Modulation of glymphatic system by visual circuit activation alleviates memory impairment and apathy in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by progressive amyloid deposition and cognitive decline, yet the pathological mechanisms and treatments remain elusive. Here we report the therapeutic potential of low-intensity 40 hertz blue light exposure in a 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Our findings reveal that light treatment prevents memory decline in 4-month-old 5xFAD mice and motivation loss in 14-month-old 5xFAD mice, accompanied by restoration of glial water channel aquaporin-4 polarity, improved brain drainage efficiency, and a reduction in hippocampal lipid accumulation.

Pain experience reduces social avoidance to others in pain: a c-Fos-based functional connectivity network study in mice.

Pain experience increases individuals' perception and contagion of others' pain, but whether pain experience affects individuals' affiliative or antagonistic responses to others' pain is largely unknown. Additionally, the neural mechanisms underlying how pain experience modulates individuals' responses to others' pain remain unclear. In this study, we explored the effects of pain experience on individuals' responses to others' pain and the underlying neural mechanisms.

Synaptic homeostasis transiently leverages Hebbian mechanisms for a multiphasic response to inactivity.

Homeostatic regulation of synapses is vital for nervous system function and key to understanding a range of neurological conditions. Synaptic homeostasis is proposed to operate over hours to counteract the destabilizing influence of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). The prevailing view holds that synaptic scaling is a slow first-order process that regulates postsynaptic glutamate receptors and fundamentally differs from LTP or LTD.

Sexually dimorphic control of affective state processing and empathic behaviors.

Recognizing the affective states of social counterparts and responding appropriately fosters successful social interactions. However, little is known about how the affective states are expressed and perceived and how they influence social decisions. Here, we show that male and female mice emit distinct olfactory cues after experiencing distress.

Clearance of β-amyloid and synapses by the optogenetic depolarization of microglia is complement selective.

Microglia actively monitor the neighboring brain microenvironments and constantly contact synapses with their unique ramified processes. In neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), microglia undergo morphological and functional alterations. Whether the direct manipulation of microglia can selectively or concurrently modulate synaptic function and the response to disease-associated factors remains elusive.

Differences in the neural basis and transcriptomic patterns in acute and persistent pain-related anxiety-like behaviors.

Background: Both acute and persistent pain is associated with anxiety in clinical observations, but whether the underlying neural mechanisms differ is poorly understood.

Methods: We used formalin or complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) to induce acute or persistent pain. Behavioral performance was assessed by the paw withdrawal threshold (PWT), open field (OF), and elevated plus maze (EPM) tests.

[Comparative analysis of different fecal DNA extraction methods].

The community structure and diversity of the gut microbiota are associated with human diseases. However, the analysis of different community structure might be influenced by experimental approaches such as the quality of DNA extraction. Therefore, evaluating the efficiency of different DNA extraction methods for specific intestinal species is a guideline for obtaining a comprehensive human gut microbial profile, which may assist the in-depth investigation into the structure of the gut microbial community.

BDNF Alleviates Microglial Inhibition and Stereotypic Behaviors in a Mouse Model of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe mental illness characterized by obsessions and compulsions. However, its underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Recent studies have suggested that neuroimmune dysregulation is involved in the pathogenesis of OCD.

FACS-Based Neuronal Cell Type-Specific RNA Isolation and Alternative Splicing Analysis.

Alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs expands the coding abilities of genomes by generating distinct transcription variants from individual genes. It contributes to the marvelous complexity of the transcriptome in neurons. Given the differential expression of alternative splicing regulators and diversity in alternative splicing programs in neuronal subpopulations, it is urgent and necessary to develop methods to efficiently isolate diverse subgroups of neurons and analyze their transcriptomic diversity.

Gut Mycobiota Dysbiosis in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients Undergoing Anti-Tuberculosis Treatment.

Patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) undergoing anti-tuberculosis (anti-TB) treatment were previously reported to present gut bacterial microbiota dysbiosis, but the role of the mycobiota has not been reported. Here, we conducted a follow-up study of 29 naive TB patients who received first-line anti-TB drug treatment; we collected their fecal samples at different time points, as well as 22 fecal samples from healthy subjects. Fungal ITS2 and bacterial 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing were used to analyze the effects of active TB and anti-TB treatment on the gut microbiota.

Enriched Environment Prevents Surgery-Induced Persistent Neural Inhibition and Cognitive Dysfunction.

Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PND) encompass short-term delirium and long-term cognitive dysfunction. Aging increases the susceptibility to PND, yet the neural mechanism is not known. In this study, we monitored the dynamic changes of neuronal activity in the prelimbic cortex before and after surgery.

Distinct behavioral traits and associated brain regions in mouse models for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disease with heterogeneous behavioral phenotypes, including repetitive behaviors, anxiety, and impairments in cognitive functions. The brain regions related to the behavioral heterogeneity, however, are unknown.

Methods: We systematically examined the behavioral phenotypes of three OCD mouse models induced by pharmacological reagents [RU24969, 8-hydroxy-DPAT hydrobromide (8-OH-DPAT), and 1-(3-chlorophenyl) piperazine hydrochloride-99% (MCPP)], and compared the activated brain regions in each model, respectively.

