Andrea Corretjer
Undergraduate Student
Faculty of Natural Sciences
Dept. of Biology
University of Puerto Rico
Río Piedras Campus
Home Research
Mentor: Carmen S. Maldonado-Vlaar, PhD
Project: Therapeutic Potencial of 7, 8-Dihydroxyflavone on Treating Depression in Adolescent Rats
Project Description: Pending
Objectives: 1) Observe if 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone has antidepressant effects in adolescent rats. 2) Observe low levels of BDNF while inducing depression in the rats. 3) Observe increase in TrKD receptor density in the groups treated with 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone.
Summer Research
Mentor: José E. García-Arrarás, PhD
Project: Identification of Lengsin in Holothuria glaberrima nervous system
Project Description: The field of neurobiology has used echinoderms as a model to study the nervous system for a long period of time. Holothuria glaberrima is a species of cucumber that provides great insight into neurogenesis. Sea cucumbers go through major cell dedifferentiation after a sustained injury, and glial cells play an important role in the regeneration of the nervous system. In vertebrates, it’s thought that LGSN protein has derived evolutionarily from glutamine synthetase, which is a marker of glial cells during dedifferentiation. During in vitro regeneration of sea cucumber nervous systems, an increase of Lengsin protein messenger has been observed, sparking an interest in the protein’s role in the process.With the immunohistochemistry technique, Lengsin was identified in a neuronal subpopulation in the sea cucmber’s nervous system.