Publications by authors named "Darshana Kapri"

Article Synopsis
  • Health is influenced by mitochondrial energy transformation, which plays a crucial role in regulating various body systems that relate to resilience and disease risk throughout life.
  • The MiSBIE study aims to explore how mitochondria affect interconnected systems like neuroendocrine, immune, and cognitive functions, focusing on individuals with mitochondrial diseases.
  • This research seeks to enhance understanding of mitochondrial diseases, develop new health biomarkers, and better integrate knowledge of the connections between energy processes and overall health.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Findings revealed that male mice experienced a significant decrease in the survival and differentiation of adult-born neurons compared to female mice, which showed no such decline.
  • * Gene expression analysis highlighted sex differences in thyroid hormone receptor genes and related pathways, emphasizing the need to consider sex as a crucial factor in thyroid hormone's effects on neurogenesis.
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  • Recent research highlights the therapeutic potential of serotonergic psychedelics, specifically focusing on 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI) and its anxiety-reducing effects.
  • The study reveals that GABAergic interneurons in the ventral hippocampus, particularly PV-positive interneurons, play a crucial role in the anxiolytic effects of DOI by interacting with serotonin (5-HT) receptors.
  • Findings suggest that enhancing the activity of these interneurons in the hippocampus leads to increased anxiety relief, emphasizing the significance of 5-HT receptors in the vHpc's CA1/subiculum region for the psychedelic's therapeutic effects.
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Norepinephrine (NE), and specific adrenoceptors, have been reported to influence distinct aspects of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, including latent stem cell activation, progenitor proliferation, and differentiation. These findings are predominantly based on the use of pharmacological approaches in both and systems. Here, we sought to assess the consequences of genetic ablation of NE on adult hippocampal neurogenesis, by examining dopamine β hydroxylase knockout () mice, which lack NE from birth.

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Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is sensitive to perturbations in thyroid hormone signaling, with evidence supporting a key role for thyroid hormone and thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) in the regulation of postmitotic progenitor survival and neuronal differentiation. In this book chapter we summarize the current understanding of the effects of thyroid hormone signaling on adult hippocampal progenitor development, and also critically address the role of TRs in regulation of distinct aspects of stage-specific hippocampal progenitor progression. We highlight actions of thyroid hormone on thyroid hormone responsive target genes, and the implications for hippocampal progenitor regulation.

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G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) coupled to G signaling, in particular downstream of monoaminergic neurotransmission, are posited to play a key role during developmental epochs (postnatal and juvenile) in shaping the emergence of adult anxiodepressive behaviors and sensorimotor gating. To address the role of G signaling in these developmental windows, we used a CaMKIIα-tTA::TRE hM4Di bigenic mouse line to express the hM4Di-DREADD (designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs) in forebrain excitatory neurons and enhanced G signaling via chronic administration of the DREADD agonist, clozapine--oxide (CNO) in the postnatal window (postnatal days 2-14) or the juvenile window (postnatal days 28-40). We confirmed that the expression of the HA-tagged hM4Di-DREADD was restricted to CaMKIIα-positive neurons in the forebrain, and that the administration of CNO in postnatal or juvenile windows evoked inhibition in forebrain circuits of the hippocampus and cortex, as indicated by a decline in expression of the neuronal activity marker c-Fos.

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Early adversity is a key risk factor for the development of several psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression. During early life, neurocircuits that regulate emotionality undergo substantial structural remodeling and functional maturation, and are thus particularly susceptible to modification by environmental experience. Preclinical evidence indicates that early stress enhances adult anxio-depressive behaviors.

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Early adversity is a risk factor for the development of adult psychopathology. Common across multiple rodent models of early adversity is increased signaling via forebrain Gq-coupled neurotransmitter receptors. We addressed whether enhanced Gq-mediated signaling in forebrain excitatory neurons during postnatal life can evoke persistent mood-related behavioral changes.

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