Intracellular recording of cardiomyocyte action potentials by nanobranched microelectrode array.

Electrophysiological study that records the action potential of cardiomyocyte served as excellent tool to explore cardiology and neuroscience, disease investigation and pharmacological screening. Advances of micro/nanotechnologies promote the development of three-dimensional (3D) nanodevices to record high-quality intracellular recordings by various perforation approaches of cells, however, the complicated fabrication processes limited their large-scale manufacture. In this work, a unique nanobranched microelectrode array (NBMEA) platform is developed to achieve high-quality intracellular recording of cultured cardiomyocytes in a minimally invasive manner.

Neuronal Inactivity Co-opts LTP Machinery to Drive Potassium Channel Splicing and Homeostatic Spike Widening.

Homeostasis of neural firing properties is important in stabilizing neuronal circuitry, but how such plasticity might depend on alternative splicing is not known. Here we report that chronic inactivity homeostatically increases action potential duration by changing alternative splicing of BK channels; this requires nuclear export of the splicing factor Nova-2. Inactivity and Nova-2 relocation were connected by a novel synapto-nuclear signaling pathway that surprisingly invoked mechanisms akin to Hebbian plasticity: Ca-permeable AMPA receptor upregulation, L-type Ca channel activation, enhanced spine Ca transients, nuclear translocation of a CaM shuttle, and nuclear CaMKIV activation.

Fatty Liver Disease Caused by High-Alcohol-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae.

The underlying etiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is believed to be quite varied. Changes in the gut microbiota have been investigated and are believed to contribute to at least some cases of the disease, though a causal relationship remains unclear. Here, we show that high-alcohol-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (HiAlc Kpn) is associated with up to 60% of individuals with NAFLD in a Chinese cohort.

Inulin Can Alleviate Metabolism Disorders in ob/ob Mice by Partially Restoring Leptin-related Pathways Mediated by Gut Microbiota.

Inulin has been used as a prebiotic to alleviate glucose and lipid metabolism disorders in mice and humans by modulating the gut microbiota. However, the mechanism underlying the alleviation of metabolic disorders by inulin through interactions between the gut microbiota and host cells is unclear. We use ob/ob mice as a model to study the effect of inulin on the cecal microbiota by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and its interaction with host cells by transcriptomics.

The Gut Microbiome Signatures Discriminate Healthy From Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients.

Cross talk occurs between the human gut and the lung through a gut-lung axis involving the gut microbiota. However, the signatures of the human gut microbiota after active infection have not been fully understood. Here, we investigated changes in the gut microbiota in tuberculosis (TB) patients by shotgun sequencing the gut microbiomes of 31 healthy controls and 46 patients.

Effect of Functional Oligosaccharides and Ordinary Dietary Fiber on Intestinal Microbiota Diversity.

Functional oligosaccharides, known as prebiotics, and ordinary dietary fiber have important roles in modulating the structure of intestinal microbiota. To investigate their effects on the intestinal microecosystem, three kinds of diets containing different prebiotics were used to feed mice for 3 weeks, as follows: GI (galacto-oligosaccharides and inulin), PF (polydextrose and insoluble dietary fiber from bran), and a GI/PF mixture (GI and PF, 1:1), 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolic analysis of mice feces were then conducted. Compared to the control group, the different prebiotics diets had varying effects on the structure and diversity of intestinal microbiota.

Community-Metabolome Correlations of Gut Microbiota from Child-Turcotte-Pugh of A and B Patients.

The gut flora are widely involved in the cometabolism with the host and have evident effects on the metabolic phenotype of host. This study performed a metabolome analysis of the intestinal microbiota specific for liver cirrhosis. The study population included patients with Child-Turcotte-Pugh score of A (AP, = 5) and B (BP, = 5), and control subjects (NM, = 3).

Cirrhosis related functionality characteristic of the fecal microbiota as revealed by a metaproteomic approach.

Background: Intestinal microbiota operated as a whole and was closely related with human health. Previous studies had suggested close relationship between liver cirrhosis (LC) and gut microbiota.

Methods: To determine the functional characteristic of the intestinal microbiota specific for liver cirrhosis, the fecal metaproteome of three LC patients with Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score of A, B, and C, and their spouse were first compared using high-throughput approach based on denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in our study.

Corrigendum: Survey and Visual Detection of Zaire Ebolavirus in Clinical Samples Targeting the Nucleoprotein Gene in Sierra Leone.

[This corrects the article on p. 1332 in vol. 6, PMID: 26648918.

Sequential ionic and conformational signaling by calcium channels drives neuronal gene expression.

Voltage-gated CaV1.2 channels (L-type calcium channel α1C subunits) are critical mediators of transcription-dependent neural plasticity. Whether these channels signal via the influx of calcium ion (Ca(2+)), voltage-dependent conformational change (VΔC), or a combination of the two has thus far been equivocal.

Proteomic Profiling of Bifidobacterium bifidum S17 Cultivated Under In Vitro Conditions.

Bifidobacteria are frequently used in probiotic food and dairy products. Bifidobacterium bifidum S17 is a promising probiotic candidate strain that displays strong adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells and elicits potent anti-inflammatory capacity both in vitro and in murine models of colitis. The recently sequenced genome of B.