M Seblani, M Zannikou, J T Duffy, T Joshi, R N Levine, A Thakur, M Puigdelloses-Vallcorba, C M Horbinski, J Miska, D Hambardzumyan, O J Becher, Irina V Balyasnikova
{"title":"IL13RA2-integrated genetically engineered mouse model allows for CAR T cells targeting pediatric high-grade gliomas.","authors":"M Seblani, M Zannikou, J T Duffy, T Joshi, R N Levine, A Thakur, M Puigdelloses-Vallcorba, C M Horbinski, J Miska, D Hambardzumyan, O J Becher, Irina V Balyasnikova","doi":"10.1186/s40478-025-01991-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-025-01991-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGG) and pediatric diffuse midline gliomas (pDMG) are devastating diseases without durable and curative options. Although targeted immunotherapy has shown promise, the field lacks immunocompetent animal models to study these processes in detail. To achieve this, we developed a fully immunocompetent, genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) for pDMG and pHGG that incorporates the glioma-associated antigen, interleukin 13 receptor alpha 2 (IL13RA2). Utilizing the RCAS-Tva delivery system in Nestin-Tva mice, we induced gliomagenesis by overexpressing PDGFB and deleting p53 (p53<sup>fl/fl</sup>) or both p53 and PTEN (p53<sup>fl/fl</sup> PTEN<sup>fl/fl</sup>), with or without IL13RA2 in neonatal mice. De novo tumors developed in models with and without IL13RA2, showing no statistical difference in onset (n = 33, 38 days, p = 0.62). The p53<sup>fl/fl</sup> PTEN<sup>fl/fl</sup> tumors displayed more aggressive characteristics (n = 12, 31 days). Tumors exhibited features typical of high-grade glioma, including infiltration, pseudopalisading necrosis, and microvascular proliferation. They also showed a high Ki-67 index, variable IL13RA2 expression, a high frequency of CD11b + macrophages, and a low proportion of CD3 + T cells. The model proved effective for evaluating IL13RA2-targeted immunotherapies, with a significant response to CAR T-cell treatment that extended survival (46 days vs. 28 days control; p < 0.0001) and achieved 25% long-term survival in mice. This model facilitates the preclinical assessment of IL13RA2-directed therapies and holds potential for clinical application.</p>","PeriodicalId":6914,"journal":{"name":"Acta Neuropathologica Communications","volume":"13 1","pages":"69"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143770934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pakize Nur Akkaya, María Miranda, Inmaculada Almansa, Cigdem Elmas, Dragana Trifunovic, Zohreh Hosseinzadeh, Ayse Sahaboglu
{"title":"PARP inhibition preserves cone photoreceptors in rd2 retina.","authors":"Pakize Nur Akkaya, María Miranda, Inmaculada Almansa, Cigdem Elmas, Dragana Trifunovic, Zohreh Hosseinzadeh, Ayse Sahaboglu","doi":"10.1186/s40478-025-01982-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40478-025-01982-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The rd2 mouse model, characterized by a mutation in the Prph2 gene, exhibits abnormal development of photoreceptor outer segments, resulting in progressive retinal degeneration. While the correlation between poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) activity and the degeneration of rod photoreceptors is established in the rd2 model, the specific mechanism driving cone degeneration in this model remains unclear. Furthermore, it is yet to be determined whether inhibiting PARP activity can effectively impede the degeneration of cone photoreceptors in this context. We demonstrated that PARP inhibitors Olaparib, BMN-673, and 3-aminobenzamide (3AB), effectively reduced photoreceptor cell loss in the rd2 retina. Notably, rd2 retinas exhibited decreased cone density, but treatment with PARP inhibitors significantly protected cone photoreceptors. The PARP inhibitors, particularly BMN-673, demonstrated a significant protective effect as evidenced by increased rhodopsin expression within the outer segment and a concurrent decrease in Müller cell activity indicated by GFAP expression. The treatment also resulted in significant changes for markers of oxidative stress, such as glutathione (GSH), and oxidized glutathione (GSSG). Notably, the administration of PARP inhibitors also reduced CD9 expression (extracellular vesicle marker), which were significantly increased within the outer nuclear layer (ONL) in the rd2 retinas. Among PARP inhibitors, BMN-673 demonstrated the highest efficacy in preserving photoreceptors, particularly benefiting cone cells.</p>","PeriodicalId":6914,"journal":{"name":"Acta Neuropathologica Communications","volume":"13 1","pages":"68"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143762613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Karen S Wang, Julie Smeyers, Kevin Eggan, Bogdan Budnik, Daniel A Mordes
