3D printed rodent skin-skull-brain model: A novel animal-free approach for neurosurgical training.

In neuroscience, stereotactic brain surgery is a standard yet challenging technique for which laboratory and veterinary personnel must be sufficiently and properly trained. There is currently no animal-free training option for neurosurgeries; stereotactic techniques are learned and practiced on dead animals. Here we have used three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies to create rat and mouse skin-skull-brain models, specifically conceived for rodent stereotaxic surgery training.

Specific immune modulation of experimental colitis drives enteric alpha-synuclein accumulation and triggers age-related Parkinson-like brain pathology.

: In some people with Parkinson's disease (PD), α-synuclein (αSyn) accumulation may begin in the enteric nervous system (ENS) decades before development of brain pathology and disease diagnosis. : To determine how different types and severity of intestinal inflammation could trigger αSyn accumulation in the ENS and the subsequent development of αSyn brain pathology. : We assessed the effects of modulating short- and long-term experimental colitis on αSyn accumulation in the gut of αSyn transgenic and wild type mice by immunostaining and gene expression analysis.