Project description:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a global problem reaching near epidemic numbers that manifests clinically with cognitive problems that decades later may result in dementias like Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Presently, little can be done to prevent ensuing neurological dysfunctions by pharmacological means. Recently, it has become apparent that several CNS diseases share common terminal features of neuronal cell death. The effects of exendin-4 (Ex-4), a neuroprotective agent delivered via a subcutaneous micro-osmotic pump, were examined in the setting of mild TBI (mTBI). Utilizing a model of mTBI, where cognitive disturbances occur over time, animals were subjected to four treatments: sham; Ex-4; mTBI and Ex-4/mTBI. mTBI mice displayed deficits in novel object recognition, while Ex-4/mTBI mice performed similar to sham. Hippocampal gene expression, assessed by gene array methods, showed significant differences with little overlap in co-regulated genes between groups. Importantly, changes in gene expression induced by mTBI, including genes associated with AD were largely prevented by Ex-4. These data suggest a strong beneficial action of Ex-4 in managing secondary events induced by a traumatic brain injury. Male ICR mice weighing 30–40 g were kept five per cage under a constant 12-h light/dark cycle, at room temperature (23°C). Food (Purina rodent chow) and water were available ad libitum. Each mouse was used for one experiment and for one time point only. The Ethics Committee of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine approved the experimental protocol (M-09-055), in compliance with the guidelines for animal experimentation of the National Institutes of Health (DHEW publication 85–23, revised, 1995). A minimal number of mice were used for the study and all efforts were made to minimize suffering. All experimental manipulations were conducted during the light phase of the cycle. Experimental mTBI was induced using the concussive head trauma device described previously (Milman et al. 2005; Zohar et al. 2003). Briefly, mice were lightly anesthetized (Isoflurane) and placed under the weight-drop concussive head trauma instrument. The device consists of a metal tube (inner diameter 13 mm), placed vertically over the mouse head. A metal weight (30 g) was dropped from the top of the tube (80 cm) and struck the skull at the temporal right side between the corner of the eye and the ear. A sponge supported the head, allowing some antero-posterior motion without any rotational head movement at the moment of the impact. Immediately after the injury, mice were placed back in their cages for recovery. The effect of the injury upon behavior and cognition was studied from 7 days following the trauma. Sham treated mouse groups were treated identically only the weight was not dropped. The peptide Ex-4 was obtained from Bachem (Torrance, CA). In order to obtain a constant steady-state concentration of Ex-4 in mice prior to injury; Ex-4 was delivered by use of micro-osmotic pumps (7 day infusion duration), 2 days prior to the induction of mTBI. For the Ex-4 treated animals the peptide was dissolved in an equal volume of saline and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) mixture and delivered from a subcutaneously implanted ALZET Micro-osmotic pump (Model 1007D, Alzet, Cupertino, CA) at a rate of 3.5 pM/kg/min. In drug treatment control groups, saline and DMSO pumps were implanted in each animal following the same surgical procedure as used for the Ex-4 treatment animals. In all animals, pumps were placed, posterior to the scapulae. Pump implantation was performed under anesthesia (ketamine/xylazine) utilizing sterile procedures. Mini pumps were implanted 48 hours prior to the weight drop injury. The number of animals from each treatment group that went on to microarray analysis were as follows, Sham, n = 5; mTBI, n = 4; Ex-4, n = 5; Ex-4/ mTBI, n = 4. Mouse cognition was assessed using the novel object recognition paradigm. After the completion of the novel object behavioral assessment, animals were euthanized and the hippocampus dissected for total RNA isolation. Total RNA was prepared using the Qiagen RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen, Inc. Valencia CA) following the manufacturer's specifications. Quantity and quality of the RNA was assessed using the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer with RNA 6000 Nano Chips. The total RNA (500 ng) was used to generate biotin-labeled cRNA using the Illumina TotalPrep RNA Amplification Kit (Ambion; Austin, TX, cat # IL1791). In short, 500 ng of total RNA was first converted into single-stranded cDNA with reverse transcriptase using an oligo-dT primer containing the T7 RNA polymerase promoter site and then copied to produce double-stranded cDNA molecules. The double stranded cDNA was cleaned and concentrated with the supplied columns and used in an overnight in vitro transcription reaction where single-stranded RNA (cRNA) was generated and labeled by incorporation of biotin-16-UTP. This cRNA was used in the hybridization reaction. Briefly, a total of 750 ng of biotin-labeled cRNA was hybridized at 58oC for 16 hours to Illumina's SentrixMouse Ref-8, v2 Expression BeadChips (Illumina, San Diego, CA). Each BeadChip has ~24,000 well-annotated RefSeq transcripts with an approximately 30-fold redundancy. The arrays were washed, blocked and the biotin labeled cRNA was detected by staining with streptavidin-Cy3. Arrays were scanned at a resolution of 0.8 m using the Beadstation 500 X from Illumina, data was extracted from the image using Illumina BeadStudio software, v3.4.0.

