Topic: Poly(I:C)

Maternal infections and prenatal inflammation are recognized risk factors for neurodevelopmental diseases. Astrocytes are glial cells essential for synapse formation and refinement, but they also may react to inflammatory environment affecting neuronal network homeostasis. However, how an inflammatory episode occurring during fetal development influences astrocyte generation and phenotype remains largely unknown.In the brain, the innate immune molecule Pentraxin3 (PTX3) is produced by astrocytes and promotes the maturation of excitatory synapses. Its expression is induced by inflammatory stimu

Viral infection-induced inflammation during pregnancy has been associated to malformations of the fetal brain. Microglia, the brain-resident macrophages, respond to inflammatory signals and at the same time are actively involved in various aspects of brain development. We know surprisingly little about how microglia balance the different demands during human embryonic development and which functional consequences an inflammatory environment has on neuronal organization and connectivity. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) provide a unique opportunity to investigate this relationship.H

Introduction: Maternal immune activation (mIA) is a risk factor for schizophrenia. It is hypothesised that mIA-induced fetal neuroinflammation alters neurodevelopment and predisposes offspring to neuropathology. Using our validated mIA model, exposing pregnant rats to the viral mimetic poly(I:C), we have shown that adult offspring exhibit cognitive deficits comparable to those in schizophrenia, and have genomic methylation changes enriched for oligodendrocyte genes.Aims: Examine the relationship between mIA and altered oligodendrocyte development and how these correspond to the onset of adult

Gestational infection is considered as contributing factor for the development of psychopathologies later in life. The Maternal Immune Activation (MIA) mouse model, based on the systemic administration of the double-stranded RNA analogue Poly(I:C), is used to study the effects of gestational infection on offspring brain function and behavior.Previously, we demonstrated that stimulating pregnant mice with Poly(I:C) not only affects the developing brain in-utero, but also impacts on the structural and functional integrity of the maternal brain to disrupt maternal care behavior postpartum. Howeve