Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Marlene Murray-Nseula

Second Advisor

Desmond Murray

Abstract

Bipolar disorder is characterized by alternating episodes of mania and extreme depression. Compounds such as omega-3 fatty acids and valproate individually treat symptons of bipolar disorder, one of which is elevated inositol levels. Lithium and valproate are known to reduce iniositol levels. The goal of this project is to combine linoleic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid substitute) with valproate and observe the prodrug's effects on the inositol biosynthetic pathway using Saccharomyces cervisiae yeast as the model system. Since inositol is required for growth, the effects of the prodrug on the inositol biosynthetic pathway was determined by comparing its impact on the growth of wild type yeast cells that overproduce or lack the production of inositol.

Subject Area

Valproic acid, Omega-3 fatty acids, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Inositol., Manic-depressive illness--Treatment.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/honors/44/

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