Project description:As part of collaboration between the X. William Yang Lab at UCLA and CHDI, a transcriptomic study of normal murine cortex was carried out. Cortex was dissected from 6-month-old wildtype (WT) control mice. Transcriptomic analysis (RNASeq) was performed.
Project description:One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease is the presence of extracellular diffuse and fibrillar plaques predominantly consisting of the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide. ApoE influences the deposition of amyloid pathology through affecting the clearance and aggregation of monomeric Aβ in the brain. In addition to influencing Aβ metabolism, increasing evidence suggests that apoE influences microglial function in neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we characterize the impact that apoE has on amyloid pathology and the innate immune response in APPPS1∆E9 and APPPS1-21 transgenic mice. We report that Apoe deficiency reduced fibrillar plaque deposition consistent with previous studies. However, fibrillar plaques in Apoe-deficient mice exhibited a striking reduction in plaque compaction. Hyperspectral fluorescent imaging using luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes identified distinct Aβ morphotypes in Apoe-deficient mice. We also observed a significant reduction in fibrillar plaque-associated microgliosis and activated microglial gene expression in Apoe-deficient mice, along with significant increases in dystrophic neurites around fibrillar plaques. Our results suggest that apoE is critical in stimulating the innate immune response to amyloid pathology.
Project description:To look for age-related changes in the liver, we used RNAseq gene expression analysis to characterize mRNA expression profile in livers from 1-month vs. 6-month-old mice
Project description:Curcumin has been demonstrated to have many neuroprotective properties, including improvement of cognition in humans and neurogenesis in animals, yet the mechanism of such effects remains unclear. Here, we assessed behavioural performance and hippocampal cell proliferation in aged rats after 6- and 12-week curcumin-fortified diets. Curcumin enhanced non-spatial and spatial memory, as well as dentate gyrate cell proliferation as compared to control diet rats. We also investigated underlying mechanistic pathways that might link curcumin treatment to increased cognition and neurogenesis via microarray analysis of cortical and hippocampal mRNA transcription. We used microarrays to investigate the effects of short-term (6-week) and long-term (12-week) curcumin-supplemented diet on gene expression of hippocampus and cortex in aged rats. The hippocampus and cortex of every three rats from one group were pooled together, respectively and used for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. To ensure the reliability of the data, we conducted hybridization experiments in duplicate microarrays from each RNA sample. The tissues examined by microarray are as follows: the hippocampus and cortex of 6-week curcumin-treated 15-month-old rats, the hippocampus and cortex of 6-week no curcumin-treated 15-month-old rats (control rats), the hippocampus and cortex of 12-week curcumin-treated 15-month-old rats, the hippocampus and cortex of 12-week no curcumin-treated 15-month-old rats (control rats).
Project description:To look for age-related changes in the liver that take place during DNA damage resolution, we used RNAseq gene expression analysis to characterize mRNA expression profile in livers from 1-month vs. 6-month-old mice either before or 2 days (representing the peak of DNA damage response) and 6 days (representing the resolution phase of DNA damage) after DEN treatment.
Project description:CTE RNASeq association with APOE and TMEM. It is known that APOE is a risk factor of CTE. This study will look at differences between CTE stages - mild and severe, including associations with age, APOE and TMEM.
Project description:Previous study showed that there are more cell cycle active cardiomyocytes (CMs) in 3-month-old (3M) than1-year-old (1Y) human atria, and extracellular matrix (ECM) from mouse atria benefits neonatal CMs proliferation. We investigate the global changes of transcriptomes between 3M and 1Y human atria and whether ECM from 3M human atria improves myocardium infarct recovery. RNAseq results showed that the major changes between 3M and 1Y human atria were ECM. 3M –ECM increased CM cell cycle activities and rescue mouse heart from injury. We conclude that 3M-ECM hold a therapeutic effect on myocardium infarction.