Venue : CGFB and videoconference
Defense in french
Titre
Role of polyunsaturated fatty acids in myelination in the developing mouse brain
(Rôle des acides gras polyinsaturés dans la myélinisation chez la souris en développement.)
Abstract
In Western countries, the continuous and long-term decrease in n-3 PUFA intake is significantly correlated with the increasing incidence of neurodevelopmental diseases, in which myelination processes are strongly affected. However, very little data on the role of PUFAs in the regulation of oligodendrocyte and myelin function was available at the beginning of my thesis.
In addition, previous work in the lab had shown that decreased levels of n-3 PUFAs in the developing brain affected microglial function within the hippocampus. This parallels recent publications that have shown the essential role of microglia in oligodendrocyte maturation and myelination in the developing white matter.
For all these reasons, and in order to test the potential link between n-3 PUFA deficiency, myelination deficits and the mechanisms involved, we established a preclinical model of developmental n-3 PUFA deficiency to study its impact on myelination processes in the developing mouse brain. My main objectives were 1) to characterize the effects of maternal n-3 PUFA deficiency on myelination processes in the developing brain, and 2) to decipher some of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved, with a particular emphasis on microglia/myelin interactions.
Keywords: PUFA, NEURODEVELOPMENT, OLIGODENDROCYTE, MYELIN, MICROGLIA.
Fanny Decoeur
NutriNeuro
Thesis supervisors : Agnès Nadjar and Marie-Eve Tremblay (University of Victoria, Canada)