Postdoc Profile: Kelsey McLaughlin
Kelsey McLaughlinMentors
Dr. Jessica M. Ellis
Education
Exercise Science, Minors in Psychology and Italian Studies, B.S. High Point University, 2014
Kinesiology, M.S. Texas A&M University, 2016
Physiology, Ph.D. East Carolina University, 2021
Research Summary
Historically, methodological limitations have led to an incomplete understanding of the protective role of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in diseases of neurological aging. The primary method of manipulating DHA metabolism is altering dietary DHA content, which makes it difficult to separate systemic from neuron-specific effects of DHA metabolism. The Ellis lab has recently discovered that long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase 6 (ACSL6), primarily expressed in the brain, is required to enrich DHA in neuronal membranes. Additionally, the loss of ACSL6 in mice was shown to result in early-onset neurological aging. Our novel ACSL6 knockout model, therefore, presents a useful tool for manipulating brain DHA metabolism to understand the mechanisms of DHA neuroprotection. My work in the Ellis lab will explore the biochemical and bioenergetic consequences of ACSL6 loss, both alone and in the context of age-related diseases.