
Molecular Biology
Research Advisor:
Dr. Shelley Tischkau
Department of Research Advisor:
Veterinary Biosciences
Year of Publication:
2004