{"title":"C9ORF72 poly-PR disrupts expression of ALS/FTD-implicated STMN2 through SRSF7.","authors":"Karen S Wang, Julie Smeyers, Kevin Eggan, Bogdan Budnik, Daniel A Mordes","doi":"10.1186/s40478-025-01977-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40478-025-01977-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A hexanucleotide repeat expansion in C9ORF72 is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and combined ALS/FTD. The repeat is transcribed in the sense and the antisense directions to produce several dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) that have toxic gain-of-function effects; however, the mechanisms by which DPRs lead to neural dysfunction remain unresolved. Here, we observed that poly-proline-arginine (poly-PR) was sufficient to inhibit axonal regeneration of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons. Global phospho-proteomics revealed that poly-PR selectively perturbs nuclear RNA binding proteins (RBPs). In neurons, we found that depletion of one of these RBPs, SRSF7 (serine/arginine-rich splicing factor 7), resulted in decreased abundance of STMN2 (stathmin-2), though not TDP-43. STMN2 supports axon maintenance and repair and has been recently implicated in the pathogenesis of ALS/FTD. We observed that depletion of SRSF7 impaired axonal regeneration, a phenotype that could be rescued by exogenous STMN2. We propose that antisense repeat-encoded poly-PR perturbs RBPs, particularly SRSF7, resulting in reduced STMN2 and axonal repair defects in neurons. Hence, we provide a potential link between DPRs gain-of-function effects and STMN2 loss-of-function phenotypes in neurodegeneration.</p>","PeriodicalId":6914,"journal":{"name":"Acta Neuropathologica Communications","volume":"13 1","pages":"67"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11948778/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143717660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Samir R Nath, Aneesha Dasgupta, Divyanshu Dubey, Eileen Kokesh, Grayson Beecher, Numrah Fadra, Teerin Liewluck, Sean Pittock, Jason D Doles, William Litchy, Margherita Milone
{"title":"Correction: Unraveling calcium dysregulation and autoimmunity in immune mediated rippling muscle disease.","authors":"Samir R Nath, Aneesha Dasgupta, Divyanshu Dubey, Eileen Kokesh, Grayson Beecher, Numrah Fadra, Teerin Liewluck, Sean Pittock, Jason D Doles, William Litchy, Margherita Milone","doi":"10.1186/s40478-025-01981-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40478-025-01981-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":6914,"journal":{"name":"Acta Neuropathologica Communications","volume":"13 1","pages":"66"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11931796/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143699287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Solji G Choi, Tyler R Tittle, Raj R Barot, Dakota J Betts, Johnie J Gallagher, Jeffrey H Kordower, Yaping Chu, Bryan A Killinger
{"title":"Proximity proteomics reveals unique and shared pathological features between multiple system atrophy and Parkinson's disease.","authors":"Solji G Choi, Tyler R Tittle, Raj R Barot, Dakota J Betts, Johnie J Gallagher, Jeffrey H Kordower, Yaping Chu, Bryan A Killinger","doi":"10.1186/s40478-025-01958-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40478-025-01958-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple system atrophy (MSA) are neurodegenerative diseases with shared clinical and pathological features. Aggregates of alpha-synuclein (αsyn) phosphorylated at serine 129 (PSER129) are hallmarks of synucleinopathies, which, for PD/DLB, are found predominantly in neurons, whereas in MSA, aggregates are primarily found in oligodendroglia. It remains unclear whether the distinct pathological presentations of PD/DLB and MSA are manifestations of unique or shared pathological processes. Using the in-situ proximity labeling technique of biotinylation by antibody recognition (BAR), we compared aggregated αsyn-interactomes (BAR-PSER129) and total αsyn-interactomes (BAR-MJFR1) between MSA (n = 5) and PD/DLB (n = 10) in forebrain and midbrain structures. Comparison between MSA and PD/DLB-enriched proteins revealed 79 PD/DLB-differentially abundant proteins and only three MSA-differentially abundant proteins (CBR1, CRYAB, and GFAP). Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that vesicle/SNARE-associated pathways dominated PD/DLB interactions, whereas MSA was strongly enriched for metabolic/catabolic, iron, and cellular oxidant detoxification pathways. A subnetwork of cytosolic antioxidant enzymes called peroxiredoxins drove cellular detoxification pathway enrichment in MSA. A network of 26 proteins, including neuronal-specific proteins (e.g., SYNGR3) with HSPA8 at the core, was shared between MSA and DLB/PD. Extracellular exosome pathways were universally enriched regardless of the disease or BAR target protein. In conclusion, synucleinopathies have divergent and convergent αsyn-aggregate interactions, indicating unique and shared pathogenic mechanisms. MSA uniquely involves oxidant detoxification processes in glial cells, while vesicular processes in neurons dominate PD/DLB. Shared interactions, specifically SYNGR3, between MSA and PD/DLB suggest that neuronal axons are the origin of both diseases. In conclusion, we provide αsyn protein interaction maps for two distinct synucleinopathies.</p>","PeriodicalId":6914,"journal":{"name":"Acta Neuropathologica Communications","volume":"13 1","pages":"65"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11931798/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143690802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brian Meehan, Lata Adnani, Xianbing Zhu, Nadim Tawil, Delphine Garnier, Ichiro Nakano, Sidong Huang, Janusz Rak
{"title":"Curative timed NK cell-based immunochemotherapy aborts brain tumour recurrence driven by mesenchymal glioma stem cells.","authors":"Brian Meehan, Lata Adnani, Xianbing Zhu, Nadim Tawil, Delphine Garnier, Ichiro Nakano, Sidong Huang, Janusz Rak","doi":"10.1186/s40478-025-01984-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40478-025-01984-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>High grade gliomas (HGG) are incurable brain cancers, where inevitable disease recurrence is driven by tumour-initiating glioma stem cells (GSCs). GSCs survive and expand in the brain after surgery, radiation and temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy, amidst weak immune and natural killer (NK) cell surveillance. The present study was designed to understand how to enhance the contribution of innate immunity to post TMZ disease control. Strikingly, molecular subtypes of HGG impacted the repertoire of NK cell sensitivity markers across human HGG transcriptomes, and in a panel of GSCs with either proneural (PN-GSC) or mesenchymal (MES-GSC) phenotypes. Indeed, only MES-GSCs (but not PN-GSCs) were enriched for NK cell ligands and sensitive to NK-mediated cytotoxicity in vitro. While NK cells alone had no effect on HGG progression in vivo, the post-chemotherapy (TMZ) recurrence of MES-GSC-driven xenografts was aborted by timed intracranial injection of live or irradiated NK (NK92MI) cells, resulting in long term survival of animals. This curative effect declined when NK cell administration was delayed relative to TMZ exposure pointing to limits of the immune control over resurging residual tumour stem cell populations that survived chemotherapy. Overall, these results suggest that chemotherapy-dependent tumour depopulation may create a unique window of opportunity for NK-mediated intervention with curative effects restricted to a subset of HGGs driven by mesenchymal brain tumour initiating cells.</p>","PeriodicalId":6914,"journal":{"name":"Acta Neuropathologica Communications","volume":"13 1","pages":"64"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11927124/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143676779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tale L Bjerknes, Anna Rubiolo, Omnia Shadad, Ole-Bjørn Tysnes, Charalampos Tzoulis
{"title":"Chromogen-based double immunohistochemical detection of mitochondrial respiratory chain deficiencies in human brain tissue.","authors":"Tale L Bjerknes, Anna Rubiolo, Omnia Shadad, Ole-Bjørn Tysnes, Charalampos Tzoulis","doi":"10.1186/s40478-025-01980-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40478-025-01980-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Studies of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) have given important insights into the pathology of mitochondrial and neurodegenerative disorders. Immunohistochemical methods for staining MRC complexes are particularly valuable for assessing quantitative changes in situ, especially in complex tissues with cellular heterogeneity, such as the brain. However, traditional approaches have notable limitations. Chromogen-based staining, while preserving tissue morphology, has been restricted to a single antigen per section, preventing co-assessment of MRC complexes and