Authors: Nathan McCoy
Mentors: Jeff Mason
Insitution: Utah State University
Aging-associated changes in motor function often leads to the development of musculoskeletal tremors. In women, the development/severity of tremors is causally related to ovarian failure at
menopause. In the laboratory, mice can serve as an effective model for the development of aging-associated tremors. Based on our previous studies, ovarian somatic tissues transplanted from young mice to old mice significantly decreased the tremor amplitudes and lowered levels of
gliosis in the brains of the older recipient mice, compared to age-matched control mice. The study was carried out using both germ-cell-containing and germ-cell-depleted ovarian tissue. Neurological improvement and overall health were achieved using both types of tissue with similar results indicating that it may be a non-hormonal influence that is responsible for this phenomenon. This study is aimed to identify which properties of ovarian tissue causes these neurological health benefits to occur. Ovarian tissues excrete exosomes, vesicles that can be
filled with miRNA which are transported throughout the body. We aim to isolate these exosomes from ovarian tissues using density gradient based centrifugation and have them introduced via injection intraperitoneally into mice to see if the same neurological improvements are achieved
as it was done in mice with ovarian somatic tissue transplants. If such improvements are corroborated then ovarian exosomes will be sequenced to identify which miRNA sequences signal the body to undergo these health improvements.