Project description:While traumatic brain injury (TBI) acutely disrupts the cortex, most TBI-related disabilities reflect secondary injuries that accrue over time. The thalamus is a likely site of secondary damage because of its reciprocal connections with the cortex. Using a mouse model of mild cortical injury that does not directly damage subcortical structures (mTBI), we found a chronic increase in C1q expression specifically in the corticothalamic circuit. Increased C1q expression co-localized with neuron loss and chronic inflammation, and correlated with disruption in sleep spindles and emergence of epileptic activities. Blocking C1q counteracted these outcomes, suggesting that C1q is a disease modifier in mTBI. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing demonstrated that microglia are the source of thalamic C1q. Since the corticothalamic circuit is important for cognition and sleep, which can be impaired by TBI, this circuit could thus be a new target for treating TBI-related disabilities.
Project description:Hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury in infants is a leading cause of lifelong disability. We report a novel pathway mediating oxidative brain injury after hypoxia-ischemia in which C1q plays a central role. Neonatal mice incapable of classical or terminal complement activation because of C1q or C6 deficiency or pharmacologically inhibited assembly of membrane attack complex were subjected to hypoxia-ischemia. Only C1q(-/-) mice exhibited neuroprotection coupled with attenuated oxidative brain injury. This was associated with reduced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in C1q(-/-) brain mitochondria and preserved activity of the respiratory chain. Compared with C1q(+/+) neurons, cortical C1q(-/-) neurons exhibited resistance to oxygen-glucose deprivation. However, postischemic exposure to exogenous C1q increased both mitochondrial ROS production and mortality of C1q(-/-) neurons. This C1q toxicity was abolished by coexposure to antioxidant Trolox (6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid). Thus, the C1q component of complement, accelerating mitochondrial ROS emission, exacerbates oxidative injury in the developing HI brain. The terminal complement complex is activated in the HI neonatal brain but appeared to be nonpathogenic. These findings have important implications for design of the proper therapeutic interventions against HI neonatal brain injury by highlighting a pathogenic priority of C1q-mediated mitochondrial oxidative stress over the C1q deposition-triggered terminal complement activation.
Project description:In this study, we applied high-density EEG recordings (HD-EEG) to quantitatively characterize the fine-grained spatiotemporal distribution of inter-ictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) across different sleep stages. We quantified differences in spatial extent and duration of IEDs at the scalp and cortical levels using HD-EEG source-localization, during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, in six medication-refractory focal epilepsy patients during epilepsy monitoring unit admission. Statistical analyses were performed at single subject level and group level across different sleep stages for duration and distribution of IEDs. Tests were corrected for multiple comparisons across all channels and time points. Compared to NREM sleep, IEDs during REM sleep were of significantly shorter duration and spatially more restricted. Compared to NREM sleep, IEDs location in REM sleep also showed a higher concordance with electrographic ictal onset zone from scalp EEG recording. This study supports the localizing value of REM IEDs over NREM IEDs and suggests that HD-EEG may be of clinical utility in epilepsy surgery work-up.
Project description:The cross-talk between the inflammatory complement system and hemostasis is becoming increasingly recognized. The interaction between complement C1q, initiation molecule of the classical pathway, and von Willebrand factor (vWF), initiator molecule of primary hemostasis, has been shown to induce platelet rolling and adhesion in vitro. As vWF disorders result in prolonged bleeding, a lack of C1q as binding partner for vWF might also lead to an impaired hemostasis. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the in vivo relevance of C1q-dependent binding of vWF in hemostasis. For this purpose, we analyzed parameters of primary and secondary hemostasis and performed bleeding experiments in wild type (WT) and C1q-deficient (C1qa -/-) mice, with reconstitution experiments of C1q in the latter. Bleeding tendency was examined by quantification of bleeding time and blood loss. First, we found that complete blood counts and plasma vWF levels do not differ between C1qa -/- mice and WT mice. Moreover, platelet aggregation tests indicated that the platelets of both strains of mice are functional. Second, while the prothrombin time was comparable between both groups, the activated partial thromboplastin time was shorter in C1qa -/- mice. In contrast, tail bleeding times of C1qa -/- mice were prolonged accompanied by an increased blood loss. Upon reconstitution of C1qa -/- mice with C1q, parameters of increased bleeding could be reversed. In conclusion, our data indicate that C1q, a molecule of the first-line of immune defense, actively participates in primary hemostasis by promoting arrest of bleeding. This observation might be of relevance for the understanding of thromboembolic complications in inflammatory disorders, where excess of C1q deposition is observed.
