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- Vanherp, L, et al.
(författare)
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Sensitive bioluminescence imaging of fungal dissemination to the brain in mouse models of cryptococcosis
- 2019
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Ingår i: Disease models & mechanisms. - : The Company of Biologists. - 1754-8411 .- 1754-8403. ; 12:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cryptococcus neoformans is a leading cause of fungal brain infections, but the mechanism of dissemination and dynamics of cerebral infection following pulmonary disease are poorly understood. To address these questions, non-invasive techniques that can study the dynamic processes of disease development and progression in living animal models or patients are required. As such, bioluminescence imaging (BLI) has emerged as a powerful tool to evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of infection in living animals. We aimed at studying the time profile of the dissemination of cryptococcosis from the lung to the brain in murine models by engineering the first bioluminescent C. neoformans KN99α strain expressing a sequence-optimized red-shifted luciferase. The high pathogen-specificity and sensitivity of BLI was complemented with the three-dimensional anatomical information from micro-computed tomography (CT) of the lung and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. These non-invasive imaging techniques provided longitudinal read-outs on the spatial and temporal distribution of infection following intravenous, intranasal or endotracheal routes of inoculation. Furthermore, the imaging results correlated strongly with the fungal load in the respective organs. By obtaining dynamic and quantitative information about the extent and timing of brain infections for individual animals, we found that dissemination to the brain after primary infection of the lung is likely a late-stage event with a time frame that is variable between animals. This novel tool in Cryptococcus research can aid the identification of host and pathogen factors involved in this process and supports development of novel preventive or therapeutic approaches.
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| 4. |
- Hollestein, V, et al.
(författare)
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Excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in autism: the role of glutamate and GABA gene-sets in symptoms and cortical brain structure
- 2023
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Ingår i: Translational psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2158-3188. ; 13:1, s. 18-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) imbalance hypothesis posits that imbalance between excitatory (glutamatergic) and inhibitory (GABAergic) mechanisms underlies the behavioral characteristics of autism. However, how E/I imbalance arises and how it may differ across autism symptomatology and brain regions is not well understood. We used innovative analysis methods—combining competitive gene-set analysis and gene-expression profiles in relation to cortical thickness (CT) to investigate relationships between genetic variance, brain structure and autism symptomatology of participants from the AIMS-2-TRIALS LEAP cohort (autism = 359, male/female = 258/101; neurotypical control participants = 279, male/female = 178/101) aged 6–30 years. Using competitive gene-set analyses, we investigated whether aggregated genetic variation in glutamate and GABA gene-sets could be associated with behavioral measures of autism symptoms and brain structural variation. Further, using the same gene-sets, we corelated expression profiles throughout the cortex with differences in CT between autistic and neurotypical control participants, as well as in separate sensory subgroups. The glutamate gene-set was associated with all autism symptom severity scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) within the autistic group. In adolescents and adults, brain regions with greater gene-expression of glutamate and GABA genes showed greater differences in CT between autistic and neurotypical control participants although in opposing directions. Additionally, the gene expression profiles were associated with CT profiles in separate sensory subgroups. Our results suggest complex relationships between E/I related genetics and autism symptom profiles as well as brain structure alterations, where there may be differential roles for glutamate and GABA.
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