The Role of SAD-1 Kinase in Caenorhabditis elegans Neuronal Circuit Development and Function
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The SAD kinases are conserved regulators of neuronal polarity and synapse morphology. Although SAD kinases have been shown to play many different roles, the pathways through which they function remain largely unknown. Knockout mice for mammalian SAD kinases die immediately after birth. By contrast, C. elegans sad-1 genetic null mutants are healthy and viable, but exhibit a specific and fully penetrant locomotion defect. In this thesis, I identified where sad-1 activity is most critically required to regulate C. elegans locomotion. Furthermore, I isolated and mapped several genetic suppressors of the sad-1 locomotion defects, and determined the molecular lesion of one such suppressor, hp733. hp733 is a mutation in a conserved amino acid residue of a two-pore domain potassium channel, TWK-40. Further studies are needed to elucidate how SAD-1 functions through/with TWK-40 to regulate synaptic development and locomotion in C. elegans.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Tetyana Pekar
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2280784215