Project description:Warfare has long been associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in militarized zones. Common forms of TBI can be caused by a physical insult to the head-brain or by the effects of a high velocity blast shock wave generated by the detonation of an explosive device. While both forms of trauma are distinctly different regarding the mechanism of trauma induction, there are striking similarities in the cognitive and emotional status of survivors. Presently, proven effective therapeutics for the treatment of either form of TBI are unavailable. To be able to develop efficacious therapies, studies involving animal models of physical- and blast-TBI are required to identify possible novel or existing medicines that may be of value in the management of clinical events. We examined indices of cognition and anxiety-like behavior and the hippocampal gene transcriptome of mice subjected to both forms of TBI. We identified common behavioral deficits and gene expression regulations, in addition to unique injury-specific forms of gene regulation. Molecular pathways presented a pattern similar to that seen in gene expression. Interestingly, pathways connected to AlzheimerM-bM-^@M-^Ys disease displayed a markedly different form of regulation depending on the type of TBI. While these data highlight similarities in behavioral outcomes after trauma, the divergence in hippocampal transcriptome observed between models suggests that, at the molecular level, the TBIs are quite different. These models may provide tools to help define therapeutic approaches for the treatment of physical- and blast-TBIs. Based upon observations of increasing numbers of personnel displaying TBI related emotional and behavioral changes in militarized zones, the development of efficacious therapies will become a national if not a global priority. Keywords: Physical-traumatic brain injury; Blast-traumatic brain injury; Cognitive dysfunction; Gene expression; Molecular pathway(s); Neurodegeneration; Stem cells; AlzheimerM-bM-^@M-^Ys disease A mild physical-TBI was induced using a concussive head trauma device described previously (Milman et al., 2005; Zohar et al., 2003). Briefly, mice were lightly anesthetized (Isoflurane) and placed under the weight-drop concussive head trauma instrument. The device consisted of a metal tube (inner diameter 13 mm), placed vertically over the mouse head. A metal weight (30 g) was dropped from the top of the tube (80 cm) and struck the skull at the right side temporal area between the corner of the eye and the ear. A sponge supported the head, allowing some antero-posterior motion without any rotational head movement at the moment of the impact. Experimental conditions used to create a mild low-level blast-TBI and the subsequent model characterization, have been described in detail elsewhere (Rubovitch et al., 2011). In brief, mice were anaesthetized with a combination of ketamine (100 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg). Once the animals were fully anaesthetized they were placed at a defined distance from a detonation source, in this case 7 meters. Pressure sensors were used to measure the explosion shock wave pressure (PSI) generated by the detonation (Free-Field ICPM-BM-. Blast Pressure Sensor; PCB Piezoelectronics, Depew, NY, USA, Model 137). At 7 meters from the source of the detonation, the animals were exposed to a maximum of a 2.5 PSI (17.2 kPa) pressure shock wave. Immediately after the induction of the injury, mice were placed back in their cages. Once the animals had recovered from the anesthesia, basic neurological assessments were undertaken to identify any acute neurological dysfunction. Only animals exhibiting no evidence of acute neurological damage post injury were subsequently used in further experiments. Sham treated mouse groups were treated identically; however, they were not exposed to physical- or blast-TBI. Mouse hippocampus tissues were randomly selected from the larger library of samples generated from the behavioral experiments and the numbers utilized in the gene expression study were as follows: sham, n = 5: physical-TBI, n = 4; blast-TBI, n = 7.

