Robust methods are needed for preclinical evaluation of novel Alzheimer Disease (AD) therapies to accelerate drug discovery. Quantitative Gradient Recalled Echo (qGRE) MRI has shown promise to provide insight into neurodegeneration in AD prior to atrophy development in humans, highlighting areas of low neuronal density. In this study a novel qGRE method (20 echoes, TE=2-40ms) is shown to non-invasively measure the longitudinal neuronal loss in the hippocampus of a mouse model of AD tauopathy Tg4510. Tg4510 (n=10) and wild type (WT, n=6) mice underwent MRI (7T field strength) at 3-7 months old. 3D qGRE approach was used to generate brain-specific R* maps free of magnetic field inhomogeneity artifacts. Light-sheet microscopy of the brains stained with NeuN and MBP served to visualize neuronal nuclei and myelin content respectively. Significant decrease in NeuN staining between 3mo and 5mo was observed in the hippocampus of Tg4510, validating the mouse AD model. Longitudinal analysis showed clear decreases in R* metric of qGRE signal in the Tg4510 mice hippocampus undergoing neurodegeneration between 3 and 5 months old. Histogram analysis revealed an upward trend in patterns of low R* value (Dark Matter, DM), and broadening of R* distribution. These were quantified as significant increase in both DM Volume Fraction (DMVF) and R* Standard Deviation (SD) in Tg4510 mice (p=0.004/p=0.016 DMVF/SD) but not in WT controls (p>0.25). Further monotonical increase was also observed in both metrics in time. A significant negative correlation was observed between the DMVF and myelin content (p=0.01, r=-0.76), suggesting sensitivity of the technique to the loss of myelinated axons. The presented qGRE technique, validated by histological measurements, can be readily applied as in vivo tool in preclinical models of neurodegeneration for pharmacodynamics and mechanism of action assessment.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120794 | DOI Listing |
Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol
January 2025
Rostock University Medical Center, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, Rostock, Germany.
(Group A Streptococcus, GAS) is a human pathogen that causes local and systemic infections of the skin and mucous membranes. However, GAS is also found asymptomatically in the nasopharynx of infants. GAS infections, including pharyngitis and invasive pneumosepsis, pose significant public health concerns.
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January 2025
HHMI, University of California, Davis, CA 95616.
During meiosis, each pair of homologous chromosomes becomes connected by at least one crossover, as required for accurate segregation, and adjacent crossovers are widely separated thereby limiting total numbers. In coarsening models, this crossover patterning results from nascent recombination sites competing to accrue a limiting pro-crossover RING-domain protein (COR) that diffuses between synapsed chromosomes. Here, we delineate the localization dynamics of three mammalian CORs in the mouse and determine their interdependencies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiol Reprod
January 2025
Department of Integrative Physiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX USA.
The physiological and clinical importance of motile cilia in reproduction is well recognized, however, the specific role they play in transport through the oviduct and how ciliopathies lead to subfertility and infertility is still unclear. The contribution of cilia beating, fluid flow, and smooth muscle contraction to overall progressive transport within the oviduct remains under debate. Therefore, we investigated the role of cilia in the oviduct transport of preimplantation eggs and embryos using a combination of genetic and advanced imaging approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Key Laboratory for Prevention and Control of Common Animal Diseases in General Higher Education Institutions of Heilongjiang Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China.
This study aims to provide a theoretical foundation for the future management of diabetes at various stages induced by a high-fat diet. Specifically, it seeks to determine the appropriate pharmacological interventions for each phase of diabetes development and the targeted therapeutic directions at different stages of diabetes progression. This investigation employed C57BL6 mice as experimental subjects, successfully establishing an insulin resistance model through a 12-week high-fat diet.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China.
Personalized neoantigen cancer mRNA vaccines are promising candidates for precision medicine. However, the difficulty of identifying neoantigens heavily hinders their broad applicability. This study developed a universal strategy of anti-tumor mRNA vaccine by harnessing "off-the-shelf" immunity to known antigens.
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