Project description:Most hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) develop in patients with chronic hepatitis, which creates a microenvironment for the growth of hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) at the periportal area and subsequent development of HCCs. We investigated the signal from the inflammatory liver for this pathogenic process in the hepatic conditional β-catenin knockout mouse model. Senescent β-catenin-depleted hepatocytes in aged mice create an inflammatory microenvironment that stimulates periportal HPC expansion but arrests differentiation, which predisposes mice to the development of liver tumors. The release of complement C1q from macrophages in the inflammatory niche was identified as the unorthodox signal that activated the β-catenin pathway in periportal HPCs and was responsible for their expansion and de-differentiation. C1q inhibitors blocked the β-catenin pathway in both the expanding HPCs and the liver tumors but spared its orthodox pathway in pericentral normal hepatocytes. This mechanism has been validated in human liver specimens from patients with chronic hepatitis. Taken together, these results demonstrate that C1q- mediated activation of β-catenin pathway in periportal HPCs is a previously unrecognized mechanism for replenishing hepatocytes in the inflammatory liver and, if unchecked, for promoting hepatocarcinogenesis. C1q may become a new target for blocking carcinogenesis in patients with chronic hepatitis.
Project description:Post-traumatic epilepsy is prevalent, often difficult to manage, and currently cannot be prevented. Although cooling is broadly neuroprotective, cooling-induced prevention of chronic spontaneous recurrent seizures has never been demonstrated. We examined the effect of mild passive focal cooling of the perilesional neocortex on the development of neocortical epileptic seizures after head injury in the rat.Rostral parasagittal fluid percussion injury in rats reliably induces a perilesional, neocortical epileptic focus within weeks after injury. Epileptic seizures were assessed by 5-electrode video-electrocorticography (ECoG) 2 to 16 weeks postinjury. Focal cooling was induced with ECoG headsets engineered for calibrated passive heat dissipation. Pathophysiology was assessed by glial fibrillary acidic protein immunostaining, cortical sclerosis, gene expression of inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1? and IL-1?, and ECoG spectral analysis. All animals were formally randomized to treatment groups, and data were analyzed blind.Cooling by 0.5 to 2°C inhibited the onset of epileptic seizures in a dose-dependent fashion. The treatment induced no additional pathology or inflammation, and normalized the power spectrum of stage N2 sleep. Cooling by 2°C for 5.5 weeks beginning 3 days after injury virtually abolished ictal activity. This effect persisted through the end of the study, >10 weeks after cessation of cooling. Rare remaining seizures were shorter than in controls.These findings demonstrate potent and persistent prevention and modification of epileptic seizures after head injury with a cooling protocol that is neuroprotective, compatible with the care of head injury patients, and conveniently implemented. The required cooling can be delivered passively without Peltier cells or electrical power.
Project description:The present study aims to investigate whether a newly developed fast fMRI called MREG (magnetic resonance encephalography) measures metabolic changes related to interictal epileptic discharges (IED). For this purpose BOLD changes are correlated with the IED distribution and variability.Patients with focal epilepsy underwent EEG-MREG using a 64 channel cap. IED voltage maps were generated using 32 and 64 channels and compared regarding their correspondence to the BOLD response. The extents of IEDs (defined as number of channels with >50% of maximum IED negativity) were correlated with the extents of positive and negative BOLD responses. Differences in inter-spike variability were investigated between interictal epileptic discharges (IED) sets with and without concordant positive or negative BOLD responses.17 patients showed 32 separate IED types. In 50% of IED types the BOLD changes could be confirmed by another independent imaging method. The IED extent significantly correlated with the positive BOLD extent (p = 0.04). In 6 patients the 64-channel EEG voltage maps better reflected the positive or negative BOLD response than the 32-channel EEG; in all others no difference was seen. Inter-spike variability was significantly lower in IED sets with than without concordant positive or negative BOLD responses (with p = 0.04).Higher density EEG and fast fMRI seem to improve the value of EEG-fMRI in epilepsy. The correlation of positive BOLD and IED extent could suggest that widespread BOLD responses reflect the IED network. Inter-spike variability influences the likelihood to find IED concordant positive or negative BOLD responses, which is why single IED analysis may be promising.
Project description:Exposure to the neurotropic parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, causes significant brain and behavioral anomalies in humans and other mammals. Understanding the cellular mechanisms of T. gondii-generated brain pathologies would aid the advancement of novel strategies to reduce disease. Complement factor C1q is part of a classic immune pathway that functions peripherally to tag and remove infectious agents and cellular debris from circulation. In the developing and adult brain, C1q modifies neuronal architecture through synapse marking and pruning. T. gondii exposure and complement activation have both been implicated in the development of complex brain disorders such as schizophrenia. Thus, it seems logical that mechanistically, the physiological pathways associated with these two factors are connected. We employed a rodent model of chronic infection to investigate the extent to which cyst presence in the brain triggers activation of cerebral C1q. Compared to uninfected mice, cortical C1q was highly expressed at both the RNA and protein levels in infected animals bearing a high cyst burden. In these mice, C1q protein localized to cytoplasm, adjacent to GFAP-labeled astrocytes, near degenerating cysts, and in punctate patterns along processes. In summary, our results demonstrated an upregulation of cerebral C1q in response to latent T. gondii infection. Our data preliminarily suggest that this complement activity may aid in the clearance of this parasite from the CNS and in so doing, have consequences for the connectivity of neighboring cells and synapses.