Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Rod Microglia: Elongation, Alignment, And Coupling To Form Trains Across The Somatosensory Cortex After Experimental Diffuse Brain Injury, Jenna M. Ziebell, Samuel E. Taylor, Tuoxin Cao, Jordan L. Harrison, Jonathan Lifshitz

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Since their discovery, the morphology of microglia has been interpreted to mirror their function, with ramified microglia constantly surveying the micro-environment and rapidly activating when changes occur. In 1899, Franz Nissl discovered what we now recognize as a distinct microglial activation state, microglial rod cells (Stäbchenzellen), which he observed adjacent to neurons. These rod-shaped microglia are typically found in human autopsy cases of paralysis of the insane, a disease of the pre-penicillin era, and best known today from HIV-1-infected brains. Microglial rod cells have been implicated in cortical 'synaptic stripping' but their exact role has remained unclear. This is …

Coronary Artery Remodeling In A Model Of Left Ventricular Pressure Overload Is Influenced By Platelets And Inflammatory Cells, Fanmuyi Yang, Anping Dong, Paul Mueller, Jessica Caicedo, Alyssa Moore Sutton, Juliana Odetunde, Cordelia J. Barrick, Yuri M. Klyachkin, Ahmed Abdel-Latif, Susan S. Smyth

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is usually accompanied by intensive interstitial and perivascular fibrosis, which may contribute to arrhythmogenic sudden cardiac death. The mechanisms underlying the development of cardiac fibrosis are incompletely understood. To investigate the role of perivascular inflammation in coronary artery remodeling and cardiac fibrosis during hypertrophic ventricular remodeling, we used a well-established mouse model of LVH (transverse aortic constriction [TAC]). Three days after pressure overload, macrophages and T lymphocytes accumulated around and along left coronary arteries in association with luminal platelet deposition. Consistent with these histological findings, cardiac expression of IL-10 was upregulated and in the systemic circulation, …

Alcohol Exposure Alters Mouse Lung Inflammation In Response To Inhaled Dust., Michael L. Mccaskill, Debra J. Romberger, Jane M. Devasure, Jessica Boten, Joseph H. Sisson, Kristina L. Bailey, Jill A. Poole, Todd A. Wyatt

Journal Articles: Pulmonary & Critical Care Med

Alcohol exposure is associated with increased lung infections and decreased mucociliary clearance. Occupational workers exposed to dusts from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are at risk for developing chronic inflammatory lung diseases. Agricultural worker co-exposure to alcohol and organic dust has been established, although little research has been conducted on the combination effects of alcohol and organic dusts on the lung. Previously, we have shown in a mouse model that exposure to hog dust extract (HDE) collected from a CAFO results in the activation of protein kinase C (PKC), elevated lavage fluid cytokines/chemokines including interleukin-6 (IL-6), and the development of …

Mice Deficient In Gem Gtpase Show Abnormal Glucose Homeostasis Due To Defects In Beta-Cell Calcium Handling, Jenny E. Gunton, Mary Sisavanh, Rebecca A. Stokes, Jon Satin, Leslie S. Satin, Min Zhang, Sue M. Liu, Weikang Cai, Kim Cheng, Gregory J. Cooney, D. Ross Laybutt, Trina So, Juan-Carlos Molero, Shane T. Grey, Douglas A. Andres, Michael S. Rolph, Charles R. Mackay

Physiology Faculty Publications

AIMS AND HYPOTHESIS: Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from beta-cells is a tightly regulated process that requires calcium flux to trigger exocytosis of insulin-containing vesicles. Regulation of calcium handling in beta-cells remains incompletely understood. Gem, a member of the RGK (Rad/Gem/Kir) family regulates calcium channel handling in other cell types, and Gem over-expression inhibits insulin release in insulin-secreting Min6 cells. The aim of this study was to explore the role of Gem in insulin secretion. We hypothesised that Gem may regulate insulin secretion and thus affect glucose tolerance in vivo.

METHODS: Gem-deficient mice were generated and their metabolic phenotype characterised by in …

Non-Typeable Haemophilus Influenzae Decreases Cilia Beating Via Protein Kinase Cε., Kristina L. Bailey, Tricia D. Levan, Daniel A. Yanov, Jacqueline A. Pavlik, Jane M. Devasure, Joseph H. Sisson, Todd A. Wyatt

Journal Articles: Pulmonary & Critical Care Med

BACKGROUND: Haemophilus influenzae infection of the nasal epithelium has long been associated with observations of decreased nasal ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and injury to the ciliated epithelium. Previously, we have reported that several agents that slow CBF also have the effect of activating protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε) activity in bronchial epithelial cells. The subsequent auto-downregulation of PKCε or the direct inhibition of PKCε leads to the specific detachment of the ciliated cells.

METHODS: Primary cultures of ciliated bovine bronchial epithelial cells were exposed to filtered conditioned media supernatants from non-typeable H. influenzae (NTHi) cultures. CBF and motile points were …

Endogenous Dynorphin Protects Against Neurotoxin-Elicited Nigrostriatal Dopaminergic Neuron Damage And Motor Deficits In Mice, Qingshan Wang, Eun-Joo Shin, Xuan-Khanh Thi Nguyen, Quan Li, Jae-Hyung Bach, Guoying Bing, Won-Ki Kim, Hyoung-Chun Kim, Jau-Shyong Hong

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The striato-nigral projecting pathway contains the highest concentrations of dynorphin in the brain. The functional role of this opioid peptide in the regulation of mesencephalic dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons is not clear. We reported previously that exogenous dynorphin exerts potent neuroprotective effects against inflammation-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration in vitro. The present study was performed to investigate whether endogenous dynorphin has neuroprotective roles in vivo.

METHODS: 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and methamphetamine (MA), two commonly used neurotoxins in rodent models of Parkinson's disease, were administered to wild-type (Dyn⁺/⁺) and prodynorphin-deficient mice (Dyn⁻/⁻). We examined dopaminergic neurotoxicity by using an automated video tracking system, HPLC, …

Eye Size At Birth In Prosimian Primates: Life History Correlates And Growth Patterns, Joshua R. Cummings, Magdalena N. Muchlinski, E. Christopher Kirk, Susan J. Rehorek, Valerie B. Deleon, Timothy D. Smith

Neuroscience Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Primates have large eyes relative to head size, which profoundly influence the ontogenetic emergence of facial form. However, growth of the primate eye is only understood in a narrow taxonomic perspective, with information biased toward anthropoids.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We measured eye and bony orbit size in perinatal prosimian primates (17 strepsirrhine taxa and Tarsius syrichta) to infer the extent of prenatal as compared to postnatal eye growth. In addition, multiple linear regression was used to detect relationships of relative eye and orbit diameter to life history variables. ANOVA was used to determine if eye size differed according to activity …

Bmi-1 Absence Causes Premature Brain Degeneration, Guangliang Cao, Minxia Gu, Min Zhu, Junying Gao, Ying Yin, Charles Marshall, Ming Xiao, Jiong Ding, Dengshun Miao

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Bmi-1, a polycomb transcriptional repressor, is implicated in cell cycle regulation and cell senescence. Its absence results in generalized astrogliosis and epilepsy during the postnatal development, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate the occurrence of oxidative stress in the brain of four-week-old Bmi-1 null mice. The mice showed various hallmarks of neurodegeneration including synaptic loss, axonal demyelination, reactive gliosis and brain mitochondrial damage. Moreover, astroglial glutamate transporters and glutamine synthetase decreased in the Bmi-1 null hippocampus, which might contribute to the sporadic epileptic-like seizures in these mice. These results indicate that Bmi-1 is required for maintaining …