Microbiome profiles are associated with cognitive functioning in 45-month-old children.

Prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors have been shown to shape neurobiological functioning and alter the risk for mental disorders later in life. The gut microbiome is established early in life, and interacts with the brain via the brain-immune-gut axis. However, little is known about how the microbiome relates to early-life cognitive functioning in children.

The oropharyngeal microbiome is altered in individuals with schizophrenia and mania.

It is being increasingly recognized that human mucosal surfaces are not sterile but are colonized with microorganisms collectively known as the microbiome. The microbiome can alter brain functioning in humans and animals by way of a series of interactions operative in the brain-immune-gut interactome. We characterized the oropharyngeal microbiome in 316 individuals, including 121 with schizophrenia, 62 with mania, 48 with major depressive disorder, and 85 controls without a psychiatric disorder.

Long-term, stable differentiation of human embryonic stem cell-derived neural precursors grafted into the adult mammalian neostriatum.

Stem cell grafts have been advocated as experimental treatments for neurological diseases by virtue of their ability to offer trophic support for injured neurons and, theoretically, to replace dead neurons. Human embryonic stem cells (HESCs) are a rich source of neural precursors (NPs) for grafting, but have been questioned for their tendency to form tumors. Here we studied the ability of HESC-derived NP grafts optimized for cell number and differentiation stage prior to transplantation, to survive and stably differentiate and integrate in the basal forebrain (neostriatum) of young adult nude rats over long periods of time (6 months).

Targeted knock-down of neuronal nitric oxide synthase expression in basal forebrain with RNA interference.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gas messenger with diverse physiological roles in the nervous system, from modulation of synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis to the mediation of neuronal death. NO production in the brain is catalyzed by three isoforms of NO synthase (NOS) including neuronal NOS (nNOS), inducible NOS and endothelial NOS. In this report, we demonstrate a method for in vitro and in vivo silencing of nNOS using RNAi strategies.

Extensive neuronal differentiation of human neural stem cell grafts in adult rat spinal cord.

Background: Effective treatments for degenerative and traumatic diseases of the nervous system are not currently available. The support or replacement of injured neurons with neural grafts, already an established approach in experimental therapeutics, has been recently invigorated with the addition of neural and embryonic stem-derived precursors as inexhaustible, self-propagating alternatives to fetal tissues. The adult spinal cord, i.

Human neural stem cell grafts ameliorate motor neuron disease in SOD-1 transgenic rats.

Background: Experimental therapeutics for degenerative and traumatic diseases of the nervous system have been recently enriched with the addition of neural stem cells (NSCs) as alternatives to fetal tissues for cell replacement. Neurodegenerative diseases present the additional problem that cell death signals may interfere with the viability of grafted cells. The adult spinal cord raises further challenges for NSC differentiation because of lack of intrinsic developmental potential and the negative outcomes of several prior attempts.

Effects of virus burden and chemokine expression on immunity to SHIV in nonhuman primates.

HIV-1 vaccine candidates are designed to elicit Type 1 immune responses, including cytotoxic T cells and neutralizing antibodies. The type of immune response is influenced by many factors, including the levels of antigen expression and production of cytokines or chemokines; we designed a nonhuman primate study to evaluate the influence of these factors on protective immunity. Recombinant SHIV were engineered to express macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1alpha), regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), or Lymphotactin (Ltn) in place of nef in SHIV(89.

Sequence variation within the dominant amino terminus epitope affects antibody binding and neutralization of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat protein.

Tat is among the required regulatory genes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Tat functions both within infected cells as a transcription factor and as an extracellular factor that binds and alters bystander cells. Some functions of extracellular Tat can be neutralized by immune serum or monoclonal antibodies.

Furin cleavage of the HIV-1 Tat protein.

Extracellular human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) Tat protein and Tat-derived peptides are biologically active but mechanisms of Tat processing are not known. Within the highly conserved basic region of HIV-1 Tat protein (amino acids, a.a.

Tat-neutralizing antibodies in vaccinated macaques.

The human immunodeficiency virus Tat protein is essential for virus replication and is a candidate vaccine antigen. Macaques immunized with Tat or chemically modified Tat toxoid having the same clade B sequence developed strong antibody responses. We compared these antisera for their abilities to recognize diverse Tat sequences.