Description
This project aims to determine the identities of cells recruited by learning, estrogenic signaling, and their combination in the dorsal hippocampus (DH), which mediates object identity and spatial memory. Male and female mice will be gonadectomized and infused with an activity-dependent virus. Prior to training in object placement (OP) or object recognition (OR) tasks, viral expression of the fluorescent marker, eYFP, will be induced for cells active during learning, estrogenic treatment, or both, tagging those cells. Mice will be infused with vehicle or 17-estradiol (E2) immediately following OP or OR training or control homecage handling and will have their tagging windows closed immediately thereafter. Mice will have their brains collected 90 minutes following memory testing or control handling and immunohistochemically labeled for the immediate early gene marker of cellular activity, c-fos, as well as GAD67, VGLUT1, and GFAP as markers of inhibitory neurons, excitatory neurons, and astrocytes, respectively. Co-localization of eYFP, c-fos, and GAD67, VGLUT1, and GFAP will show which cells in the DH were activated during training, infusion, and memory recall. These results will be critical in determining how the neuromodulator, E2, affects learning processes at a cellular level, allowing for subsequent molecular investigations in a cell-specific manner.
Tasks and Responsibilities
The student will work with a graduate student to conduct surgeries, run behavioral tasks, collect brains, and immunohistochemically stain and quantify markers of interest. Several steps of this project will be pilot work, including the use of the intended viruses and administration of doxycycline in the diet of these mice, and will therefore require the assistance of an adept undergraduate researcher.