Author Type

Undergraduate Student

Date of Award

Fall 12-11-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

June 2026

College Granting Degree

Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Ning Quan

Abstract

The Interleukin-1 (IL-1) cytokine is responsible for various processes within the central nervous system (CNS) relating to immune responses, sleep, and memory consolidation, however the interaction between different IL-1 responding cell types is still largely unknown. cFOS is an immediate early gene (IEG) which is typically used as a cellular activity marker. IL-1’s role in modulating neuronal activity in the CNS is still under debate. Targeted Recombination in Active Populations (TRAP) is a genetic technique to identify cell activity. This is done through a tamoxifen-inducible, Cre recombinase using the Fos promoter which reports cell activity via cFOS expression in the CNS (FOS-TRAP). To identify cFOS expressing cells, in response to IL-1𝞪 or IL-1ꞵ, we used FOS-TRAP mouse line to look at cell specific activation. We found that neuronal activity doesn’t change significantly with IL-1𝞪 or IL-1ꞵ injections, however, we did see an increase of cFOS expressing astrocytes after IL-1ꞵ injection.

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