VALIDATION OF PHARMACEUTICALS LEADING TO THE REDUCTION OF INCLUSION OF TAU EXON 10

Kelly, Meghan E.; Oteri, Shannon L.

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VALIDATION OF PHARMACEUTICALS LEADING TO THE REDUCTION OF INCLUSION OF TAU EXON 10

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Tau is a protein normally associated with the assembly of microtubules, but it tends to hyperphosphorylate leading to its aggregation which is a major cause of Alzheimer's disease. When alternative splicing includes tau exon 10, neurofibrillary tangles are more prevalent, so our laboratory developed a luciferase reporter assay to screen compounds that decrease tau exon 10. Prior to our project 1,040 FDA approved drugs were screened for initial luciferase activity. Our project's purpose was to further screen key five compounds identified in the original screen using the luciferase assay and RT-PCR. All five compounds tested produced statistically significant increases in luciferase activity relative to DMSO control at 5 uM concentrations, validating the original screening.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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