Project description:Male Sprague-Dawley albino rats (Charles River) initially weighting approximately 200 grams were randomly assigned to one of the following: 1) olanzapine (2 mg/kg/day, I.P.) (N=20) or 2) Saline (N=20) and administered olanzapine or saline for 21 days. Frontal cortex (N=4/group) was dissected and homogenized for microarray, QPCR and western blotting following previous methods (Fatemi et al. 2003; Brooks et al. 2003). RNA isolation, cDNA preparation, microarray hybridization and QPCR followed previous methods (Brooks et al. 2003).
Project description:Hypoxia-ischemia (HI) brain damage is one of the most common causes of neonatal brain injuries, amidst other conditions such as intrauterine infection and perinatal cerebral hemorrhage (Bracci et al., 2006). HI, occurring during the perinatal period, severely affects brain integrity resulting in detrimental long-term neurological morbidity in terms of motor, intellectual, educational and neuropsychological performance deficits (e.g. cerebral palsy, mental retardation, learning disability and epilepsy), and even neonatal mortality (Cowan et al., 2003; Ferriero, 2004; van Handel et al., 2007; Shalak and Perlman, 2004). Current therapeutic interventions fail to provide substantial reversal of HI brain injuries and improvement in overall cognitive function. Recent clinical studies demonstrated that post-HI hypothermia provide moderate neuroprotection but fail to show any significant reduction in neonatal morbidity and mortality (Shankaran et al., 2005). We would like to investigate the transcriptional effects of HI on neonatal brain, and if hypoxic pre-conditioning is beneficial to the reduction of brain damage.
Project description:Hypoxia-ischemia (HI) brain damage is one of the most common causes of neonatal brain injuries, amidst other conditions such as intrauterine infection and perinatal cerebral hemorrhage (Bracci et al., 2006). HI, occurring during the perinatal period, severely affects brain integrity resulting in detrimental long-term neurological morbidity in terms of motor, intellectual, educational and neuropsychological performance deficits (e.g. cerebral palsy, mental retardation, learning disability and epilepsy), and even neonatal mortality (Cowan et al., 2003; Ferriero, 2004; van Handel et al., 2007; Shalak and Perlman, 2004). Current therapeutic interventions fail to provide substantial reversal of HI brain injuries and improvement in overall cognitive function. Recent clinical studies demonstrated that post-HI hypothermia provide moderate neuroprotection but fail to show any significant reduction in neonatal morbidity and mortality (Shankaran et al., 2005). We would like to investigate the transcriptional effects of HI on neonatal brain, and if hypoxic pre-conditioning is beneficial to the reduction of brain damage.
Project description:The Norway rat has important impacts on our life. They are amongst the most used research subjects, resulting in ground-breaking advances. At the same time, wild rats live in close association with us, leading to various adverse interactions. In face of this relevance, it is surprising how little is known about their natural behaviour. While recent laboratory studies revealed their complex social skills, little is known about their social behaviour in the wild. An integration of these different scientific approaches is crucial to understand their social life, which will enable us to design more valid research paradigms, develop more effective management strategies, and to provide better welfare standards. Hence, I first summarise the literature on their natural social behaviour. Second, I provide an overview of recent developments concerning their social cognition. Third, I illustrate why an integration of these areas would be beneficial to optimise our interactions with them.
Project description:BackgroundMurine kobuviruses (MuKV) are newly recognized picornaviruses first detected in murine rodents in the USA in 2011. Little information on MuKV epidemiology in murine rodents is available. Therefore, we conducted a survey of the prevalence and genomic characteristics of rat kobuvirus in Guangdong, China.ResultsFecal samples from 223 rats (Rattus norvegicus) were collected from Guangdong and kobuviruses were detected in 12.6% (28) of samples. Phylogenetic analysis based on partial 3D and complete VP1 sequence regions showed that rat kobuvirus obtained in this study were genetically closely related to those of rat/mouse kobuvirus reported in other geographical areas. Two near full-length rat kobuvirus genomes (MM33, GZ85) were acquired and phylogenetic analysis of these revealed that they shared very high nucleotide/amino acids identity with one another (95.4%/99.4%) and a sewage-derived sequence (86.9%/93.5% and 87.5%/93.7%, respectively). Comparison with original Aichivirus A strains, such human kobuvirus, revealed amino acid identity values of approximately 80%.ConclusionOur findings indicate that rat kobuvirus have distinctive genetic characteristics from other Aichivirus A viruses. Additionally, rat kobuvirus may spread via sewage.