Tsim Ting Yuk. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-135). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / 摘要 --- p.iii / 英漢譯名對照 --- p.v / ABBREVIATIONS --- p.vi / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.viii / Chapter 1. --- Introduction / Chapter 1.1. --- Olfactory system --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1. --- Olfactory bulb (OB) --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.2. --- Accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2. --- Stem cells --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3. --- Sexual differentiation --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3.1. --- Sexual dimorphic olfactory system --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3.2. --- Androgen receptor (AR) & estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) --- p.13 / Chapter 1.3.3. --- Aromatase --- p.15 / Chapter 1.3.4. --- Oligomycin sensitivity-conferringrotein (OSCP) --- p.18 / Chapter 1.4. --- rogrammed cell death (PCD) --- p.18 / Chapter 1.4.1. --- CD in the olfactory development --- p.18 / Chapter 1.4.2. --- Caspase 3 --- p.22 / Chapter 1.4.3. --- B cell leukemia/ Lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) --- p.23 / Chapter 1.5. --- Axon guidance molecules --- p.25 / Chapter 1.5.1. --- Growth cone --- p.25 / Chapter 1.5.2. --- Mechanisms of growth cone advance --- p.26 / Chapter 1.5.3. --- Semaphorins --- p.28 / Chapter 1.5.4. --- Neuropilin --- p.31 / Chapter 1.5.5. --- lexin --- p.32 / Chapter 1.5.6. --- Collapsin response mediatorroteins (CRMPs) --- p.32 / Chapter 1.6. --- Olfactory markerroteins --- p.33 / Chapter 1.6.1. --- Markerroteins in ORNs --- p.33 / Chapter 1.6.2. --- Growth associatedrotein (GAP-43) --- p.34 / Chapter 1.6.3. --- Is the expression of GAP-43 in rat OB sexually dimorphic? --- p.36 / Chapter 1.6.4. --- Olfactory markerrotein (OMP) --- p.38 / Chapter 1.6.5. --- Golf --- p.39 / Chapter 1.7. --- Miscellaneous genes --- p.40 / Chapter 1.7.1. --- Substance (SP) --- p.40 / Chapter 1.7.2. --- Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) --- p.41 / Chapter 1.7.3. --- Metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGluR2) --- p.42 / Chapter 1.7.4. --- Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2 (IGFBP2) --- p.43 / Chapter 2. --- Materials and methods / Chapter 2.1. --- Animal study --- p.46 / Chapter 2.2. --- RNA extraction --- p.46 / Chapter 2.3. --- Quantitation of total RNA --- p.49 / Chapter 2.4. --- Reverse Transcription (RT) --- p.50 / Chapter 2.5. --- olymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) --- p.51 / Chapter 2.6. --- urification ofCRroducts --- p.55 / Chapter 2.7. --- Confirmation ofCRroducts --- p.56 / Chapter 2.8. --- Quantitation of cDNA --- p.57 / Chapter 2.9. --- Radioactive labeledCR --- p.58 / Chapter 2.10. --- Electrophoresis ofCRroducts --- p.59 / Chapter 2.11. --- Statistical analysis --- p.60 / Chapter 3. --- Results / Chapter 3.1. --- Standard curve construction --- p.61 / Chapter 3.2. --- β-actin --- p.62 / Chapter 3.3. --- Sexual differentiation related genes --- p.64 / Chapter 3.3.1. --- AR --- p.64 / Chapter 3.3.2. --- ERβ --- p.65 / Chapter 3.3.3. --- Aromatase --- p.65 / Chapter 3.3.4. --- OSCP --- p.66 / Chapter 3.4. --- CD related genes --- p.66 / Chapter 3.4.1. --- Bcl-2α --- p.66 / Chapter 3.4.2. --- Caspase 3 --- p.67 / Chapter 3.5. --- Axon guidance molecules and related genes --- p.67 / Chapter 3.5.1. --- SemaIII --- p.67 / Chapter 3.5.2. --- Neuropilin-1 --- p.68 / Chapter 3.5.3. --- lexin-1 --- p.68 / Chapter 3.5.4. --- CRMP-1 --- p.69 / Chapter 3.5.5. --- CRMP-2 --- p.70 / Chapter 3.5.6. --- CRMP-3 --- p.70 / Chapter 3.5.7. --- CRMP-4 --- p.71 / Chapter 3.6. --- Olfactory markerrotein genes --- p.71 / Chapter 3.6.1. --- GAP-43 --- p.71 / Chapter 3.6.2. --- OMP --- p.72 / Chapter 3.6.3. --- Golf --- p.72 / Chapter 3.7. --- Miscellaneous genes --- p.73 / Chapter 3.7.1. --- SubstanceP --- p.73 / Chapter 3.7.2. --- GnRH --- p.73 / Chapter 3.7.3. --- mGluR2 --- p.74 / Chapter 3.7.4. --- IGFBP-2 --- p.74 / Chapter 3.8. --- Graphs and tables --- p.75 / Chapter 4. --- Discussion / Chapter 4.1. --- Quantitation of cDNA and normalization of CR results --- p.97 / Chapter 4.2. --- Sexual differentiation related genes --- p.98 / Chapter 4.3. --- CD related genes --- p.100 / Chapter 4.4. --- Axon guidance molecule and related genes --- p.103 / Chapter 4.5. --- Olfactory markerrotein genes --- p.109 / Chapter 4.6. --- Miscellaneous genes --- p.112 / Chapter 5. --- References --- p.119