Date of Award
Fall 11-15-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
December 2025
Department
Biomedical Science
College Granting Degree
Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Department Granting Degree
Biomedical Science
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Marc Kantorow
Abstract
Fetal microchimerism (FMc) is the presence of a small fetal cell population in the mother, sometimes exhibiting stem cell–like properties. FMc has been observed within many placental mammal organs, except the eye. We used Yspecific PCR on genomic mouse DNA to test the hypothesis that fetal microchimerism can also be found in the lens. Of the parous females tested, we detected an Ssty2-specific amplicon in 83% (5/6) of samples and an Sry-specific amplicon in 2/4 samples. 100% (5/5) of non-age-matched parous females were positive for both primers. These results provide evidence that cells of fetal or placental origin can migrate to the maternal mouse lens, and plans to investigate these cells' potential to differentiate into lens or immune cells are underway.
Recommended Citation
Moubarak, Jamie, "FETAL MICROCHIMERISM OF THE EYE LENS" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 208.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general/208