2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
The study of neuropathogenesis in the developing brain disorders induced by viral infection
| Project/Area Number |
12470054
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Experimental pathology
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| Research Institution | Hamamatsu University School of Medicine |
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Principal Investigator |
TSUTSUI Yoshihiro Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (50073135)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
BABA Satoshi Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (10242760)
KOSUGI Isao Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Research Associate, 医学部, 助手 (10252173)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2000 – 2002
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| Keywords | viral encephalopathy / cytomegalovirus / transgenic mice / brain slice culture / brain disorder / neural progenitor cells / neural stem cells |
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| Research Abstract |
We investigated the effects of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection on the developing mouse brain in terms of susceptible cells and age-related resistance. Mouse brain slices at different development stages were infected with recombinant MCMV in which the lacZ gene was inserted into a late gene. The ventricular zone (VZ) and cortical marginal region were the sites most susceptible to MCMV infection, and the susceptibility declined with the development of the brain. Immunohistochemical staining showed that the virus-susceptible cells were positive for GFAP, nestin and Musashi-1, suggesting the susceptible cells in the VZ are glial progenitor cells. These results suggest that the amount of immature glial cells in the developing brain may be closely associated with the susceptibility of the brain to CMV infection in humans.
We examined the reactivation of latent murine CMV (MCMV) infection in the mouse brain by their transfer to brain slice culture. We infected neonatal and young adult mice intracerebrally with recombinant MCMV. The brains were removed 6 months after infection, and used to prepare brain slices that were then cultured for up to 4 weeks. X-Gal-positive cells were observed in marginal regions of the brains or immature neural cells in the ventricular walls. Immunohistochemical staining showed that the X-Gal-positive reactivated cells were neural stem/progenitor cells. These results suggest that brain disorders may occur long after infection by reactivation of latent infection in the immature neural cells.
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