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| Umeda, Kousuke; Tanaka, Sachi; Ihara, Fumiaki; Yamagishi, Junya; Suzuki, Yutaka; Nishikawa, Yoshifumi. |
| Background: Toxoplasma gondii is capable of persisting in the brain, although it is efficiently eliminated by cellular immune responses in most other sites. While Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) reportedly plays important roles in protective immunity against the parasite, the relationship between neurological disorders induced by T. gondii infection and TLR2 function in the brain remains controversial with many unknowns. In this study, primary cultured astrocytes, microglia, neurons, and peritoneal macrophages obtained from wild-type and TLR2-deficient mice were exposed to T. gondii tachyzoites. To characterize TLR2-dependent functional pathways activated in response to T. gondii infection, gene expression of different cell types was profiled by RNA... |
| Ano: 2017 |
URL: http://ir.obihiro.ac.jp/dspace/handle/10322/4581 |
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| Ihara, Fumiaki; Nishimura, Maki; Muroi, Yoshikage; Furuoka, Hidefumi; Yokoyama, Naoaki; Nishikawa, Yoshifumi. |
| Neospora caninum is an obligate intracellular parasite that causes neurological disorders in dogs and cattle. The majority of host animals are asymptomatic at the chronic stage of infection. However, it remains unclear whether cerebral function is normal in asymptomatic animals. In this study, mice were infected with N. caninum (strain Nc-1) and their brains were examined to understand changes in cerebral function at the chronic stage of infection. Mice infected with N. caninum showed impaired locomotor activity, but no differences in clinical symptoms were observed. In the brains of infected mice, parasites were distributed throughout the brain and histological lesions were observed everywhere except for the cerebellum. Expression levels of... |
| Ano: 2016 |
URL: http://ir.obihiro.ac.jp/dspace/handle/10322/4460 |
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| Ihara, Fumiaki; Nishimura, Maki; Muroi, Yoshikage; Mahmoud, Motamed Elsayed; Yokoyama, Naoaki; Nagamune, Kisaburo; Nishikawa, Yoshifumi. |
| Chronic infection with Toxoplasma gondii becomes established in tissues of the central nervous system, where parasites may directly or indirectly modulate neuronal function. Epidemiological studies have revealed that chronic infection in humans is a risk factor for developing mental diseases. However, the mechanisms underlying parasite-induced neuronal dysfunction in the brain remain unclear. Here, we examined memory associated with conditioned fear in mice and found that T. gondii infection impairs consolidation of conditioned fear memory. To examine the brain pathology induced by T. gondii infection, we analyzed the parasite load and histopathological changes. T. gondii infects all brain areas, yet the cortex exhibits more severe tissue damage than other... |
| Ano: 2016 |
URL: http://ir.obihiro.ac.jp/dspace/handle/10322/4480 |
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