Date of Award
Spring 4-29-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
July 2026
College Granting Degree
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Lucia Carvelli
Abstract
Amphetamine (Amph) is a psychostimulant drug that increases extracellular dopamine at the dopaminergic synapses, making chronic Amph users liable to addiction. This project aims to identify yet uncharacterized candidate genes within the dopaminergic system and determine their involvement in amphetamine-induced behaviors. In C. elegans, Amph causes a dopaminedependent behavior named Swimming induced paralysis (Swip). We used Swip to screen animals for altered Amph response. To facilitate the identification of genes involved in the mechanism of action of Amph, we utilized C. elegans strains from The Million Mutation Project (MMP) bearing random but well-characterized mutations. Out of all the MMP strains tested so far, the VC20149 strain had significantly different amphetamine-induced Swip with respect to the control group. Our plan is to test the knockout MMP strains of the speculated genes to test whether any of them are required in amphetamine-induced behaviors.
Recommended Citation
Litvinchuk, Nicole, "USING THE MILLION MUTATION PROJECT STRAINS OF C. ELEGANS TO IDENTIFY CANDIDATE GENES LINKED TO ABNORMAL AMPHETAMINE-INDUCED BEHAVIORS" (2025). Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses. 41.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_honors/41