Student Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

1989

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

RU Laboratory

Wiesel Laboratory

Abstract

This thesis describes a growth cone specific epitope (CD'A 1), a synaptic vesicle antigen (SVP38), and the developmental expression of each in various tissues. Although CD' A 1 and SVP38 do not have any direct relationship to each other, I will show that the expression of both changes over the same time period. This provides a unifying theme for my work. I have therefore decided not to divide my thesis into independent sections, each with its own introduction, results, and discussion, but rather attempt to tie all of my work together into a single unit. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction to the thesis, and provides a selective review of growth cones, synapses, and synaptogenesis. The second, third, and fourth chapters present the results of my research on the growth cone epitope, the synaptic vesicle protein, and the developmental expression of both, respectively. The fifth and final chapter provides a discussion of all of the results. I decided to present all of the techniques in the second part of the appendix at the end of the thesis, for easy reference. Our current understanding of growth cone function arises primarily from work carried out in the century between 1860 and 1960. The first appendix is a historical review of some of the most important of these experiments, and how they contributed to modem ideas of growth cone structure and function. Readers who are not familiar with the growth cone may prefer to read this section before reading the main introduction.

Comments

A thesis submitted to the faculty of the Rockefeller University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

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