Investigation of brain CD47 expression and its relation with cognitive functions in diabetic mice models

Diabetes Mellitus is an endocrine disorder resulting in hyperglycaemia that affects many vital organs of the body like the brain. The detailed molecular basis of dementia and cognitive dysfunction resulting from diabetes is not totally known. CD47 is a cell surface protein working in the homeostasis of the immune system. The relation of CD47 is shown in neurodegenerative diseases. Also, CD47 has a role in pancreatic islet cells and their maintenance in T1DM models. In this thesis, CD47 expression and its relation with cognitive functions is investigated in type 1 and type 2 diabetic mice models induced with STZ and high fat diet respectively. Cognition tests were done to evaluate the animals' cognitive functions. Immunofluorescent staining and imaging were done to investigate the expression of CD47 in hippocampus region of brain tissue. As a result, it is found that there is a significant increase in type 1 and type 2 models in the expression of CD47 levels. There is also a significant difference between two cognitive tests out of three between healthy and T1DM models. Unfortunately, there was no correlation found between CD47 expressions and cognitive functions. To conclude, we think that CD47 levels in the brain may be elevated as a way of cells to protect themselves from excess blood glucose independent from cognitive functions.