Cerebral small vessel disease and brain white matter injury are worsened by cardiovascular risk factors including obesity. Molecular pathways in cerebral endothelial cells activated by chronic cerebrovascular risk factors alter cell-cell signaling, blocking endogenous and post-ischemic white matter repair. Using cell-specific translating ribosome affinity purification (RiboTag) in white matter endothelia and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), we identify a coordinated interleukin-chemokine signaling cascade within the oligovascular niche of subcortical white matter that is triggered by diet-induced obesity (DIO).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGalanin, one of the most inducible neuropeptides, is widely present in developing brains, and its expression is altered by pathologic events (e.g., epilepsy, ischemia, and axotomy).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Fragile soft clots and stiff clots remain challenging in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. This study aims to investigate the impact of clot stiffness on the efficacy of thrombectomy devices and a new aspiration catheter with a hydro-separator.
Methods: The Neurostar aspiration catheter has a novel hydro-separator technology that macerates clots by a stream of saline inside the catheter.
Background And Purpose: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with an increased rate of cerebrovascular events including ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage. The mechanisms underlying cerebral endothelial susceptibility and response to SARS-CoV-2 are unknown yet critical to understanding the association of SARS-CoV-2 infection with cerebrovascular events.
Methods: Endothelial cells were isolated from human brain and analyzed by RNA sequencing.
Background: Current in vitro models for human brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) analyzing the efficacy of embolic materials or flow conditions are limited by a lack of realistic anatomic features of complex AVM nidus. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a newly developed in vitro AVM model for embolic material testing, preclinical training, and flow analysis.
Methods: Three-dimensional (3D) images of the AVM nidus were extracted from 3D rotational angiography from a patient.
Ischemic injury to white matter tracts is increasingly recognized to play a key role in age-related cognitive decline, vascular dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. Knowledge of the effects of ischemic axonal injury on cortical neurons is limited yet critical to identifying molecular pathways that link neurodegeneration and ischemia. Using a mouse model of subcortical white matter ischemic injury coupled with retrograde neuronal tracing, we employed magnetic affinity cell sorting with fluorescence-activated cell sorting to capture layer-specific cortical neurons and performed RNA-sequencing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Tortuous vascular anatomy is one of the greatest challenges in mechanical thrombectomy. This study examines the impact of vascular tortuosity on the performance of stent retrievers and evaluates the efficacy of the newer generation stent retrievers with segmented design.
Materials And Methods: Models with mild, moderate, and severe tortuosity with an internal carotid artery (ICA) and a middle cerebral artery (MCA) were created.
Experience-dependent plasticity (EDP) is essential for anatomical and functional maturation of sensory circuits during development. Although the principal synaptic and circuit mechanisms of EDP are increasingly well studied experimentally and computationally, its molecular mechanisms remain largely elusive. EDP can be readily studied in the rodent barrel cortex, where each "barrel column" preferentially represents deflections of its own principal whisker.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDue to its continuing development after birth, the cerebellum represents a unique model for studying the postnatal orchestration of interneuron migration. The combination of fluorescent labeling and ex/in vivo imaging revealed a cellular highway network within cerebellar cortical layers (the external granular layer, the molecular layer, the Purkinje cell layer, and the internal granular layer). During the first two postnatal weeks, saltatory movements, transient stop phases, cell-cell interaction/contact, and degradation of the extracellular matrix mark out the route of cerebellar interneurons, notably granule cells and basket/stellate cells, to their final location.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccumulation of hyperphosphorylated and aggregated microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) is a central feature of a class of neurodegenerative diseases termed tauopathies. Notably, there is increasing evidence that tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease, are also characterized by a reduction in neurogenesis, the birth of adult neurons. However, the exact relationship between hyperphosphorylation and aggregation of MAPT and neurogenic deficits remains unclear, including whether this is an early- or late-stage disease marker.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the developing brain, immature neurons migrate from their sites of origin to their final destination, where they reside for the rest of their lives. This active movement of immature neurons is essential for the formation of normal neuronal cytoarchitecture and proper differentiation. Deficits in migration result in the abnormal development of the brain, leading to a variety of neurological disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the brains of patients with fetal Minamata disease (FMD), which is caused by exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) during development, many neurons are hypoplastic, ectopic, and disoriented, indicating disrupted migration, maturation, and growth. MeHg affects a myriad of signaling molecules, but little is known about which signals are primary targets for MeHg-induced deficits in neuronal development. In this study, using a mouse model of FMD, we examined how MeHg affects the migration of cerebellar granule cells during early postnatal development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe role of genetic inheritance in brain development has been well characterized, but little is known about the contributions of natural environmental stimuli, such as the effect of light-dark cycles, to brain development. In this study, we determined the role of light stimuli in neuronal cell migration to elucidate how environmental factors regulate brain development. We show that in early postnatal mouse cerebella, granule cell migration accelerates during light cycles and decelerates during dark cycles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadial glia are highly polarized cells that serve as neuronal progenitors and as scaffolds for neuronal migration during construction of the cerebral cortex. How radial glial cells establish and maintain their morphological polarity is unknown. Using conditional gene targeting in mice, we demonstrate that adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) serves an essential function in the maintenance of polarized radial glial scaffold during brain development.
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