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Alexis Pulliam
BME PhD Proposal Presentation
Date:2021-12-13
Time: 11:00 am
Location / Meeting Link: https://bluejeans.com/853562999/5734
Committee Members:
Michelle LaPlaca Ph.D. advisor Facundo Fernandéz Ph.D. Levi Wood Ph.D. Susan Marguiles Ph.D. Edward Botchwey Ph.D.
Title: Investigating lipid biomarkers as a read-out for mild traumatic brain injury
Abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a characterized as extremely heterogeneous disease, which makes diagnosis challenging in a clinical setting. Current methods to diagnose TBI rely heavily on self-reported criterion, which may lead to misdiagnosis in milder injuries. There is a need for a better diagnostic tool that is both sensitive and specific to TBI. Protein biomarkers, large macromolecule, have shown success in moderate-to-severe TBIs, but not in milder injuries. Lipid biomarkers may serve as a better molecule due to lipophilic nature of the blood brain barrier that enables easier transport across the blood brain barrier and the brain’s high lipid content. Therefore, our objective is to identify lipid biomarkers in the serum that is reflective of brain pathophysiology in the acute phase after TBI. Rats will obtain clinically relevant closed-head impacts. Brain and blood will be analyzed with untargeted high resolution mass spectrometry to determine lipids that discriminate between SHAM control and TBI. We will first investigate brain lipidome changes in the acute phase after TBI (Aim 1). We will then determine brain lipidome changes due to the activated phospholipase A2 pathway (Aim 2). Lastly, we will investigate the overlap between brain and serum lipid metabolite changes (Aim 3). This work will add to the framework of using biomarker panels as a read-out of TBI.