Project description:With the population of older and overweight individuals on the rise in the Western world, there is an ever greater need to slow the aging processes and reduce the burden of age-associated chronic disease that would significantly improve the quality of human life and reduce economic costs. Caloric restriction (CR), is the most robust and reproducible intervention known to delay aging and to improve healthspan and lifespan across species (1); however, whether this intervention can extend lifespan in humans is still unknown. Here we report that rats and humans exhibit similar responses to long-term CR at both the physiological and molecular levels. CR induced broad phenotypic similarities in both species such as reduced body weight, reduced fat mass and increased the ratio of muscle to fat. Likewise, CR evoked similar species-independent responses in the transcriptional profiles of skeletal muscle. This common signature consisted of three key pathways typically associated with improved health and survival: IGF-1/insulin signaling, mitochondrial biogenesis and inflammation. To our knowledge, these are the first results to demonstrate that long-term CR induces a similar transcriptional profile in two very divergent species, suggesting that such similarities may also translate to lifespan-extending effects in humans as is known to occur in rodents. These findings provide insight into the shared molecular mechanisms elicited by CR and highlight promising pathways for therapeutic targets to combat age-related diseases and promote longevity in humans. Percutaneous biopsy specimens of vastus lateralis muscle were taken from 15 Human subjects from a group of middle-aged (58.7±7.4 yrs.), weight-stable members of the Calorie Restriction Society who have been practicing ~30% CR with adequate nutrition (at least 100% of RDI for each nutrient) for an average of 9.6 years and 10 age matched controls that were eating a typical Western diet. Total RNA was extracted from the skeletal muscle using Trizol Reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) following the manufacturer’s instructions, RNA quality and quantity was checked using an Agilent 2100 Bio-analyzer and the RNA 6000 nano-chips (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA). Total RNA samples were biotin labeled and hybridized to Sentrix Human HT-12, v3 Expression BeadChips (Illumina, San Diego, CA), following Illumina protocols. Arrays were washed, stained and scanned using an Illumina BeadArray 500GX reader. Microarray florescent signals were extracted using the Illumina GenomeStudio Gene Expression software(v1.6.0) and any spots at or below the background were filtered using an Illumina detection p-value of 0.02 and above. The natural log of all remaining scores were used to find the avg and std of each array and the z-score normalization was calculated . Correlation analysis, sample clustering analysis and principal component analysis include all of probes are performed to identify/exclude any possible outliners. The resulting dataset was next analyzed with DIANE 6.0, a spreadsheet based microarray analysis program. Gene set enrichment analysis use gene expression values or gene expression change values for all of the genes in the microarray. Parametric analysis of gene set enrichment (PAGE) was used [pubmed 20682848] for gene set analysis.

Project description:Approximately 35 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Existing therapeutics, while moderately effective, are currently unable to stem the widespread rise in AD prevalence. AD is associated with an increase in amyloid beta (A) oligomers and hyperphosphorylated tau, along with cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration. Several antidepressants have shown promise in improving cognition and alleviating oxidative stress in AD but have failed as long-term therapeutics. In this study, amitriptyline, an FDA-approved tricyclic antidepressant, was administered orally to aged and cognitively impaired transgenic AD mice (3xTgAD). After amitriptyline treatment, cognitive behavior testing demonstrated that there was a significant improvement in both long- and short-term memory retention. Amitriptyline treatment also caused a significant potentiation of non-toxic A monomer with a concomitant decrease in toxic oligomer A load, compared to vehicle-treated 3xTgAD controls. In addition, amitriptyline administration caused a significant increase in dentate gyrus neurogenesis as well as increases in expression of neurosynaptic marker proteins. Amitriptyline treatment resulted in increases in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein as well as increased tyrosine phosphorylation of its cognate receptor (TrkB). These results indicate that amitriptyline has significant beneficial actions in aged and damaged AD brains and that it shows promise as a tolerable novel therapeutic for the treatment of AD. Male 3xTgAD mice, 14 months of age, were maintained on a 12hr light dark cycle in pathogen free conditions. Animals received food and water ad libitum. The test group received 100ug/g body weight amitriptyline-hydrochloride per os in their drinking water (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis MO) for 4 months (n = 15), and the control group received water (n = 15). The Hippocampus and Cortex were removed from 3 replicates of each group and RNA purification was done using glass bead disruption followed by the RNEasy Mini Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The RNA was examined for quantity and quality using an Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100 (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA). The samples were hybridized to Illumina's SentrixMouse Ref-8 v2. Expression BeadChips (Illumina, San Diego, CA).

