Katie Cheng Rose Hills
Role of CHRNA7 in Sleep & Neurological Disorders w/ CRISPR in X.Laevis
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) are found to regulate sleep in worms, drosophila, and, most recently, a cnidarian. Based on past studies, it appears that nAChRs may have redundant or highly specialized functions in mammals, which prompted me to investigate the conservation of nAChRs in sleep regulation. CHRNA7 is a gene that forms the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit nAChRα7, and is possibly linked with memory and neurodegenerative diseases, both associated with sleep. Since humans and Xenopus laevis frogs share homologous brain structures, and X. laevis marks an important step in vertebrate evolution to help fill the wide gap in knowledge between drosophila and human sleep regulation, it serves as an optimal model organism for my project. Using CRISPR/Cas9 knockouts and antibody staining, I aim to investigate the potential morphological and behavioral phenotypes of the CHRNA7 gene knockout, and its expression localization in the brain at various embryonic stages, in order to study the relationship of sleep regulation genes and neurological disorders in X. laevis.
Message To Sponsor
Thank you to my donor for supporting my research over summer! I am super thrilled to be pursuing an independent research project to further build upon the field of developmental biology and strengthen my skills in research. I am extremely grateful for your generosity in my scientific endeavors.