College of Arts & Sciences
The Role of TC F4 in Development of Pitt Hopkins Syndrome in a Drosophila model Pitt Hopkins Syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes intellectually disability, decreased motor function, hyperventilation, and seizures, has been associated with a defect in the gene for TCF 4, a basic Helix-loop-helix protein. Basic Helix loophelix proteins contain a domain that bind to specific DNA sequences for transcription. Daughterless, a fly homolog of TCF4 is involved in: sex determination, neurogenesis, somatic stem cell maintenance, and regulation of transcription. Drosophila is a tractable model for understanding neuronal circuitry underlying behavior. By manipulating Daughterless expression throughout the neurons as well as in targeted presynaptic and postsynaptic zones in Drosophila the importance of this gene can be better understood. Behavioral assays such as crawling and contractions were used to understand the effects of Daughterless misregulation on locomotive activity. Understanding which portion of this gene, the N-terminus or the basic helix loop helix domain, affects behavior helps us to understand whether it has a transcriptional role. Knowledge of the Daughterless gene in Drosophila will provide invaluable information about the etiology of Pitt Hopkins Syndrome. 33
Moha ma d Naya l COAS Biological Sciences
Dr . D anie l Ma renda Faculty Mentor Biology
Poster Session A