Graduation Semester and Year

Spring 2025

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Chemistry

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

First Advisor

Subhrangsu Mandal

Abstract

Inflammation is a crucial homeostatic process that contributes to both the elimination of foreign invaders and tissue repair. Inflammation at sites of tissue injury or infection is initiated by the detection of a harmful stimulus, triggering vital inflammatory immune signaling pathways and a cascade of cytokines and inflammatory mediators. The dysregulation of this process, however, can result in inappropriate inflammatory responses manifesting in tissue damage and compromised cell function. Dysregulation of the inflammatory response is seen frequently in many human diseases such as Diabetes, Cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases.

In the context of the Central Nervous system, inflammation is under strict regulation mediated by resident microglia. Microglia play a pivotal role, controlling the immune response in the central nervous system as the resident macrophage. However, excessive microglial activation is a driving factor in progressive neuron loss seen in neurodegenerative diseases. As a result, the suppression of microglial activation and its mediated inflammation has been a key therapeutic strategy for neuroinflammatory conditions. Recently, there has been interest in microbial metabolites for their neuromodulating potential through the gut-brain axis. Of these microbial metabolites Butyrate, a Short Chain Fatty acid has been extensively investigated in the context of peripheral inflammation, demonstrating potent anti-inflammatory effects. As a result of its: structure, resume as a potent immune modulator, and its potential to modulate glial function, it has become a prime candidate for investigation.

In this thesis, we investigated the effect of Sodium Butyrate on microglial activation and its mediated inflammation. In Chapter 1 we give a brief review of immunity, inflammation, long noncoding RNAs in human disease, CNS immunity and Sodium Butyrate as an immune modulator. In Chapter 2 we demonstrate the effects Sodium Butyrate has on microglial activation and several pro-inflammatory mediators, demonstrating a dose-dependent and possible pathway specific anti-inflammatory effect on microglia.

Keywords

Neuroinflammation, Long noncoding RNAs, Microglia, Sodium Butyrate

Disciplines

Biochemistry | Immunity | Molecular Biology

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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