Nighttime-specific differential gene expression in suprachiasmatic nucleus and habenula is associated with resilience to chronic social stress.

The molecular mechanisms that link stress and biological rhythms still remain unclear. The habenula (Hb) is a key brain region involved in regulating diverse types of emotion-related behaviours while the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the body's central clock. To investigate the effects of chronic social stress on transcription patterns, we performed gene expression analysis in the Hb and SCN of stress-naïve and stress-exposed mice.

Identification and validation of N-acetylputrescine in combination with non-canonical clinical features as a Parkinson's disease biomarker panel.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder in which loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra results in a clinically heterogeneous group with variable motor and non-motor symptoms with a degree of misdiagnosis. Only 3-25% of sporadic Parkinson's patients present with genetic abnormalities that could represent a risk factor, thus environmental, metabolic, and other unknown causes contribute to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease, which highlights the critical need for biomarkers. In the present study, we prospectively collected and analyzed plasma samples from 194 Parkinson's disease patients and 197 age-matched non-diseased controls.

Aggregation of E121K mutant D-amino acid oxidase and ubiquitination-mediated autophagy mechanisms leading to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a terminal adult-onset neuromuscular disorder. Our group has been studying this illness and previously reported novel mutations and rare mutations in a study using next-generation sequencing of DNA samples from Indian ALS patients. In this paper, we focus on the E121K mutation in the DAO gene to understand how it leads to ALS.

Role of ALS-associated OPTN-K489E mutation in neuronal cell-death regulation.

Optineurin (OPTN) gene is a marker of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the role of optineurin protein (OPTN) in ALS pathology is unclear, even though it is known to regulate autophagy, apoptosis, and other survival-death cellular processes. Genetic analysis of Indian ALS patients by our group ascertained a novel mutation K489E in the OPTN gene.

Chronic social stress blunts core body temperature and molecular rhythms of and in mouse lateral habenula.

Chronic social stress in mice causes behavioural and physiological changes that result in perturbed rhythms of body temperature, activity and sleep-wake cycle. To further understand the link between mood disorders and temperature rhythmicity in mice that are resilient or susceptible to stress, we measured core body temperature (Tcore) before and after exposure to chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). We found that Tcore amplitudes of stress-resilient and susceptible mice are dampened during exposure to CSDS.