Other Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

In Silico Investigations Of Class Ii Trans Activator (Ciita): Its Plausible Implications In Neuroinflammation And Neurological Disorders, Kishore N

Theses and Dissertations

Inflammation plays a significant role in maintaining homeostasis. Neuroinflammation is a chronic inflammatory response in the central nervous system (CNS), leading to brain or spinal cord dysfunction. To promote mental health, it is crucial to understand the regulation of neuroinflammation. Class II transactivator (CIITA) is a master-regulator of the major histocompatibility complex II (MHCII).

Modulation of CIITA has been suggested as a promising intervention for inflammatory conditions, including neurological disorders. However, there is limited knowledge about the role of CIITA and its interactors in inflammation. This study aimed to understand the role of CIITA in neuroinflammation and neurological disorders using …

Leveraging Clinical Standards To Improve The Translational Relevance Of Therapies For Experimental Spinal Cord Injury, Aaron L. Silverstein

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Efforts to improve treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI) often use animals to develop effective therapeutics, intending to improve the survival and the quality of life of persons with SCI. Over half of all SCIs in the United States occur at the cervical level and often cause locomotor deficits and life-threatening breathing dysfunction. Thus, my dissertation is focused on this important patient population.

After beginning with a description of translational research and surveying SCI from a clinical standpoint, I turned to describe experimental models of cervical SCI and more detailed neuroimmunological findings relevant to my work. Then, I conducted a …

High Fat Diet & Social Isolation: Interactive Effects On Pain, Cognition, & Neuroinflammation, Ian M. Campuzano

Research Psychology Theses

Prior research has established a role for both social isolation and exposure to high fat Western diets in altering a range of behaviors from reduced memory performance to increased depression-like behaviors. The present study scrutinizes the interplay among these variables during the peri-adolescent developmental phase, utilizing Long-Evans rats as the experimental model. Our overarching hypothesis is that rats exposed to either social isolation, a high-fat diet, or both will result in heightened pain sensitivity, diminished cognitive flexibility, and increased neuroinflammatory responses within brain regions implicated in sociability, cognition, memory, and pain processing. Behavioral flexibility will be assessed using a maze-based …

Complement Propagates Visual System Pathology After Traumatic Brain Injury, Davis Marchant Borucki

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Background: Traumatic brain injury is associated with the development of visual system disorders, including deficits in visual acuity. Visual deficits can present with delay and worsen over time, suggesting that ongoing neuroinflammatory changes contribute to their development and progression. Complement activation is strongly associated with the neuroinflammatory response after TBI and has been shown to contribute to neuronal and synaptic loss. However, the contributions of complement activation after TBI to vision loss remains unclear.

Methods: We employed an open skull controlled cortical impact model of traumatic brain injury in adult male mice to study how TBI affects vision. Animals were …

Effects Of Cannabichromene On Pain And Neuroinflammation In Hiv-1 Tat Transgenic Mice, Sydney Wheeler

Honors Theses

HIV-1 TransActivator of Transcription (Tat) is a vital regulatory protein involved in HIV replication and implicated in development of HIV-associated pain and neurocognitive deficits. Tat is thought to contribute to these pathologies through proinflammatory pathways. Developing mechanisms to curb Tat-mediated inflammation is a key step in improving the quality of life of those living with HIV. Both recreational and medicinal cannabis use is prevalent among many people living with HIV; given this prevalence and the perceived anti-inflammatory benefits of cannabis use, it is important to investigate how chemical constituents of cannabis may impact HIV. In the present study, the effects …

Targeting The Cerebrovasculature In Sepsis: A Focus On The Brain Microvascular Endothelium, Divine C. Nwafor

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a critical interface between the systemic circulation and the brain. It is a specialized multicellular unit composed of brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs), pericytes, a basement membrane, and astrocytic end foot processes. BMECs are a principal component of the BBB that provide the structural framework needed for the stringent transport of molecules into the brain. BMEC dysfunction permits the trafficking of neurotoxins from systemic circulation into the brain, which ultimately exacerbates BBB dysfunction and neuroinflammation. Studies have shown that BBB dysfunction is a key determinant of cognitive decline in sepsis. However, there are critical knowledge …

Differential Expression Of Rna In The Rat Peripheral Nervous System Following Nerve Injury And Treatment With Pain-Relieving Celecoxib-Loaded Nanomedicine, Andrea Stevens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The neuroinflammatory response to peripheral nerve injury is associated with chronic pain and significant changes in the expression profiles of RNAs in neurons, glia and infiltrating immune cells: a neuro-immune triad. Chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the rat sciatic nerve provides an opportunity to mimic neuropathic injury and quantitatively assess behavior and differential gene expression in individual animals. Macrophages that phagocytose intravenously injected nanoemulsion carrying the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, NSAID, Celecoxib, naturally accumulate at the site of injury resulting in relief of CCI behavioral hyper-sensitivity. It is not known beyond the inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activity and the reduction in prostaglandin …

Targeting Pro-Inflammatory Function Of Microglia Using Small Molecules To Combat Neurodegeneration, Gabrielle C. Williams, Priya Prakash, Gaurav Chopra

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Microglia are the brain’s resident immune cells that are responsible for maintaining homeostasis in healthy conditions. During injury or infection, resting microglia get activated and produce pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1b, IL-1a, IL-6, etc. along with reactive oxygen species like nitric oxide (NO) to combat neuroinflammatory diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Inflammation is characterized by the activation of resident-immune cells in the brain called microglia that respond to the eat-me signals released by the toxic amyloid beta peptides as well as the dying neurons in the microenvironment. Recent studies have shown that activated microglia induce neuronal death by secreting …