Date of Award:

12-2011

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Biology

Committee Chair(s)

David A. York

Committee

David A. York

Committee

Tim Gilbertson

Committee

Edward M. Heath

Committee

Ilka Nemere

Committee

MieJung Park-York

Abstract

The medical costs for many chronic diseases are increasing dramatically and placing a major financial burden on nations and individuals in both developed and developing countries. A number of chronic diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and some neurodegenerative diseases are all attenuated by a history of physical activity suggesting that they may be interconnected in some way. It has been suggested that cellular stress is a major factor promoting these chronic diseases.

Cellular stress occurs in a specific compartment within the cell, the endoplasmic reticulum, whose normal function is in the synthesis and folding of proteins into the correct 3 dimensional structure. Cells have a defensive mechanism to protect against this cellular stress that is known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). This involves the activation and/or inhibition of various genes that reduce protein synthesis and increase folding capacity.

With the support of USTAR (The Utah Science Technology and Research program), Yu Ho Kim, a Masters student in Dr. York's research group in the Center for Advanced Nutrition & the Department of Biology at Utah State University, studied how exercise affects brain health. The hypothesis was that exercise increased the activity of the UPR to protect the brain from cellular stress. The experimental model used were mice allowed to have free access to running wheels for 3 weeks in their cages while fed with either low fat or high fat diets.

The results of this study confirmed the hypothesis that physical activity increased the activity of the unfolded protein response in multiple regions of the brain of mice suggesting that this mechanism may be, in part at least, responsible for the protective effects of exercise on some neurodegenerative diseases. Future work to identify the exercise-related signal that enhances the UPR mechanism in the brain may be helpful in the future treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

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