Article
Genetics & Heredity
Changuk Chung, Xiaoxu Yang, Taejeong Bae, Keng Ioi Vong, Swapnil H. Mittal, Catharina Donkels, H. Westley Phillips, Zhen Li, Ashley P. L. Marsh, Martin Breuss, Laurel Ball, Camila Araujo Bernardino Garcia, Renee George, Jing Gu, Mingchu Xu, Chelsea Barrows, Kiely James, Valentina Stanley, Anna Nidhiry, Sami Khoury, Gabrielle Howe, Emily Riley, Xin Xu, Brett Copeland, Yifan G. Wang, Se Hoon L. Kim, Hoon-Chul W. Kang, Andreas Schulze-Bonhage, Carola Haas, Horst Urbach, Marco Prinz, David A. Limbrick, Christina Gurnett, Matthew C. Smyth, Shifteh M. Sattar, Mark B. Nespeca, David V. Gonda, Katsumi Y. Imai, Yukitoshi E. Takahashi, Hsin-Hung B. Chen, Jin-Wu Tsai, Valerio Conti, Renzo Guerrini, Orrin Devinsky, Wilson Silva, Helio M. Machado, Gary Mathern, Alexej Abyzov, Sara Baldassari, Stephanie Baulac, Joseph G. Gleeson
Summary: Malformations of cortical development (MCD) are neurological disorders caused by somatic mosaic mutations during embryogenesis, leading to intractable epilepsy. This study identified 69 mutated genes from 283 brain resections and investigated their functional roles using various techniques. Genotype-phenotype correlation analysis revealed specific gene sets associated with different pathophysiological and clinical phenotypes of MCD. The spatiotemporal expression patterns of mutated genes in control and patient brains suggest their critical roles in excitatory neurogenesis and neuronal hyperexcitability.
Article
Neurosciences
Adriana L. Hotz, Ahmed Jamali, Nicolas N. Rieser, Stephanie Niklaus, Ecem Aydin, Sverre Myren-Svelstad, Laetitia Lalla, Nathalie Jurisch-Yaksi, Emre Yaksi, Stephan C. F. Neuhauss
Summary: The loss of function in the astroglia predominant eaat2a gene in zebrafish leads to altered neuronal and astroglial networks, resulting in epileptic seizures and increased extracellular glutamate levels. Interestingly, while hyperexcitability is observed during seizures, basal neuronal and astroglial activity is reduced, leading to decreased overall locomotion in eaat2a(-/-) mutant animals.
Review
Clinical Neurology
Oscar B. Alcoreza, Dipan C. Patel, Bhanu P. Tewari, Harald Sontheimer
Summary: This review highlights the critical role of astrocytes in regulating glutamate, altering extracellular space volume, and influencing neuronal excitability in epilepsy. It also discusses the mechanisms by which ambient glutamate can affect neuronal function and the upregulation of System xc- and changes in glutamate receptor expression in epileptic tissue.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Moises Garces, Isabel M. Guijarro, Diane L. Ritchie, Juan J. Badiola, Marta Monzon
Summary: Human prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative diseases characterized by accumulation of pathological prion protein, neuronal death, and vacuolation. Glial cells, especially astrocytes and microglia, play a prominent role in the neurodegenerative process regardless of the prion type. Common pathological features such as gliosis were observed in all types of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Stephanie M. Zimmerman, Robin Fropf, Bridget R. Kulasekara, Maddy Griswold, Oliver Appelbe, Arya Bahrami, Rich Boykin, Derek L. Buhr, Kit Fuhrman, Margaret L. Hoang, Quoc Huynh, Lesley Isgur, Andrew Klock, Alecksandr Kutchma, Alexa E. Lasley, Yan Liang, Jill McKay-Fleisch, Jeffrey S. Nelson, Karen Nguyen, Erin Piazza, Aric Rininger, Daniel R. Zollinger, Michael Rhodes, Joseph M. Beechem
Summary: Emerging spatial profiling technology allows high-plex molecular profiling in biological tissues while preserving the spatial and morphological context of gene expression. By expanding the chemistry for the Digital Spatial Profiling platform, researchers have successfully quantified whole transcriptomes in human and mouse tissues, enabling applications in cancer research, molecular pathology, and developmental biology.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Paola Nobili, Weida Shen, Katarina Milicevic, Jelena Bogdanovic Pristov, Etienne Audinat, Ljiljana Nikolic
Summary: Epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, two common neurological diseases, have limited treatment options. This article discusses the potential of targeting astrocytes as a new therapeutic approach and explores their role in modulating neuroinflammatory responses.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shizhe Yu, Haoren Wang, Lingpeng Yang, Yingxue Yan, Qiang Cai, Duo Ma, Long Jiang, Zehai Gao, Zhiyong Yu, Zongping Xia
