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Mark Tuszynski and his colleagues show that brain-derived neurotrophic factor is neuroprotective and can improve cognition in rodent and primate models of Alzheimer's disease. Profound neuronal dysfunction in the entorhinal cortex contributes to early loss of short-term memory in Alzheimer's disease 1 , 2 , 3 . Here we show broad neuroprotective effects of entorhinal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) administration in several animal models of Alzheimer's disease, with extension of therapeutic benefits into the degenerating hippocampus. In amyloid-transgenic mice, BDNF gene delivery, when administered after disease onset, reverses synapse loss, partially normalizes aberrant gene expression, improves cell signaling and restores learning and memory. These outcomes occur independently of effects on amyloid plaque load. In aged rats, BDNF infusion reverses cognitive decline, improves age-related perturbations in gene expression and restores cell signaling. In adult rats and primates, BDNF prevents lesion-induced death of entorhinal cortical neurons. In aged primates, BDNF reverses neuronal atrophy and ameliorates age-related cognitive impairment. Collectively, these findings indicate that BDNF exerts substantial protective effects on crucial neuronal circuitry involved in Alzheimer's disease, acting through amyloid-independent mechanisms. BDNF therapeutic delivery merits exploration as a potential therapy for Alzheimer's disease.

We determined whether rehabilitation after cortical injury also drives dynamic dendritic and spine changes in functionally distinct subsets of neurons, resulting in functional recovery. Moreover, given known requirements for cholinergic systems in mediating complex forms of cortical plasticity, including skilled motor learning, we hypothesized that cholinergic systems are essential mediators of neuronal structural and functional plasticity associated with motor rehabilitation. Adult rats learned a skilled forelimb grasping task and then, underwent destructive lesions of the caudal forelimb region of the motor cortex, resulting in nearly complete loss of grasping ability. Subsequent intensive rehabilitation significantly enhanced both dendritic architecture and spine number in the adjoining rostral forelimb area compared with that in the lesioned animals that were not rehabilitated. Cholinergic ablation markedly attenuated rehabilitation-induced recovery in both neuronal structure and motor function. Thus, rehabilitation focused on an affected limb robustly drives structural compensation in perilesion cortex, enabling functional recovery.

The special AT-rich sequence binding protein 2 (SATB2) is a sensitive and specific diagnostic marker for colorectal adenocarcinoma and reduced expression of SATB2 is associated with a poor prognosis. Colitis-associated colorectal adenocarcinoma often shows distinct morphologic and molecular phenotypes compared to sporadic cases. However, the SATB2 expression profile in colitis-associated carcinoma has not been defined. We performed immunohistochemistry for SATB2 as well as CDX2, MUC5AC, MUC6 and mismatch repair proteins on 60 consecutive colitis-associated carcinomas from 58 inflammatory bowel disease patients and compared the expression profile to a control group of 32 sporadic colorectal carcinomas. Only 26 (43%) colitis-associated carcinomas expressed SATB2, compared to 29 (91%) sporadic colorectal carcinomas ( p  < 0.0001). MUC5AC expression was more frequently observed in colitis-associated carcinomas than sporadic colorectal caracinomas (52% and 25% respectively; p  = 0.013). Eight (13%) cases of colitis-associated carcinoma showed loss of CDX2 expression, which was retained in all of the sporadic controls ( p  = 0.047). In colitis-associated carcinoma, 50% of SATB2 negative cases had lymph node metastasis compared to only 15% of SATB2 positive cases ( p  = 0.007). Loss of SATB2 was particularly frequent in mucinous-type tumors, occurring in 83% of these cases. There was no significant association between SATB2 expression and mismatch repair protein status. These data show that the immunoprofile of colitis-associated carcinoma is different than that seen in sporadic cases. In particular, SATB2 is significantly less sensitive in colitis-associated carcinoma and it should be interpreted cautiously as a marker of colorectal origin in colitis patients. The association between loss of SATB2 and lymph node metastasis suggests that it may have similar prognostic value in the setting of inflammatory bowel disease as in sporadic cases.

To investigate functional mechanisms underlying cortical motor plasticity in the intact and injured brain, we used \"behaviorally relevant,\" long-duration intracortical microstimulation. We now report the existence of complex, multijoint movements revealed with a 500-msec duration intracortical stimulation in rat motor cortex. A consistent topographic distribution of these complex motor patterns is present across the motor cortex in naive rats. We further document the plasticity of these complex movement patterns after focal cortical injury, with a significant expansion of specific complex movement representations in response to rehabilitative training after injury. Notably, the degree of functional recovery attained after cortical injury and rehabilitation correlates significantly with a specific feature of map reorganization, the ability to reexpress movement patterns disrupted by the initial injury. This evidence suggests the existence of complex movement representations in the rat motor cortex that exhibit plasticity after injury and rehabilitation, serving as a relevant predictor of functional recovery.

Cortical networks undergo adaptations during learning, including increases in dendritic complexity and spines. We hypothesized that structural elaborations during learning are restricted to discrete subsets of cells preferentially activated by, and relevant to, novel experience. Accordingly, we examined corticospinal motor neurons segregated on the basis of their distinct descending projection patterns, and their contribution to specific aspects of motor control during a forelimb skilled grasping task in adult rats. Learning-mediated structural adaptations, including extensive expansions of spine density and dendritic complexity, were restricted solely to neurons associated with control of distal forelimb musculature required for skilled grasping; neurons associated with control of proximal musculature were unchanged by the experience. We further found that distal forelimb-projecting and proximal forelimb-projecting neurons are intermingled within motor cortex, and that this distribution does not change as a function of skill acquisition. These findings indicate that representations of novel experience in the adult motor cortex are associated with selective structural expansion in networks of functionally related, active neurons that are distributed across a single cortical domain. These results identify a distinct parcellation of cortical resources in support of learning.

