T-Lymphocyte Deficiency Exacerbates Behavioral Deficits in the 6-OHDA Unilateral Lesion Rat Model for Parkinson's Disease.

T-lymphocytes have been previously implicated in protecting dopaminergic neurons in the substantianigra from induced cell death. However, the role of T-cells in neurodegenerative models such as Parkinson's disease (PD) has not been fully elucidated. To examine the role of T-lymphocytes on motor behavior in the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) unilateral striatal partial lesion PD rat model, we assessed progression of hemi-parkinsonian lesions in the substantia nigra, induced by 6-OHDA striatal injections, in athymic rats (RNU-/-, T-lymphocyte-deficient) as compared to RNU-/+ rats (phenotypically normal).

T cells enhance stem-like properties and conditional malignancy in gliomas.

Background: Small populations of highly tumorigenic stem-like cells (cancer stem cells; CSCs) can exist within, and uniquely regenerate cancers including malignant brain tumors (gliomas). Many aspects of glioma CSCs (GSCs), however, have been characterized in non-physiological settings.

Methods: We found gene expression similarity superiorly defined glioma "stemness", and revealed that GSC similarity increased with lower tumor grade.