Project description:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) alters and dysregulates the expression of thousands of genes in the brain. Since some of the most common problems in TBI patients are learning and memory deficits, we are studying the effects of TBI on the hippocampus, a region of the brain which is essential for learning and memory and which is known to be particularly vulnerable to TBI. We are interested in understanding how potential neuroprotective drugs alter the TBI-induced gene expression profile. The objective of this study is to elucidate and compare the differential gene expression profiles in the hippocampus of naive, sham-control, TBI and TBI plus drug treated rats. JM6, PMI-006 and E33 are three compounds with neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. Our goal is to determine if different neuroprotective compounds have similar effects on common gene targets. These genes and the cell signaling pathways linked to them would then be the target of new therapeutic strategies for TBI. Rats were prepared for fluid percussion traumatic brain injury or sham injury (naïve rats had no anesthesia and were not handled in any way and gene expression in their brains serve as baseline data) and 24 hr post-injury, hippocampi were obtained, and stored in RNA later. Total RNA was isolated, quantitified and used for Agilent microarray analysis at GenUs Biosystems. Each group of naive, sham control, TBI and TBI plus JM6, TBI plus PMI-006 and TBI plus E33 (estrogen) has three biological replicates.
Project description:Traumatic brain injury dysregulates microRNA expression in the brain. We hypothesized that injury-induced epigenetic changes contribute to neurodegeneration and learning and memory deficits after TBI. These changes may provide a mechanistic explanation for neuropsychiatric comorbidities in TBI patients. Our objective is to compare and contrast the effects of several neuroprotective drugs (JM6, PMI-006 and E33-estrogen) on the TBI-induced changes in microRNA expression in the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is critical for learning and memory. We will also study if different neuroprotective drugs have similar effects on common microRNAs which may cooperatively regulate a common set of gene targets. 3 biological samples each of Naïve, Sham control, TBI and TBI plus JM6, TI plus PMI-006, and TBI plus E33 rat hippocampi were obtained 24 hr post-sham injury or TBI, stored in RNA later and sent to GenUs Biosystems for microRNA microarray analysis.
Project description:Post-traumatic neuroinflammation is a key driver of secondary injury after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Pyroptosis, a proinflammatory form of programmed cell death, considerably activates strong neuroinflammation and amplifies the inflammatory response by releasing inflammatory contents. Therefore, treatments targeting pyroptosis may beneficially effects for the treatment of secondary brain damage after TBI. Herein, a cysteine-alanine-glutamine-lysine (CAQK) peptide-modified β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) nanoparticle was constructed to deliver disulfiram (DSF), C-β-LG/DSF, to inhibit pyroptosis and decrease neuroinflammation, thereby preventing TBI-induced secondary injury. In the post-TBI mice model, C-β-LG/DSF selectively targets the injured brain, increases DSF accumulation, and extends the time of the systemic circulation of DSF. C-β-LG/DSF can alleviate brain edema and inflammatory response, inhibit secondary brain injury, promote learning, and improve memory recovery in mice after trauma. Therefore, this study likely provided a new approach for reducing the secondary spread of TBI.
Project description:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) induces a complex cascade of molecular and physiological effects. This study proposes to investigate the gene expression profile in cortex and hippocampus over early time points, following two different injury severities. These results will complement prior knowledge of both metabolic and neuroplastic changes after TBI, as well as serve as a starting point to investigate additional gene families whose expression is altered after TBI.,To characterize the profile of gene expression following a diffuse traumatic brain injury of varying severity in adult rats. ,Distinct patterns of gene expression following traumatic brain injury will occur in a time- and injury-dependent fashion. In particular, changes in expression of enzymes involved in energy metabolism and neuroplasticity will be detected.,Adult rats will be subjected to mild and severe lateral fluid percussion injury OR sham surgery without injury. At various post-injury timepoints (0.5, 4 and 24 hours), animals will be sacrificed, brain regions (parietal cortex and hippocampus, ipsilateral and contralateral to injury) will be dissected and RNA isolated. RNA will be used to synthesize cRNA probes for microarray hybridization. RNA from 2 matched animals will be pooled onto a single chip (U34A rat, Affymetrix). Comparisons will be made between sham and injured animals, with brain region, injury severity, and post-injury time point as the experimental variables.
Project description:Introduction: Post-traumatic coagulopathy (PTC) is a critical pathology in traumatic brain injury (TBI), however, its potential mechanism is not clear. To explore this in peripheral samples, we integrated single cell RNA-sequencing and T cell repertoire (TCR)-sequencing across a cohort of patients with TBI. Methods: Clinical samples from patients with more brain severity demonstrated altered mRNAs.
Project description:Genetic factors are believed to be of importance for outcome of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, so far mainly allelic variation in apolipoprotein E4 has been studied in human TBI. In order to study the role of genetic factors in experimental TBI, we examined parental DA and PVG strains before and after TBI. A standardized weight drop injury was used and the pericontusional area was dissected 1 day after TBI and transcriptional profiling was performed.
Project description:The goals of this project include 1) determining the cellular immune response induced by acute traumatic brain injury in vivo with a focus on microglia and monocyte/macrophages, and 2) correlate immune responses with improved function post-TBI in Ccr2-/- TBI mice, which lack monocyte infiltration into the injured brain and are resistant to brain damage, compared to WT TBI mice.
Project description:This project continues our acute TBI studies and initiates chronic studies -- characterizing the temporal genomic profile of the injured brain up to 12 months post-TBI. Thus, the primary objective of this proposal is to determine the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury on gene expression in the hippocampus and cortex, two brain regions known to be particularly vulnerable to TBI.
Project description:Blast traumatic brain injury (B-TBI) affects military and civilian personnel. Presently there are no approved drugs for blast brain injury. Exendin-4, administered subcutaneously, was evaluated as a pre-treatment (48 hours) and post-injury treatment (2 hours) on neurodegeneration, behaviors and gene expressions in a murine open field model of blast injury. B-TBI induced neurodegeneration, changes in cognition and genes expressions linked to dementia disorders. Exendin-4, administered pre- or post-injury ameliorated B-TBI-induced neurodegeneration at 72 hours, memory deficits from days 7-14 and attenuated genes regulated by blast at day 14 post-injury. The present data suggest shared pathological processes between concussive and B-TBI, with endpoints amenable to beneficial therapeutic manipulation by exendin-4. B-TBI-induced dementia-related gene pathways and cognitive deficits in mice somewhat parallel epidemiological studies of Barnes and co-workers who identified a greater risk in US military veterans who experienced diverse TBIs, for dementia in later life.
Project description:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an under-recognizedpublic healththreat. Even mild brain injuries can lead to long-term neurologic impairment.Microgliaplay a fundamental role in the development and progression of this ensuing neurologic impairment. Despite this, a microglia-specific injury signature has yet to be identified. We hypothesized that TBI would lead to long-term changes in the transcriptional profile of microglial pathways associated with the development of subsequent neurologic impairment.