Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Behavioral And Morphological Parameters Of Neurons Predict The Inhibitory Potential Of Cspg Motifs: A Novel Technique, Edward Matin Kobraei Sep 2015

Behavioral And Morphological Parameters Of Neurons Predict The Inhibitory Potential Of Cspg Motifs: A Novel Technique, Edward Matin Kobraei

Kaleidoscope

Our lab aims to systematically identify the structural elements of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) that inhibit regeneration following spinal cord injury (SCI). CSPGs are extracellular matrix molecules produced by astrocytes of glial scar tissue following SCI. Central to this project is the use of CSPGs referred to as “Designer PGs,” which contain engineered modifications in the GAG chains and/ or the protein core of the neural CSPG aggrecan. Using established bioassays in vitro, we qualitatively and quantitatively measure growth cone behaviors and morphology as they interact with Designer PG molecules. These measurements are then translated into a composite inhibitory quotient …


Taranis Functions With Cyclin A And Cdk1 In A Novel Arousal Center To Control Sleep In Drosophila., Dinis J.S. Afonso, Die Liu, Daniel R. Machado, Huihui Pan, James E.C. Jepson, Dragana Rogulja, Kyunghee Koh Jun 2015

Taranis Functions With Cyclin A And Cdk1 In A Novel Arousal Center To Control Sleep In Drosophila., Dinis J.S. Afonso, Die Liu, Daniel R. Machado, Huihui Pan, James E.C. Jepson, Dragana Rogulja, Kyunghee Koh

Department of Neuroscience Faculty Papers

Sleep is an essential and conserved behavior whose regulation at the molecular and anatomical level remains to be elucidated. Here, we identify TARANIS (TARA), a Drosophila homolog of the Trip-Br (SERTAD) family of transcriptional coregulators, as a molecule that is required for normal sleep patterns. Through a forward-genetic screen, we isolated tara as a novel sleep gene associated with a marked reduction in sleep amount. Targeted knockdown of tara suggests that it functions in cholinergic neurons to promote sleep. tara encodes a conserved cell-cycle protein that contains a Cyclin A (CycA)-binding homology domain. TARA regulates CycA protein levels and genetically …


Normobaric Hyperoxia Delays Perfusion/Diffusion Mismatch Evolution, Reduces Infarct Volume, And Differentially Affects Neuronal Cell Death Pathways After Suture Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion In Rats, Nils Henninger, James Bouley, Julia Nelligan, Kenneth Sicard, Marc Fisher Apr 2015

Normobaric Hyperoxia Delays Perfusion/Diffusion Mismatch Evolution, Reduces Infarct Volume, And Differentially Affects Neuronal Cell Death Pathways After Suture Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion In Rats, Nils Henninger, James Bouley, Julia Nelligan, Kenneth Sicard, Marc Fisher

Nils Henninger

Normobaric hyperoxia (NBO) has been shown to extend the reperfusion window after focal cerebral ischemia. Employing diffusion (DWI)- and perfusion (PWI)-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the effect of NBO (100% started at 30 mins after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)) on the spatiotemporal evolution of ischemia during and after permanent (pMCAO) and transient suture middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) was investigated (experiment 3). In two additional experiments, time window (experiment 1) and cell death pathways (experiment 2) were investigated in the pMCAO model. In experiment 1, NBO treatment reduced infarct volume at 24 h after pMCAO by 10% when administered …


Long-Term Changes Of Functional Mri-Based Brain Function, Behavioral Status, And Histopathology After Transient Focal Cerebral Ischemia In Rats, Kenneth Sicard, Nils Henninger, Marc Fisher, Timothy Duong, Craig Ferris Apr 2015

Long-Term Changes Of Functional Mri-Based Brain Function, Behavioral Status, And Histopathology After Transient Focal Cerebral Ischemia In Rats, Kenneth Sicard, Nils Henninger, Marc Fisher, Timothy Duong, Craig Ferris

Nils Henninger

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The relation between recovery of brain function and neurological status after clinical and experimental cerebral ischemia is incompletely characterized. We assessed the evolution of ischemic injury, behavioral status, and brain activity at acute to chronic periods after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) in rats. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 20-minute tMCAO (n=10) or sham operation (n=10). Sensorimotor behavioral testing and multimodal (diffusion, perfusion, T2, and functional) MRI, as well as postmortem hematoxylin-eosin staining, were performed before and up to 21 days after tMCAO. MRI and histological parameters were evaluated in 5 regions of interest …


Dysregulation Of Kv3.4 Channels In Dorsal Root Ganglia Following Spinal Cord Injury., David Ritter, Benjamin M Zemel, Tamara J Hala, Michael E O'Leary, Angelo C Lepore, Manuel Covarrubias Jan 2015

Dysregulation Of Kv3.4 Channels In Dorsal Root Ganglia Following Spinal Cord Injury., David Ritter, Benjamin M Zemel, Tamara J Hala, Michael E O'Leary, Angelo C Lepore, Manuel Covarrubias

Farber Institute for Neuroscience Faculty Papers

Spinal cord injury (SCI) patients develop chronic pain involving poorly understood central and peripheral mechanisms. Because dysregulation of the voltage-gated Kv3.4 channel has been implicated in the hyperexcitable state of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons following direct injury of sensory nerves, we asked whether such a dysregulation also plays a role in SCI. Kv3.4 channels are expressed in DRG neurons, where they help regulate action potential (AP) repolarization in a manner that depends on the modulation of inactivation by protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent phosphorylation of the channel's inactivation domain. Here, we report that, 2 weeks after cervical hemicontusion SCI, injured …