Project description:Japanese macaques learn to use rakes to acquire food, and this learning is associated with rapid electrophysiological and morphological changes in the brain. To examine the molecular mechanisms of these plastic changes, we performed comprehensive gene expression analysis with a cDNA microarray and identified many candidate genes.
Project description:Japanese macaques learn to use rakes to acquire food, and this learning is associated with rapid electrophysiological and morphological changes in the brain. To examine the molecular mechanisms of these plastic changes, we performed comprehensive gene expression analysis with a cDNA microarray and identified many candidate genes. We compared gene expressions between experimental (Rhesus_E) and control (Rhesus_C) animals from Surrounding areas of the lateral sulcus. We also compared gene expressions between experimental (IPS_E) and control (IPS_C) animals from Surrounding areas of the Intraparietal sulcus.
Project description:Prion-like spreading of abnormal proteins is proposed to occur in neurodegenerative diseases, and the progression of α-synuclein (α-syn) deposits has been reported in the brains of animal models injected with synthetic α-syn fibrils or pathological α-syn prepared from patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). However, α-syn transmission in nonhuman primates, which are more similar to humans, has not been fully clarified. Here, we injected synthetic human α-syn fibrils into the left striatum of a macaque monkey (Macaca fuscata). At 3 months after the injection, we examined neurodegeneration and α-syn pathology in the brain using α-syn epitope-specific antibodies, antiphosphorylated α-syn antibodies (pSyn#64 and pSer129), anti-ubiquitin antibodies, and anti-p62 antibodies. Immunohistochemical examination with pSyn#64, pSer129, and α-syn epitope-specific antibodies revealed Lewy bodies, massive α-syn-positive neuronal intracytoplasmic inclusions (NCIs), and neurites in the left putamen. These inclusions were also positive for ubiquitin and p62. LB509, a human-specific α-syn antibody targeting amino acid residues 115-122, showed limited immunoreactivity around the injection site. The left substantia nigra (SN) and the bilateral frontal cortex also contained some NCIs and neurites. The left hemisphere, including parietal/temporal cortex presented sparse α-syn pathology, and no immunoreactivity was seen in olfactory nerves, amygdala, hippocampus, or right parietal/temporal cortex. Neuronal loss and gliosis in regions with α-syn pathology were mild, except for the left striatum and SN. Our results indicate that abnormal α-syn fibrils propagate throughout the brain of M. fuscata via projection, association, and commissural fibers, though the progression of α-syn pathology is limited.
Project description:Bartonella quintana bacteremia was detected in 6 (13.3%) of 45 wild-caught Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Multilocus sequence typing of the isolates revealed that Japanese macaques were infected with a new and specific B. quintana sequence type. Free-ranging Japanese macaques thus represent another natural reservoir of B. quintana.