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Endogenous Zebrafish Neural Cre Drivers Generated by CRISPR/Cas9 Short Homology Directed Targeted Integration

Almeida et al., Scientific Reports. 2021.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33462297/

Almeida et al. previously reported precision targeted integration of reporter DNA in zebrafish using CRISPR/Cas9. Here, they isolated zebrafish Cre recombinase drivers. A 2A-Cre recombinase transgene with 48 bp homology arms was targeted into proneural genes ascl1b, olig2 and neurod1. They observed high rates of germline transmission from 10 to 100% (10% olig2; 20% neurod1; 100% ascl1b). The lines Tg(ascl1b-2A-Cre)is75, Tg(olig2-2A-Cre)is76, and Tg(neurod1-2A-Cre)is77 expressed functional Cre recombinase in the cell populations. Results demonstrate Cre recombinase expression is driven by the native promoter and regulatory elements of targeted genes. This approach is a cost-effective method to generate cell type specific zebrafish Cre and CreERT2 drivers. Supported by ORIP (R24OD020166).

Myelin‐Specific T Cells in Animals With Japanese Macaque Encephalomyelitis

Govindan et al., Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. 2021.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acn3.51303

Investigators characterized the CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in demyelinating Japanese macaque encephalomyelitis (JME) lesions in age‐ and sex‐matched macaques and discovered differences in expression of myelin antigen sequences in the T cell. Mapping myelin epitopes revealed a heterogeneity in T cell responses among JME animals, which are associated with a proinflammatory pathogenic role in multiple sclerosis (MS). These findings draw further parallels between JME and MS and support the hypothesis that JME and possibly MS are triggered by mechanisms involving myelin damage and not myelin epitope mimicry. Supported by ORIP (P51OD011092) and NINDS.

Infant Isoflurane Exposure Affects Social Behaviours, but Does Not Impair Specific Cognitive Domains in Juvenile Non-Human Primates

Neudecker et al., British Journal of Anaesthesia. 2020.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007091220308503

Researchers investigated the impact of extended (5 hours) isoflurane anesthetic exposure (1-3 exposures) of rhesus macaque (RM) infants of both sexes on cognitive testing and behavioral assessments. Cognitive function did not differ among groups; however, compared to controls, RMs exposed three times during infancy exhibited less close social behavior. One isoflurane exposure resulted in increased anxiety-related behaviors and more inhibition towards novel objects. These findings are consistent with behavioral alterations observed in social settings of human clinical studies. Supported by ORIP (P51OD011092).

Lipocalin-2 Is an Anorexigenic Signal in Primates

Petropoulou et al., eLife. 2020.

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.58949

The hormone lipocalin-2 (LCN2) suppresses food intake in mice. Researchers demonstrated that LCN2 increases after a meal and reduces hunger in people with normal weight or overweight, but not in obese individuals. The researchers also showed that LCN2 crosses the blood-brain barrier and binds to the hypothalamus in vervet monkeys. LCN2 was found to bind to the hypothalamus in human, baboon, and rhesus macaque brain sections. When injected into vervets, LCN2 suppressed food intake and lowered body weight without toxic effects in short-term experiments. These findings lay the groundwork to investigate whether LCN2 might be a useful treatment for obesity. Supported by ORIP (P40OD010965), NCATS, NIDDK, NIA, and NHLBI.