Publication Date
2023
Document Type
Thesis
Committee Members
Mark Rich, M.D., Ph.D. (Advisor); Andrew Ednie, Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kathrin Engisch, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Abstract
Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis is an autosomal dominant disease of skeletal muscle in which patients experience episodes of weakness. There is currently no highly effective therapy. A mouse model has been created to study the disease to better understand the physiological changes leading to weakness and to develop novel treatments. However, the work done with the mouse model has used ever-changing protocols and the data produced have been insufficient to answer key questions and bring treatments closer to clinical trials. I evaluated factors of temperature, insulin, potassium concentrations, and length of protocol or exercise, to develop a protocol that reproducibly triggers weakness. I was able to successfully create a protocol that consistently produces paralysis (35°C, insulin, 4.75 to 1 mM K+, long protocol or exercise) to study the underlying pathophysiology and to evaluate novel therapy.
Page Count
53
Department or Program
Department of Neuroscience, Cell Biology, and Physiology
Year Degree Awarded
2023
Copyright
Copyright 2023, some rights reserved. My ETD may be copied and distributed only for non-commercial purposes and may not be modified. All use must give me credit as the original author.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
