Presenter: Alanna Sowles – Neuroscience
Faculty Mentor(s): Kristen Lee, Chris Doe
Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation
Across species, Hox genes are necessary for an organism’s anatomical development, including the nervous system. Interestingly, these proteins continue functioning within neurons of mature organisms. This research seeks to determine the functional purpose of Hox genes post-development, as these mechanisms could provide novel etiological insight into neurodevelopmental disorders. Drosophila melanogaster is an effective tool for this investigation because fly neurons are similar to mammals, and gene expression of individual neurons is easily manipulated. Within this model, I will utilize the well-characterized Pair1 pre-motor neuron, which expresses the Hox gene Sex combs reduced (Scr). I hypothesize that Scr is functioning in a conserved molecular pathway to preserve the morphology and function of Pair1 neurons. Past research provides intuitive candidates for exploring these mechanisms, like Pair1 proteins Hb and Bcd. RNAi-facilitated knockdown had no significant impact on Scr expression, prompting exploration of alternative genes. Using published resources, several genes with expression patterns similar to Scr were selected and visualized with GFP-tagged proteins. Colocalization of these genes with Scr was assessed via immunohistochemistry, revealing 8 promising candidates for further analysis. Scr expression will be measured after knockdown experiments are repeated for each gene. The results will hopefully illuminate novel regulatory pathways of Scr beyond development.