Analysis of the neuroprotective or toxic activity of peptides in a transgenic line of Danio rerio

• Grant number: 23/12077-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
• Principal Investigator: Norival Alves Santos Filho
• Grantee: Louise Oliveira Fiametti
• Supervisor: Flavio Zolessi
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidad de la República (UDELAR), Uruguay
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/05219-2 - Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of intracellular peptides in the central nervous system of zebrafish (Danio rerio) in a model of Parkinson's disease, BP.MS

Abstract

Zebrafish have been a highly used alternative animal model to better understand manydifferent conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases. The second most commonneurodegenerative disease worldwide is Parkinson's disease (PD), a disease where dopamineneurons malfunction or die and lead to many motor symptoms such as tremors, balance issuesand problems to speak and swallow, among many others. A previous study demonstrated that9 of 125 zebrafish brain peptides were altered in a model of 6-hydroxydopamine, consideredthe neurotoxin that causes a form of PD most similar to those seen in patients. In this context,this Master's project aims to better understand the role of 3 of these 9 peptides. But to do so,our study group does not have the structure, equipment or even the knowledge aboutzebrafish maintenance and techniques needed. The professor chosen to advise the studentabroad, PhD Flavio Zolessi, has experience not only with wildtype Danio rerio, but also withtransgenic zebrafish lines that can enrich our understanding of different scenarios in anexcellent alternative in vivo model. Thus, this fellowship project seeks to enrich the student'sknowledge and experience so that, in a close future, our study group can have our ownzebrafish platform to study biomolecules not only involved in Parkinson's disease, but also inother scenarios such as antimicrobial and antitumoral.