Date of Defense

12-6-2023

Date of Graduation

12-2023

Department

Biological Sciences

First Advisor

Christine Byrd-Jacobs

Second Advisor

Cindy Linn

Third Advisor

John Spitsbergen

Abstract

The objective of this project was to demonstrate the impact of the immune response on recovery of the brain after damage in Danio rerio (Zebrafish). Regeneration of the olfactory bulbs following damage with Triton X-100 to their olfactory organs was examined by administrating clodronate to decrease the population of microglial cells and zymosan to stimulate the population of microglial cells at time points of 4 and 24 hours after lesion. The primary antibody 4C4 was used to label the microglial cells so that they can be visualized with fluorescence by a secondary antibody (AlexaFluor 488) under a confocal microscope, quantified, and compared between treatment groups. The 4-hour treatment groups did not have any statistically significant differences when comparing the left (internal control) and right (treated) olfactory bulb as well as when comparisons were made between groups, but the 1-day post-lesion treated group yielded statistically significant results for one group: zymosan. Overall, the zymosan treated group at 1-day post lesion had an increase in microglial population when the right olfactory bulb was compared against the left olfactory bulb which acted as an internal control. These results show that zymosan significantly increases the immune response following acute deafferentation in adult zebrafish.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Restricted

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