Cerebral ischemia triggers a powerful inflammatory reaction involving peripheral leukocytes and brain resident cells that contribute to both tissue injury and repair. However, their dynamics and diversity remain poorly understood. To address these limitations, we performed a single-cell transcriptomic study of brain and blood cells 2 or 14 days after ischemic stroke in mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe critical presynaptic protein Munc13 serves numerous roles in the process of docking and priming synaptic vesicles. Here we investigate the functional significance of two distinct oligomers of the Munc13 core domain (Munc13C) comprising C1-C2B-MUN-C2C. Oligomer interface point mutations that specifically destabilized either the trimer or lateral hexamer assemblies of Munc13C disrupted vesicle docking, trans-SNARE formation, and Ca -triggered vesicle fusion in vitro and impaired neurotransmitter secretion and motor nervous system function in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdolescence is a period of development in which shifts in responses to glucocorticoids is well-documented. Obesity and metabolic syndrome are substantial health issues whose rates continue to rise in both adult and adolescent populations. Though many interacting factors contribute to these dysfunctions, how these shifts in glucocorticoid responses may be related remain unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCerebral ischemia triggers a powerful inflammatory reaction involving both peripheral leukocytes and brain resident cells. Recent evidence indicates that their differentiation into a variety of functional phenotypes contributes to both tissue injury and repair. However, the temporal dynamics and diversity of post-stroke immune cell subsets remain poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCerebral ischemia is associated with an acute inflammatory response that contributes to the resulting injury. The innate immunity receptor CD36, expressed in microglia and endothelium, and the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) are involved in the mechanisms of ischemic injury. Since CD36 has been implicated in activation of the inflammasome, the main source of IL-1β, we investigated whether CD36 mediates brain injury through the inflammasome and IL-1β.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdolescence is associated with the maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the major neuroendocrine axis mediating the hormonal stress response. Adolescence is also a period in development marked by a variety of stress-related vulnerabilities, including psychological and physiological dysfunctions. Many of these vulnerabilities are accompanied by a disrupted HPA axis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlucocorticoids are potent modulators of metabolic and behavioral function. Their role as mediators in the "stress response" is well known, but arguably their primary physiological function is in the regulation of cellular and organismal metabolism. Disruption of normal glucocorticoid function is linked to metabolic disease, such as Cushing syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring adolescence, the increased susceptibility to stress-related dysfunctions (e.g., anxiety, drug use, obesity) may be influenced by changes in the hormonal stress response mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.
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