mitochondrial mass on the same section. Immunofluorescence, which allows multiplex staining of multiple targets, partially addresses this limitation but compromises tissue morphology and can be highly variable in postmortem brain samples. To address these challenges, we have established a dual-antigen, chromogen-based immunohistochemical method that allows simultaneous assessment of each MRC complex and the mitochondrial marker voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) on the same section. As proof of concept, we apply this method on brain tissue from patients with neurological disease caused by mutations in the mitochondrial DNA polymerase gamma (POLG). Our findings demonstrate that this approach is both reliable and robust. Moreover, this method enables more precise identification of MRC deficiencies in neurons and significantly reduces the amount of tissue required for analysis, a critical advantage when working with scarce human brain samples.</p>","PeriodicalId":6914,"journal":{"name":"Acta Neuropathologica Communications","volume":"13 1","pages":"63"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11924823/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143668608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomas J Blackmon, Jeremy A MacMahon, Pedro N Bernardino, Ryan E Hogans, Mei-Yun Cheng, Joan Vu, Ruth Diana Lee, Naomi H Saito, Ana Cristina Grodzki, Donald A Bruun, Heike Wulff, Kevin D Woolard, Amy Brooks-Kayal, Danielle J Harvey, Fredric A Gorin, Pamela J Lein
{"title":"Spatiotemporal perturbations of the plasminogen activation system in a rat model of acute organophosphate intoxication.","authors":"Thomas J Blackmon, Jeremy A MacMahon, Pedro N Bernardino, Ryan E Hogans, Mei-Yun Cheng, Joan Vu, Ruth Diana Lee, Naomi H Saito, Ana Cristina Grodzki, Donald A Bruun, Heike Wulff, Kevin D Woolard, Amy Brooks-Kayal, Danielle J Harvey, Fredric A Gorin, Pamela J Lein","doi":"10.1186/s40478-025-01979-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40478-025-01979-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neuroinflammation is widely posited to be a key pathogenic mechanism linking acute organophosphate (OP)-induced status epilepticus (SE) to persistent brain injury and abnormal electrical activity that contribute to epilepsy and cognitive impairment. The plasminogen activation system (PAS) promotes neuroinflammation in diverse neurological diseases but whether it is activated following acute OP intoxication has yet to be evaluated. To address this data gap, we characterized the spatiotemporal expression patterns of multiple components of the PAS in a rat model of acute intoxication with the OP, diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP). Adult male Sprague Dawley rats administered DFP (4 mg/kg, sc), atropine sulfate (2 mg/kg, im) and 2-pralidoxime (25 mg/kg, im) went into SE that persisted for hours. One day after acute DFP-induced SE, plasmin activity and protein concentrations of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) in the plasma were increased, though not significantly. In contrast, acute DFP intoxication significantly increased brain levels of PAI-1, tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), and transcripts of TGF-β in a time- and region-dependent manner. In the cortex and hippocampus, quantification of PAI-1, tPA, and uPA by ELISA indicated significantly increased levels at 1 day post-exposure (DPE). PAI-1 and uPA returned to control values by 7 DPE while tPA protein remained elevated at 28 DPE. Immunohistochemistry detected elevated PAI-1 expression in the DFP brain up to 28 DPE. Co-localization of PAI-1 with biomarkers of neurons, microglia, and astrocytes demonstrated that PAI-1 localized predominantly to a subpopulation of astrocytes. Cytologically, PAI-1 localized to astrocytic end feet, but not adjacent neurovascular endothelium. Electron microscopy revealed neuronal metabolic stress and neurodegeneration with disruption of adjacent neurovascular units in the hippocampus post-DFP exposure. These data indicate that acute DFP intoxication altered PAS expression in the brain, with aberrant PAI-1 expression in a subset of reactive astrocyte populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":6914,"journal":{"name":"Acta Neuropathologica Communications","volume":"13 1","pages":"62"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11917081/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143655786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vladislav O Sviderskiy, Varshini Vasudevaraja, Luiz Gustavo Dubois, James Stafford, Elisa K Liu, Jonathan Serrano, Richard Possemato, Matija Snuderl
