Publication Date
2026
Presentation Length
Poster/Gallery presentation
College
College of Sciences & Mathematics
Department
Psychological Sciences and Neurosciences, Department of
Student Level
Undergraduate
Faculty Mentor
Jinhee Park
Presentation Type
Poster
Summary
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a condition that develops in infants when exposed to alcohol in utero, leading to physical impairments such as reduced eye size and disrupted retinal function. Alpha-crystallin A is a key structural protein required for proper lens development and maintenance of transparency, while Alpha-crystallin B plays a protective role against cellular stress during eye development. In this study, I compared AB wild-type (ABWT), αA-crystallin knockout (cryaa), and αB-crystallin knockout (cryaba) zebrafish to investigate how the loss of these proteins influences eye development under ethanol exposure. The cryaa mutants exhibited reduced eye size even under control conditions, indicating a critical role of αA-crystallin in baseline eye development. In contrast, wild-type embryos showed a reduction in eye size specifically after exposure to 1% ethanol, suggesting that ethanol induces FAS-like eye defects even in normal genetic backgrounds. These findings are further supported by RNA-seq re-analysis, which revealed that ethanol exposure suppresses cell proliferation pathways (such as cell cycle and DNA replication) while enhancing neuronal signaling pathways in zebrafish embryos. Because proper eye and lens development depend on active cell proliferation, this molecular shift likely contributes to reduced eye size.
Recommended Citation
Hopper, Kehlie, "RNA-Sequence-Driven Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes in α-Crystallin-Deficient Zebrafish" (2026). SPARK Symposium Presentations. 901.
https://repository.belmont.edu/spark_presentations/901
Included in
Genetics and Genomics Commons, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Commons, Toxicology Commons
