The Effects Of Warfarin And Alpha Endosulfan On The Thyroid Hormone Response Element Half Site DR4

Abstract

During development, cues from the environment play an important role in directing the processes of differentiation. One really important molecule in this regard is thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone is transported across the placental membranes and pushed into fetal circulation where it helps direct the development of the fetal brain and many other aspects of the fetal growth. Importantly, many chemicals in the environment have the capacity to alter normal thyroid hormone levels and disrupt the crucial processes regulating homeostasis. This project seeks to identify the role of two environmental toxins: warfarin, a blood thinner, and alpha endosulfan, a pesticide, to determine whether they are capable of altering neural differentiation by impairing thyroid hormone signaling. This project will investigate a thyroid hormone regulated reporter gene under the regulation of thyroid hormone response element site DR4. The goal of this research is to determine whether the addition of an environmental toxin will affect the regulation of gene expression.