Date of Award
1-16-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Neuroscience
First Advisor
Simon Kaja
Abstract
Glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy which results in blindness for many patients, even with treatment. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a vasoactive peptide known to be aberrantly upregulated in the eyes of individuals with glaucoma. Optic nerve head astrocytes (ONHA) are the resident glial cell of the optic nerve head and are among the first cell types to undergo changes to a reactive phenotype. In this thesis, we investigated the role of ET-1 overexpression and its putative role in eliciting a reactive phenotype in ONHA by inducing lentiviral-mediated over-expression of EDN1. ONHA transduced with EDN1 (ONHA ET-1) were verified to be overexpressing the gene and expressing the ET-1 peptide at increased levels. ONHA ET-1 demonstrated a reactive morphology and increased proliferation in comparison to vehicle control. ET-1 Overexpression was associated with significant reductions to genes and proteins of the elastin pathway, and increases to downstream target phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal Kinase.
Recommended Citation
Betancourt-Szymanowska, Candace, "Investigating the Role of Endothelin-1 in Reactive Astrocytosis" (2025). Master's Theses. 4566.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/4566
