CHED 1293 |
| The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of ethanol on the parallel climbing fibers of the Purkinje cells in the cerebellum. Ethanol was administered on post natal 6 (birth = PN 0) and PN 4-6 of rat pups, which is equivalent to the third trimester in humans. The cerebellar tissue was stained using immunohistochemical techniques. Purkinje cells can be selectively identified with the monoclonal antibody calbindin D-28K. This antibody stains the dendrites and the cell body. The climbing fiber axons, which are the axons from the inferior olivary neurons of the brainstem, can be stained specifically with antibody to vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (VGluT 2). The parallel fibers, which are the axons of the granule cells that also synapse on the Purkinje cell dendrites, can be specifically identified with antibody to vesicular glutamate transporter 1(VGluT 1). The cerebellar tissue was double labeled with calbindin D-28K antibody and antibody VGluT1 or VGluT2. After immunohistochemical techniques were applied the tissues were analyzed by measuring the extent of the molecular layer in lobule 1 for the ethanol exposed animals. The measurements were made by using Zeiss Axiovision software. The data obtained from the experiment suggests that ethanol does not affect the length of the parallel climbing fibers, but does affect the density. |
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Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Medicinal Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster
Division of Chemical Education |