{"title":"Metabolic profiling of adult and pediatric gliomas reveals enriched glucose availability in pediatric gliomas and increased fatty acid oxidation in adult gliomas.","authors":"Vladislav O Sviderskiy, Varshini Vasudevaraja, Luiz Gustavo Dubois, James Stafford, Elisa K Liu, Jonathan Serrano, Richard Possemato, Matija Snuderl","doi":"10.1186/s40478-025-01961-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40478-025-01961-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors and a major source of mortality and morbidity in adults and children. Recent genomic studies have identified multiple molecular subtypes; however metabolic characterization of these tumors has thus far been limited. We performed metabolic profiling of 114 adult and pediatric primary gliomas and integrated metabolomic data with transcriptomics and DNA methylation classes. We identified that pediatric tumors have higher levels of glucose and reduced lactate compared to adult tumors regardless of underlying genetics or grade, suggesting differences in availability of glucose and/or utilization of glucose for downstream pathways. Differences in glucose utilization in pediatric gliomas may be facilitated through overexpression of SLC2A4, which encodes the insulin-stimulated glucose transporter GLUT4. Transcriptomic comparison of adult and pediatric tumors suggests that adult tumors may have limited access to glucose and experience more hypoxia, which is supported by enrichment of lactate, 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG), even in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) wild-type tumors, and 3-hydroxybutyrate, a ketone body that is produced by oxidation of fatty acids and ketogenic amino acids during periods of glucose scarcity. Our data support adult tumors relying more on fatty acid oxidation, as they have an abundance of acyl carnitines compared to pediatric tumors and have significant enrichment of transcripts needed for oxidative phosphorylation. Our findings suggest striking differences exist in the metabolism of pediatric and adult gliomas, which can provide new insight into metabolic vulnerabilities for therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":6914,"journal":{"name":"Acta Neuropathologica Communications","volume":"13 1","pages":"61"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11909955/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143633320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Die Zhang, Riya Thomas, Thanh Thai Lam, Ines Veselinovic, David R Grosshans
{"title":"Cranial radiation disrupts dopaminergic signaling and connectivity in the mammalian brain.","authors":"Die Zhang, Riya Thomas, Thanh Thai Lam, Ines Veselinovic, David R Grosshans","doi":"10.1186/s40478-025-01976-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40478-025-01976-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cognitive impairment is a common and challenging side effect of cranial radiation therapy for brain tumors, though its precise mechanisms remain unclear. The mesocortical dopaminergic pathway, known to play a key role in cognitive function, is implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders, yet its involvement in radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction is unexplored. Here, with using in vivo multi-electrode array recordings of both anesthetized and free-moving rats to monitor the firing activities of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and local field potentials in both the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and VTA, as well as the immunofluorescence assays and western blotting, we report that cranial irradiation transiently altered VTA dopamine neuron firing patterns without affecting overall firing rates and led to sustained reductions in both \"awake\" and total dopamine neuron density. Additionally, radiation exposure impaired D2 receptor function and disrupted connectivity between the PFC and VTA. These multifaceted disruptions in the mesocortical dopamine signaling may underlie the development of radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction. These findings pave the way for novel research to prevent or reverse radiation-induced injury, ultimately improving the quality of life for brain tumor survivors.</p>","PeriodicalId":6914,"journal":{"name":"Acta Neuropathologica Communications","volume":"13 1","pages":"59"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11905640/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143622936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}