Project description:With the population of older and overweight individuals on the rise in the Western world, there is an ever greater need to slow the aging processes and reduce the burden of age-associated chronic disease that would significantly improve the quality of human life and reduce economic costs. Caloric restriction (CR), is the most robust and reproducible intervention known to delay aging and to improve healthspan and lifespan across species (1); however, whether this intervention can extend lifespan in humans is still unknown. Here we report that rats and humans exhibit similar responses to long-term CR at both the physiological and molecular levels. CR induced broad phenotypic similarities in both species such as reduced body weight, reduced fat mass and increased the ratio of muscle to fat. Likewise, CR evoked similar species-independent responses in the transcriptional profiles of skeletal muscle. This common signature consisted of three key pathways typically associated with improved health and survival: IGF-1/insulin signaling, mitochondrial biogenesis and inflammation. To our knowledge, these are the first results to demonstrate that long-term CR induces a similar transcriptional profile in two very divergent species, suggesting that such similarities may also translate to lifespan-extending effects in humans as is known to occur in rodents. These findings provide insight into the shared molecular mechanisms elicited by CR and highlight promising pathways for therapeutic targets to combat age-related diseases and promote longevity in humans. Male Fisher 344 rats (n=54) were randomly assigned to two groups at 2 months of age. One group was kept ad libitum (AL) fed throughout their lifespan while the calorie restriction (CR) group was progressively brought down to a 40% CR. All animals were fed a NIH-31 standard chow (Harlan Teklad, Indianapolis, IN, USA). Rats were singly housed in an environmentally controlled vivarium with unlimited access to water and a controlled photoperiod (12 hr. light;12 hr. dark). Body weights and food intake were recorded biweekly. All rats were maintained between 68-72M-BM-0F according to animal protocols and NIH guidelines. Total RNA was extracted from the vastus lateralis skeletal muscle using Trizol Reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) following the manufacturerM-bM-^@M-^Ys instructions, n=5 from each group. Total RNA samples were biotin labeled and hybridized to RatRef-12 v1 Gene Expression beadchips (Illumina, San Diego, CA) following Illumina protocols. Arrays were washed and scanned using an Illumina BeadArray 500GX reader. Microarray florescent signals were extracted using the Illumina GenomeStudio Gene Expression software(v1.6.0) and any spots at or below the background were filtered using an Illumina detection p-value of 0.02 and above. The natural log of all remaining scores were used to find the avg and std of each array and the z-score normalization was calculated . Correlation analysis, sample clustering analysis and principal component analysis include all of probes are performed to identify/exclude any possible outliners. The resulting dataset was next analyzed with DIANE 6.0, a spreadsheet based microarray analysis program. Gene set enrichment analysis use gene expression values or gene expression change values for all of the genes in the microarray. Parametric analysis of gene set enrichment (PAGE) was used [pubmed 20682848] for gene set analysis. Gene Sets include the MSIG database [Link], Gene Ontology Database [Link], GAD human disease and mouse phenotype gene sets [pubmed: 20092628] were used to explore functional level changes.

Project description:Recent evidence suggests that ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) originates from the epithelium of the fallopian tube. However, most mouse models are based on the previous prevailing view that ovarian cancer develops from the transformation of the ovarian surface epithelium. Here, we report the extensive histological and molecular characterization of the mogp-TAg transgenic mouse, which expresses the SV40 large T-antigen (TAg) under the control of the mouse müllerian-specific Ovgp-1 promoter. Histologic analysis of the fallopian tubes of mogp-TAg mice identified a variety of neoplastic lesions analogous to those described as precursors to ovarian HGSC. We identified areas of normal appearing p53-positive epithelium that are similar to “p53 signatures” in the human fallopian tube. More advanced proliferative lesions with nuclear atypia and epithelial stratification were also identified that were morphologically and immunohistochemically reminiscent of human serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC), a potential precursor of ovarian HGSC. Beside these noninvasive precursor lesions, we also identified invasive adenocarcinoma in the ovary of 56% of the mice. Microarray analysis revealed several genes differentially expressed between the fallopian tube of mogp-TAg and WT C57BL/6. One of these genes, Top2a, which encodes topoisomerase II-alpha, was shown by immunohistochemistry to be concurrently expressed with elevated p53 and specifically elevated in mouse STICs, but not in surrounding tissues. TOP2A protein was also found elevated in human STICs, low-grade, and high-grade serous carcinoma. The mouse model reported here displays a progression from normal tubal epithelium to invasive HGSC in the ovary, and therefore closely simulates the current emerging model of human ovarian HGSC pathogenesis. This mouse therefore has the potential to be a very useful new model for elucidating the mechanisms of serous ovarian tumorigenesis, as well as for developing novel approaches for the prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of this disease. Keywords: transgenic mouse model, ovarian cancer, fallopian tube, intraepithelial carcinoma 6 mouse fallopian tubes (FT) were analyzed with experimental repeats; 3 wildtype C57BL6 mice (FT) and 3 transgenic mogp-TAg (FT), with one set of each at 7, 8 and 9 weeks of age.

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Blast traumatic brain injury induced cognitive deficits are attenuated by pre- or post-injury treatment with the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, exendin-4

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