Study of the role of iodothyronine deiodinases in early brain development using gain and loss of function studies in the chick embryo.

Thyroid hormones (THs) play an important role in de growth and differentiation of many tissues, and they are known to be essential for normal brain development. This project investigates the role of THs and the TH activating and inactivating enzymes, the iodothyronine deiodinases, in the early phases of brain development, a period where the role of hormones in general is largely unknown. We have already shown that the deiodinases are expressed in the early embryonic chicken brain, suggesting that they play a role in the regulation of TH bio-availability in the developing brain. We will study the changes in their area- and cell specific distribution pattern using immunostaining, in situ hybridisation, and quantitative RT-PCR. Subsequently we will manipulate their expression via gain and loss of function studies using ex ovo electroporation to perform localised transfections at specific stages of development. The impact of these treatments on the cellular organisation of the developing brain will be studied by different histological techniques.

Keywords:thyroid hormone, brain development, deiodinase, chicken embryo, gene knockdown, gene overexpression

Disciplines:Neurosciences, Biological and physiological psychology, Cognitive science and intelligent systems, Developmental psychology and ageing, Animal biology, Genetics, Endocrinology and metabolic diseases