Bettini, Natalia (2011) NOS-related natural antisense transcripts: sequence analysis and characterization of expression. Doctoral thesis (DPhil), University of Sussex.

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Abstract

Endogenous nitric oxide (NO) produced by the enzyme NO synthase (NOS) has an important role in a variety of physiological processes. However, NO becomes noxious to cells if produced in excess. Therefore, the production of NO is tightly regulated. A particularly exciting and novel aspect of the regulation of NO signalling is the possibility that the expression of NOS genes is controlled by unconventional mechanisms that depend on the presence of natural antisense transcripts (NATs).

In this thesis I investigate the important properties of two distinct NOS-related NATs: Lym-antiNOS2 and Mm-antiNOS1. I show that Lym-antiNOS2 RNA is widely expressed in the CNS of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. Furthermore, I demonstrate that the expression of Lym-antiNOS2 is differentially regulated by training leading to long-term memory formation. Moreover, my results indicate that Lym-antiNOS2 RNA is subjected to peripheral trafficking in neurons. As for Mm-antiNOS1, I find that its expression is restricted to embryonic brain tissue and is almost undetectable in the adult brain of Mus musculus.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Schools and Departments:	School of Life Sciences > Biology and Environmental Science
Subjects:	Q Science > QH Natural history > QH0301 Biology > QH0426 Genetics Q Science > QH Natural history > QH0301 Biology > QH0573 Cytology Q Science > QL Zoology > QL0360 Invertebrates > QL0403 Mollusca
Depositing User:	Library Cataloguing
Date Deposited:	18 Oct 2011 09:39
Last Modified:	21 Aug 2015 12:37
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/7420

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