Summary: The comprehensive study of the spatial-cellular anatomy of the human liver is crucial for understanding the cellular origins of liver disease. In this study, spatial transcriptomics were conducted on normal human liver tissue sections, providing detailed transcriptional information on liver zonation. A total of 6581 high-quality spots from normal livers were analyzed, mainly consisting of hepatocytes, which were classified into four sub-groups. These data serve as a reliable reference for studying the spatial heterogeneity of liver lobules.
Review
Immunology
Cassandra D. Gipson, Scott Rawls, Michael D. Scofield, Benjamin M. Siemsen, Emma O. Bondy, Erin E. Maher
Summary: Chronic drug use affects neuroimmune signaling and glutamatergic changes in the brain, highlighting a potential role for interactions between these systems in addiction processes and the development of pharmacotherapies for SUDs.
JOURNAL OF NEUROINFLAMMATION
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Filomena Pirozzi, Matthew Berkseth, Rylee Shear, Lorenzo Gonzalez, Andrew E. Timms, Josef Sulc, Emily Pao, Nora Oyama, Francesca Forzano, Valerio Conti, Renzo Guerrini, Emily S. Doherty, Sulagna C. Saitta, Christina M. Lockwood, Colin C. Pritchard, William B. Dobyns, Edward Novotny, Jason N. N. Wright, Russell P. Saneto, Seth Friedman, Jason Hauptman, Jeffrey Ojemann, Raj P. Kapur, Ghayda M. Mirzaa
Summary: Focal malformations of cortical development are neurodevelopmental disorders associated with brain overgrowth and abnormal cellular and architectural development. This study used droplet digital polymerase chain reaction to analyze molecular characteristics of these malformations and found correlations between PIK3CA and MTOR pathway mutations and different types of lesions.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ferhat Alkan, Oscar G. Wilkins, Santiago Hernandez-Perez, Sofia Ramalho, Joana Silva, Jernej Ule, William J. Faller
Summary: Recent studies have identified multiple mechanisms that contribute to the heterogeneity in ribosomal composition, and have developed a new method, called dripARF, to study this phenomenon. This method uses Ribosome Profiling (Ribo-seq) data to detect differential protein incorporation into the ribosome by combining "waste" rRNA fragment data with the known 3D structure of the human ribosome. The results indicate that ribosome heterogeneity can be detected in Ribo-seq data, providing a new tool to study this phenomenon.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Aida Adlimoghaddam, Gary G. Odero, Gordon Glazner, R. Scott Turner, Benedict C. Albensi
Summary: The study investigated the effects of nilotinib, a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in astroglia derived from 3xTg-AD mice compared to controls. Nilotinib increased mitochondrial function in 3xTg astroglia potentially through a CaMKII-PGC1 alpha-Nrf2 pathway. The data suggest a role for nilotinib in improving mitochondrial function in AD, with astroglia being a key therapeutic target.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carlos Roma-Mateo, Sheila Lorente-Pozo, Lucia Marquez-Thibaut, Mireia Moreno-Estelles, Concepcion Garces, Dayme Gonzalez, Marcos Lahuerta, Carmen Aguado, Jose Luis Garcia-Gimenez, Pascual Sanz, Federico V. V. Pallardo
Summary: Lafora disease is a rare, fatal form of progressive myoclonus epilepsy characterized by intracellular accumulation of abnormal polyglucosan granules. Experimental mouse models deficient in laforin or malin proteins provide evidence of molecular and cellular alterations in neural tissue. Overexpression of miR-155 and miR-146a in an age-dependent manner and altered gene expression in brain extracts indicate their potential role as biomarkers for disease progression in LD.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Patryk Nowakowski, Renata Markiewicz-Zukowska, Krystyna Gromkowska-Kepka, Sylwia Katarzyna Naliwajko, Justyna Moskwa, Joanna Bielecka, Monika Grabia, Maria Borawska, Katarzyna Socha
Summary: This study evaluated the anti-glioma potential of selected mushrooms on glioblastoma cells, and found that ethanol extracts showed stronger activity compared to aqueous extracts. The mechanisms of action included inhibition of cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, and suppression of metalloproteinase activity, with L. deliciosus and C. comatus demonstrating the greatest anti-glioma potential among the investigated mushrooms.
