BMS 202 - Human Anatomy and Physiology
BMS 202L - Laboratory in Human Anatomy and Physiology
BMS 208 - Human Anatomy
BMS 250 - Anatomy and Physiology I Laboratory
BMS 290 - Human Physiology
BMS 309 - Human Anatomy Cadaver Laboratory
BMS 310 - Basic Pathophysiology
BMS 365 - Exercise Physiology
BMS 375 - Biology of Human Aging
BMS 427 - Neuroanatomy
BMS 428 - Neuroscience
BMS 495 - Capstone

Ph.D., Wayne State University School of Medicine
M.S., Wayne State University School of Medicine
B.S., Mercy College of Detroit

We are examining a molecule called GAP-43 which is a brain protein that is expressed in a wide variety of species including humans and has been shown to become biochemically altered in the process of learning and memory.  Specifically, levels of phosphorylated forms of GAP-43 have been shown to increase following a controversial paradigm of learning and memory in several animals including rat, mouse, monkey, and rabbit.  We are interested to see if any differences in the profile of GAP-43 are associated with Alzheimer’s disease, a human neurodegenerative disorder characterized by profound cognitive impairment.  Since human brain tissue is difficult to obtain, we are utilizing primate brain tissue to establish best practice of visualizing GAP-43 isoforms by two dimensional SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with the goal of eventually testing the hypothesis that the profile of phosphorylated isoforms of GAP-43 are changed in the brains of a human brain affected by severe cognitive impairment (such as Alzheimer’s disease).  Isoforms of monkey brain GAP-43 will be detected by immunocytochemistry, phosphospecific staining, and, further, quantified by computerized densitometry.  We believe the phosphorylated isoform of GAP-43 may serve as an indicator of synaptic efficacy and, compared to normal, an alterations in the relative quantity of phosphorylated isoforms of GAP-43 might be associated with a pathological biochemical processes.  GAP-43 might serve as a potential new biomarker testing efficacy of drugs designed to treat Alzheimer’s disease.