Background Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5 (LGR5), a component of the Wnt receptor complex, is thought to lineage label gastric and intestinal stem cells. LGR5 expression is increased in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) compared to normal tissue. Colitis associated colorectal adenocarcinoma (CAC) often shows distinct morphologic and molecular phenotypes compared to sporadic cases. However, the expression profile of LGR5, and by extension the potential role of an intestinal stem cell phenotype, has not been well described in a series of human CAC. Method RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) for LGR5 expression on 30 CACs (12 cases with conventional morphology and 18 cases with non-conventional type morphology) from 29 inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients was performed and compared the expression profile to a control group of 10 sporadic CRCs. Immunohistochemistry for beta-catenin and SATB2 was performed on the 30 CACs. Result LGR5 was positive in 30% (9/30) of CAC cases and 90% (9/10) of sporadic CRCs ( p  = 0.002). A large majority (89%) of LGR5 positive CACs were of the conventional histologic type, and conventional type CAC showed a significantly higher LGR5 score (median 3.0; interquartile range 1.75–3.25) than non-conventional type CAC (median 1.5; interquartile range 1.00–2.00) ( p  = 0.034). CAC with conventional morphology did have a lower level of LGR5 expression than sporadic CRC. Sporadic CRCs showed a significantly higher LGR5 level score than non-conventional type CACs ( p  < 0.001). Nuclear translocation of beta-catenin was strongly associated with LGR5 expression ( p  = 0.003), however no significant association was identified between SATB2 expression and LGR5 expression status in CACs. Conclusion These findings suggest that the wider spectrum of tumor morphology in CAC may be associated with absence of a LGR5 -expressing intestinal stem cell phenotype.

Gastric adenocarcinoma, commonly known as stomach cancer, has a predilection for metastasis to the peritoneum, which portends limited survival. The peritoneal metastatic cascade remains poorly understood, and existing models fail to recapitulate key elements of the interaction between cancer cells and the peritoneal layer. To explore the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of peritoneal metastasis, we developed an ex vivo human peritoneal explant model. Fresh peritoneal tissue samples were suspended, mesothelial layer down but without direct contact, above a monolayer of red-fluorescent dye stained AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma cells for 24 h, then washed thoroughly. Implantation of AGS cells within the explanted peritoneum and invasion beyond the mesothelial layer were examined serially using real-time confocal fluorescence microscopy. Histoarchitecture of the explanted peritoneum was preserved over 5 days ex vivo. Both implantation and invasion were suppressed by restoration of functional E-cadherin through stable transfection of AGS cells, demonstrating sensitivity of the model to molecular manipulation. Thus, our ex vivo human peritoneal explant model permits meaningful investigation of the pathways and mechanism that contribute to peritoneal metastasis. The model will facilitate screening of new therapies that target peritoneal dissemination of gastric, ovarian and colorectal cancer.

Background Dystrophin-deficient zebrafish larvae are a small, genetically tractable vertebrate model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy that is well suited for early-stage therapeutic development. However, current approaches for evaluating their mobility, a physiologically relevant therapeutic outcome, yield data of low resolution and high variability that provides minimal insight into potential mechanisms responsible for their abnormal locomotion. Methods To address these issues, we used high speed videography and deep learning-based markerless motion capture to quantify escape response (ER) swimming kinematics of two dystrophic zebrafish strains ( sapje and sapje-like ). Each ER was partitioned into an initiating C-start, a subsequent power stroke, and a final burst of undulatory swimming activity. Results Markerless motion capture provided repeatable, high precision estimates of swimming kinematics. Random forest and support vector machine prediction models identified overall ER distance and peak speed, the instantaneous speed conferred by the power stroke, and the average speed and distance covered during burst swimming as the most predictive biomarkers for differentiating dystrophic from wild-type larvae. For each of these predictors, mutant and wild-type larvae differed markedly with effect sizes ranging from 2.4 to 3.7 standard deviations. To identify mechanisms underlying these performance deficits, we evaluated the amplitude and frequency of propulsive tail movements. There was little evidence that tail stroke amplitude was affected by the absence of dystrophin. Instead, temporal aspects of tail kinematics, including tail maximal angular velocity during the C-start and power stroke and tail stroke frequency during burst swimming, were slowed in mutants. In fact, tail kinematics were as effective as direct, non-survival in vitro assessments of tail muscle contractility in differentiating mutant from wild-type larvae. Conclusions ER kinematics can be used as precise and physiologically relevant biomarkers of the dystrophic phenotype, may serve as non-lethal proxies for skeletal muscle dysfunction, and reveal new insights into why mobility is impaired in the absence of dystrophin. The approach outlined here opens new possibilities for the design and interpretation of studies using zebrafish to model movement disorders.

Cholinergic neuron loss is a cardinal feature of Alzheimer disease. Nerve growth factor (NGF) stimulates cholinergic function, improves memory and prevents cholinergic degeneration in animal models of injury, amyloid overexpression and aging. We performed a phase 1 trial of ex vivo NGF gene delivery in eight individuals with mild Alzheimer disease, implanting autologous fibroblasts genetically modified to express human NGF into the forebrain. After mean follow-up of 22 months in six subjects, no long-term adverse effects of NGF occurred. Evaluation of the Mini-Mental Status Examination and Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subcomponent suggested improvement in the rate of cognitive decline. Serial PET scans showed significant ( P < 0.05) increases in cortical 18-fluorodeoxyglucose after treatment. Brain autopsy from one subject suggested robust growth responses to NGF. Additional clinical trials of NGF for Alzheimer disease are warranted.