Validation and Analysis of Epithelial, Immune, and Endothelial Markers Across Choroid Plexus Development

Presenter: Angelina Kekhia

Faculty Sponsor: Andre Robinson

School: Bunker Hill Community College

Research Area: Neuroscience and Cognitive Science

Session: Poster Session 3, 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM, 163, C1

ABSTRACT

The choroid plexus is a specialized tissue located in the ventricles of the brain, playing an important role in producing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and forming the CSF-blood barrier. The choroid plexus also contains epithelial, immune, and endothelial cells that were the focus of this study. Within the tissue, there are macrophages all throughout it, which are immune cells. This study aims to quantify macrophage populations per vascular loop in the choroid plexus across various stages of mouse development. This was achieved by dissecting out choroid plexus explants and subjecting them to immunohistochemistry (IHC), a technique that uses antibodies to visualize specific markers in tissue explants and sections. Using a fluorescent microscope, representative images of the stained explants and sections were captured and macrophage counts per capillary loop were averaged from these samples. These procedures will be repeated across different developmental stages to assess any significant changes in macrophage populations within the choroid plexus. Secondly, this study aims to validate proliferation markers in choroid plexus epithelium across embryonic development. An IHC protocol was optimized to visualize these proliferating cells of the choroid plexus in both sections and explants. Through optimization of this stain, further analysis of proliferation in the choroid plexus will be possible.

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