Neuroscience
-
Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH) is a cerebrovascular disorder that has been found to have severe consequences, including a high mortality and disability rate. Research has indicated that neuronal death, particularly apoptosis, plays a major role in the neurological impairment that follows SAH. RNA-binding protein Pum2 can interfere with translation or other biological functions by connecting to the UGUAHAUA sequence on RNA. ⋯ Subsequent overexpression of Pum2 and Norad knockdown is found to reduce SAH-induced oxidative stress, neuronal apoptosis, and ultimately improve behavioral and cognitive changes in SAH mice. Our study indicates that Norad-Pum2 acts as a neuromodulator in SAH, and that by increasing Pum2 and decreasing Norad levels, SAH-induced neuronal apoptosis can be reduced and neurological deficits alleviated. Consequently, Norad-Pum2 may be a promising therapeutic target for SAH.
-
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorder that affects the central nervous system (CNS). It is characterized by a heterogeneous disease course involving demyelination and inflammation. In this study, we utilized two distinct animal models, cuprizone (CPZ)-induced demyelination and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), to replicate various aspects of the disease. ⋯ Our findings revealed varied glial, synaptic, dendritic, mitochondrial, and inflammatory responses within these regions for each model. Notably, we identified a single protein, Orosomucoid-1 (Orm1), also known as Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein 1 (AGP1), that consistently exhibited alterations in both models and regions. This study provides insights into the similarities and differences in the responses of these regions in two distinct demyelinating models.
-
Most organisms on earth, humans included, have developed strategies to cope with environmental day-night and seasonal cycles to survive. For most of them, their physiological and behavioral functions, including the reproductive function, are synchronized with the annual changes of day length, to ensure winter survival and subsequent reproductive success in the following spring. Sheep are sensitive to photoperiod, which also regulates natural adult neurogenesis in their hypothalamus. ⋯ More specifically, the transition between LD and SD revealed negative BOLD responses to hypercapnia at the beginning of SD period followed by significant increases in BOLD, rCBV, Glx and tNAA concentrations towards the end of the SD period. These observations suggest longitudinal mechanisms promoting the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells within the hypothalamic niche of breeding ewes. We conclude that multiparametric MRI studies including 1H-MRS could be promising non-invasive translational techniques to investigate the existence of natural adult neurogenesis in-vivo in gyrencephalic brains.
-
Mitochondrial stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) are known to be closely linked. ATF5 is a key regulator of mitochondrial stress and is involved in ERS regulation. Previously, we used a seizure model to demonstrate that ATF5 regulates mitochondrial stress. ⋯ However, these effects were significantly eliminated by lentiviral transduction with ATF5 interference. In addition, treatment of neurons with the mitochondrial antioxidant mitoquinone attenuated the onset of oxidative stress caused by ATF5 interference, partially restored the effect on ERS, and rescued cells from apoptosis. Collectively, these data show that ATF5 attenuates low-magnesium-induced neuronal apoptosis by inhibiting ERS through preventing the accumulation of mitochondrial ROS.
-
The prevalence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been considered a major threat to physical and mental health around the world, causing great pressure and mortality threat to most people. The current study aimed to investigate the neurological markers underlying the relationship between perceived mortality threat (PMT) and negative affect (NA). ⋯ Furthermore, longitudinal mediation models showed that ALFF in the cerebellum, medial occipital gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, and angular gyrus (wave 1) predicted PMT (wave 2) through NA (wave 2). These findings revealed functional neural markers of PMT and suggest candidate mechanisms for explaining the complex relationship between NA and mental/neural processing related to PMT in the circumstance of a major crisis.