BIOMEDICINE & PHARMACOTHERAPY
(2021)
Review
Cell Biology
Anna Kruyer
Summary: This review discusses the recent progress in understanding the roles of astrocytes in synapse regulation, as well as the remaining questions and important issues to be addressed.
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexei Verkhratsky, Margaret S. Ho, Vladimir Parpura, Aleksandra Pekowska
Summary: The evolution of the nervous system involved cellular diversification and specialization of functions, with the emergence of the centralized nervous system leading to an increase in the complexity of neuroglia. In the primate brain, especially in humans, the astrocyte lineage is exceedingly complex, possibly facilitating interlayer communication and integration.
ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Haruki Higashimori, Christina S. Schin, Ming Sum R. Chiang, Lydie Morel, Temitope A. Shoneye, David L. Nelson, Yongjie Yang
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2016)
Article
Neurosciences
Laura J. Sittig, Peter Carbonetto, Kyle A. Engel, Kathleen S. Krauss, Camila M. Barrios-Camacho, Abraham A. Palmer
Article
Neurosciences
Lydie Morel, Ming Sum R. Chiang, Haruki Higashimori, Temitope Shoneye, Lakshmanan K. Iyer, Julia Yelick, Albert Tai, Yongjie Yang
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2017)
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
Camila M. Barrios-Camacho
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2018)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Laura J. Sittig, Choongwon Jeong, Emily Tixier, Joe Davis, Camila M. Barrios-Camacho, Abraham A. Palmer
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Jesse Peterson, Brian Lin, Camila M. Barrios-Camacho, Daniel B. Herrick, Eric H. Holbrook, Woochan Jang, Julie H. Coleman, James E. Schwob
Article
Neurosciences
Nihal A. Salem, Lawrence Manzano, Michael W. Keist, Olga Ponomareva, Amanda J. Roberts, Marisa Roberto, R. Dayne Mayfield
Summary: This study identified cell-type specific gene expression changes associated with alcohol dependence in the medial prefrontal cortex of mice. The results revealed dysregulated gene co-expression networks and differentially expressed genes in multiple cell types, highlighting the involvement of inhibitory neurons and astrocytes in alcohol dependence. Novel targets for studying molecular mechanisms contributing to alcohol dependence were also identified.
NEUROBIOLOGY OF DISEASE
(2024)
Article
Neurosciences
Laura E. Hawley, Megan Stringer, Abigail J. Deal, Andrew Folz, Charles R. Goodlett, Randall J. Roper
Summary: This study found that the overexpression of DYRK1A protein in Down syndrome mice varies with age, sex, and brain region, and reducing the copy number of Dyrk1a can decrease the expression of DYRK1A. These sex-specific patterns of DYRK1A overexpression may provide mechanistic targets for therapeutic intervention in Down syndrome.
NEUROBIOLOGY OF DISEASE
(2024)