Publications by authors named "Julie Borovicka"
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes a systemic infection that affects the central nervous system. We used virus-like particles (VLPs) to explore how exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 proteins affects brain activity patterns in wild-type (WT) mice and in mice that express the wild-type human tau protein (htau mice). VLP exposure elicited dose-dependent changes in corticosterone and distinct chemokine levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurrent methods for recording large-scale neuronal activity from behaving mice at single-cell resolution require either fixing the mouse head under a microscope or attachment of a recording device to the animal's skull. Both of these options significantly affect the animal behavior and hence also the recorded brain activity patterns. Here, we introduce a different method to acquire snapshots of single-cell cortical activity maps from freely-moving mice using a calcium sensor called CaMPARI.
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- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes both immediate and long-term damage to the brain, leading to neuropsychiatric issues and increasing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
- Researchers have created a new technique to monitor axonal activity over time in the same animal, instead of using many different animals, making studies more efficient.
- After TBI, abnormal axonal activity was observed starting 3 days post-injury and continued over the long term, highlighting ongoing damage.
Article Synopsis
- CaMPARI is a genetically engineered fluorescent tool that allows researchers to visualize neuronal activity based on calcium ion levels and light stimulation, enabling the mapping of brain connectivity without invasive devices.
- The newest version, CaMPARI2, was designed to improve the visibility of neuronal activity but ended up being less effective at photoconversion compared to its predecessor, CaMPARI1.
- The study highlights that CaMPARI1 not only shows better efficiency in detecting active neurons but also suggests that future optimizations should include more thorough validation processes to improve predictability.
Stroke is a leading cause of disability in the Western world. Current post-stroke rehabilitation treatments are only effective in approximately half of the patients. Therefore, there is a pressing clinical need for developing new rehabilitation approaches for enhancing the recovery process, which requires the use of appropriate animal models.
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