Poster Session I
Project Type
Poster
Project Funding and Affiliations
NSF Career Award, Montana INBRE
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Beverly Piggott
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Division of Biological Sciences
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Na+/H+ exchanger (Nhe) proteins are essential regulators of intracellular pH in the brain. The importance of these exchangers in brain development is evidenced by the fact that their dysfunction is associated with neural development disorders, including autism spectrum disorders and epilepsy. Our lab studies the role of Nhe proteins in brain development using the model system Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly). Flies have only 3 Nhe proteins (Nhe1-3) compared to 9 in humans, making them a more straightforward model to investigate Nhe functions. Previously, we investigated Nhe2, which maintains cytosolic pH. We found that nhe2 knockout flies exhibited smaller brains with proliferation defects. We next wanted to determine whether the other two Nhe proteins influenced brain development. Nhe3 is predicted to maintain endolysosomal pH, while Nhe1 is predicted to maintain Golgi pH. This project sought to determine whether knocking out nhe3 would affect brain size and neural progenitor proliferation. The results of this experiment proved to be similar to the nhe2 knockout study. nhe3 knockout animals displayed smaller brain sizes that were accompanied by proliferation defects, which resulted in fewer brain cells. These results indicate that the regulation of pH within the endolysosomal pathway plays a crucial role in brain development by regulating the proliferation of neural progenitors. Understanding how subcellular pH regulation influences brain development will offer valuable insight into the underlying contribution of pH disruption in generating developmental disorders.
Category
Life Sciences
The Importance of pH Dynamics in Neurodevelopment
UC South Ballroom
Na+/H+ exchanger (Nhe) proteins are essential regulators of intracellular pH in the brain. The importance of these exchangers in brain development is evidenced by the fact that their dysfunction is associated with neural development disorders, including autism spectrum disorders and epilepsy. Our lab studies the role of Nhe proteins in brain development using the model system Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly). Flies have only 3 Nhe proteins (Nhe1-3) compared to 9 in humans, making them a more straightforward model to investigate Nhe functions. Previously, we investigated Nhe2, which maintains cytosolic pH. We found that nhe2 knockout flies exhibited smaller brains with proliferation defects. We next wanted to determine whether the other two Nhe proteins influenced brain development. Nhe3 is predicted to maintain endolysosomal pH, while Nhe1 is predicted to maintain Golgi pH. This project sought to determine whether knocking out nhe3 would affect brain size and neural progenitor proliferation. The results of this experiment proved to be similar to the nhe2 knockout study. nhe3 knockout animals displayed smaller brain sizes that were accompanied by proliferation defects, which resulted in fewer brain cells. These results indicate that the regulation of pH within the endolysosomal pathway plays a crucial role in brain development by regulating the proliferation of neural progenitors. Understanding how subcellular pH regulation influences brain development will offer valuable insight into the underlying contribution of pH disruption in generating developmental disorders.