Adenoviral vectors (AVVs) and lentiviral vectors (LVVs) are highly useful research tools which can be used to investigate the function of specific cell phenotypes in the brain. The transductional tropism of viral vectors has a critical impact upon the transgene expression in different brain areas. This largely depends on the properties of the viral particles, which for AVVs are most commonly an...

The subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is a brain region where robust neurogenesis continues throughout adulthood. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) have a primary role in controlling cell division and cellular proliferation. p21(Cip1) (p21) is a CDK inhibitor that restrains cell cycle progression. Confocal microscopy revealed that p21 is abundantly expressed in the nu...

Intraspinal quisqualic acid (QUIS) injury induce (i) mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia, (ii) progressive self-injurious overgrooming of the affected dermatome. The latter is thought to resemble painful dysesthesia observed in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. We have reported previously loss of endogenous GABA immunoreactive (IR) cells in the superficial dorsal horn of QUIS rats 2 weeks post...

Central nervous system infections can underlie the development of epilepsy, and Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) infection in C57BL/6J mice provides a novel model of infection-induced epilepsy. Approximately 50-65% of infected mice develop acute, handling-induced seizures during the infection. Brains display acute neuropathology, and a high number of mice develop spontaneous, rec...

BACKGROUND Compound porcine cerebroside and ganglioside injection (CPCGI) is a neurotrophic drug used clinically to treat certain functional disorders of brain. Despite its extensive usage throughout China, the exact mechanistic targets of CPCGI are unknown. This study was carried out to investigate the protective effect of CPCGI against ischemic neuronal damage in rats with middle cerebral art...

Hypoxic preconditioning of stem cells and neural progenitor cells has been tested for promoting cell survival after transplantation. The present investigation examined the hypothesis that hypoxic preconditioning of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) could not only enhance their survival but also reinforce regenerative properties of these cells. BMSCs from eGFP engineered rats or pre-lab...

Guanosine (GUO) is neuroprotective when administered acutely for the treatment of cerebral ischemia. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether delayed administration of GUO improved long‑term functional recovery following stroke, as well as to explore the potential underlying mechanisms. GUO (8 mg/kg) or a vehicle was administered intraperitoneally for 7 consecutive days beginning...

PURPOSE To characterize cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) expression in the retina of the thy1-CFP (B6.Cg-Tg(Thy1-CFP)23Jrs/J) transgenic mouse line. METHODS CFP expression was characterized using morphometric methods and immunohistochemistry with antibodies to neurofilament light (NF-L), neuronal nuclei (NeuN), POU-domain protein (Brn3a) and calretinin, which immunolabel ganglion cells, and syn...

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively characterize structural abnormalities of the cerebrum in a growth-retarded mouse (grt/grt) with a tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase 2 gene defect. Three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) images were obtained from fixed brains of male homogenous grt/grt (n=5) and heterozygous grt/+ (n=5) mice at 15 weeks of age, and volumes of representative cereb...

PURPOSE Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is a major risk factor for glaucoma. One consequence of raised IOP is that ocular tissues are subjected to increased hydrostatic pressure (HP). The effect of raised HP on stress pathway signaling and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival in the human retina was investigated. METHODS A chamber was designed to expose cells to increased HP (constant and...