Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Bush, Angela L.
Author's Email Address	bush@psy.fsu.edu
URN	etd-09142007-152018
Title	The neuroprotective effects of lithium in deafferentation-induced cell death of chick cochlear nucelus neurons
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	Psychology, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Richard Hyson Committee Chair Barbara Licht Committee Member Frank Johnson Committee Member P. Bryant Chase Committee Member Thomas Houpt Committee Member
Keywords	Chick Cell Death Auditory Lithium Neuroprotection bcl-2
Date of Defense	2007-09-07
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract The avian brainstem serves as a useful model to answer the question of how afferent activity influences viability of target neurons. Approximately 20-30% of neurons in the avian cochlear nucleus, nucleus magnocellularis (NM) die following deafferentation (i.e., deafness produced by cochlea removal). We have recently shown that chronic treatments of lithium increase neuronal survival following deafferentation. The mechanism of this neuroprotective effect is unknown, but one possibility is that lithium increases the expression of neuroprotective molecules. We have shown that the neuroprotective protein Bcl-2, is upregulated in NM neurons following lithium treatment. Interestingly, Bcl-2 mRNA (but not protein) is upregulated in a subpopulation of NM neurons following deafferentation. In both cases, it is not known what sequence of events leads to the upregulation of Bcl-2. The present experiments examine changes in molecules known to regulate Bcl-2 expression to determine whether similar factors are involved in the regulation observed following lithium administration and following deafferentation. Although Bcl-2 expression may be an important contributor to neuronal survival, it is possible that lithium is neuroprotective through its influence on other molecules. To begin to identify the mechanism of lithium’s neuroprotective effect, we also determined where in the cell death cascade lithium is having its effect.
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