Dataset Information

Traumatic brain injury in Drosophila causes retention of long introns.

ABSTRACT: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause persistent pathological alteration of neurons. This may lead to cognitive dysfunctions, depression, and even increased susceptibility to life threatening diseases, such as epilepsy. To investigate the underlying genetic and molecular basis of TBI, Wasserman and colleagues developed an inexpensive and reproducible model for simulating TBI in Drosophila melanogaster (Fruit Fly). Using a modified version of this model, we subjected w1118 fruit flies to mild closed head trauma. To determine the transcriptomic changes which contribute to survival post TBI, we collected fly heads from the survivors at 2 time points; 4 hours and 24 hours post-trauma. We observed that the induction of transcriptomic changes occur 24 hours post-trauma in fly heads. Classification of these AS changes showed selective retention of long introns (>81bps), with a mean size of ~3000bps. Gene ontology analysis of the genes containing retained introns showed significant enrichment for critical regulators of glycolysis, citric acid cycle as well as vesicle mediated neurotransmitter release. Some of these genes also showed a significant reduction in transcript abundance. The retained introns were enriched for CA-rich motifs known to bind to Smooth (SM), an hnRNPL class of splicing factor.

ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster

PROVIDER: GSE104100 | GEO | 2017/09/22

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA408240

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Warfare has long been associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in militarized zones. Common forms of TBI can be caused by a physical insult to the head-brain or by the effects of a high velocity blast shock wave generated by the detonation of an explosive device. While both forms of trauma are distinctly different regarding the mechanism of trauma induction, there are striking similarities in the cognitive and emotional status of survivors. Presently, proven effective therapeutics for the treatment of either form of TBI are unavailable. To be able to develop efficacious therapies, studies involving animal models of physical- and blast-TBI are required to identify possible novel or existing medicines that may be of value in the management of clinical events. We examined indices of cognition and anxiety-like behavior and the hippocampal gene transcriptome of mice subjected to both forms of TBI. We identified common behavioral deficits and gene expression regulations, in addition to unique injury-specific forms of gene regulation. Molecular pathways presented a pattern similar to that seen in gene expression. Interestingly, pathways connected to AlzheimerM-bM-^@M-^Ys disease displayed a markedly different form of regulation depending on the type of TBI. While these data highlight similarities in behavioral outcomes after trauma, the divergence in hippocampal transcriptome observed between models suggests that, at the molecular level, the TBIs are quite different. These models may provide tools to help define therapeutic approaches for the treatment of physical- and blast-TBIs. Based upon observations of increasing numbers of personnel displaying TBI related emotional and behavioral changes in militarized zones, the development of efficacious therapies will become a national if not a global priority. Keywords: Physical-traumatic brain injury; Blast-traumatic brain injury; Cognitive dysfunction; Gene expression; Molecular pathway(s); Neurodegeneration; Stem cells; AlzheimerM-bM-^@M-^Ys disease A mild physical-TBI was induced using a concussive head trauma device described previously (Milman et al., 2005; Zohar et al., 2003). Briefly, mice were lightly anesthetized (Isoflurane) and placed under the weight-drop concussive head trauma instrument. The device consisted of a metal tube (inner diameter 13 mm), placed vertically over the mouse head. A metal weight (30 g) was dropped from the top of the tube (80 cm) and struck the skull at the right side temporal area between the corner of the eye and the ear. A sponge supported the head, allowing some antero-posterior motion without any rotational head movement at the moment of the impact. Experimental conditions used to create a mild low-level blast-TBI and the subsequent model characterization, have been described in detail elsewhere (Rubovitch et al., 2011). In brief, mice were anaesthetized with a combination of ketamine (100 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg). Once the animals were fully anaesthetized they were placed at a defined distance from a detonation source, in this case 7 meters. Pressure sensors were used to measure the explosion shock wave pressure (PSI) generated by the detonation (Free-Field ICPM-BM-. Blast Pressure Sensor; PCB Piezoelectronics, Depew, NY, USA, Model 137). At 7 meters from the source of the detonation, the animals were exposed to a maximum of a 2.5 PSI (17.2 kPa) pressure shock wave. Immediately after the induction of the injury, mice were placed back in their cages. Once the animals had recovered from the anesthesia, basic neurological assessments were undertaken to identify any acute neurological dysfunction. Only animals exhibiting no evidence of acute neurological damage post injury were subsequently used in further experiments. Sham treated mouse groups were treated identically; however, they were not exposed to physical- or blast-TBI. Mouse hippocampus tissues were randomly selected from the larger library of samples generated from the behavioral experiments and the numbers utilized in the gene expression study were as follows: sham, n = 5: physical-TBI, n = 4; blast-TBI, n = 7.

Dataset Information

Traumatic brain injury in Drosophila causes retention of long introns.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure