Date of Award

8-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

College/School

College of Science and Mathematics

Department/Program

Biology

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Vladislav Snitsarev

Committee Member

Elena Petroff

Committee Member

David Rotella

Abstract

Despite the fact that Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, much of its etiology and pathogenesis remains to be discovered. The main pathological feature of PD is the progressive death of specific dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons in the brain. Oxidative stress induced cell death has been hypothesized as one mechanism responsible for PD pathogenesis.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a reactive oxygen species (ROS) that has been implicated in PD as a by-product of dopamine (DA) degradation. 1 -methyl-4-phenyl- 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) has been shown to produce a Parkinsonian syndrome via an oxidative stress induced mechanism. For these reasons, H2O2 and MPTP were used in this study to treat DAergic PC 12 cells to produce a model of PD.

We hypothesized that (-)-epigallocatechin 3-O-gallate (EGCG), a principal chemical component of green tea known for a plethora of health promoting bioactive properties, protects PC 12 cells from H2O2- and MPTP-induced stress.

PC 12 cells treated with EGCG showed increased cell count when compared to untreated cells or cells only treated with H2O2 or MPTP. Cell count increased as EGCG concentration increased.

The results of this study demonstrate that EGCG has neuroprotective effects on H2O2 and MPTP stressed PC 12 cells.

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