The Effects of Estrogen on the Differential Expression of Apoptosis Genes in Wild Type (WT) and Aromatase Knockout (ARKO) Mice
Although the effects of estrogen as a reproductive hormone are widely known, research has suggested other roles for this steroidal hormone. It has come to be referred as the fountain of youth because of its apparent ability to maintain various types of tissues in a body such as myocardial cells, hepatic cells, neurons, etc. This investigation's goal is to understand estrogen as a cardio-protective agent against ischemia/reperfusion. The investigation looked for differences in expression of a number of apoptosis pathway specific genes between unstressed and stressed wild type (WT) and aromatase knockout mouse hearts (ARKO). Stressed hearts are those that went through ischemia/reperfusion. Each of the pieces of data was compared to the data of the unstressed WT hearts. The tested genes were programmable cell death inducible factor 6 and 4, cell inducing death factor B, and hypoxia inducing factor. A total RNA isolation protocol was used to isolate RNA. Real time polymerase chain reaction analysis was used to compare the expressions levels of each gene. The data from this investigation suggest that estrogen does impact expression of the apoptosis genes, playing a role in their up-regulation in the absence of this hormone. Future testing will lead to the development of a model that will depict the effects of estrogen on the various specific pathway genes in myocardial cells.
School:
University of Puerto Rico at Bayamón
Department:
Biology
Research Advisor:
Dr. David Bunick
Department of Research Advisor:
Veterinary Biosciences
Year of Publication:
2004