Endogenous transforming growth factor β1 suppresses inflammation and promotes survival in adult CNS

Transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) is a pleiotropic cytokine with potent neurotrophic and immunosuppressive properties that is upregulated after injury, but also expressed in the normal nervous system. In the current study, we examined the regulation of TGFβ1 and the effects of TGFβ1 deletion on cellular response in the uninjured adult brain and in the injured and regenerating facial motor nucleus. To avoid lethal autoimmune inflammation within 3 weeks after birth in TGFβ1-deficient mice, this study was performed on a T- and B-cell-deficient RAG2-/- background. Compared with wild-type siblings, homozygous deletion of TGFβ1 resulted in an extensive inflammatory response in otherwise uninjured brain parenchyma. Astrocytes increased in GFAP and CD44 immunoreactivity; microglia showed proliferative activity, expression of phagocytosis-associated markers [αXβ2, B7.2, and MHC1 (major histocompatibility complex type 1)], and reduced branching. Ultrastructural analysis revealed focal blockade of axonal transport, perinodal damming of axonal organelles, focal demyelination, and myelin debris in granule-rich, phagocytic microglia. After facial axotomy, absence of TGFβ1 led to a fourfold increase in neuronal cell death (52 vs 13%), decreased central axonal sprouting, and significant delay in functional recovery. It also interfered with the microglial response, resulting in a diminished expression of early activation markers [ICAM1 (intercellular adhesion molecule 1), α6β1, and αMβ2] and reduced proliferation. In line with axonal and glial findings in the otherwise uninjured CNS, absence of endogenous TGFβ1 also caused an ∼10% reduction in the number of normal motoneurons, pointing to an ongoing and potent trophic role of this anti-inflammatory cytokine in the normal as well as in the injured brain. Copyright © 2007 Society for Neuroscience

Competitive Benchmarking: An IS Research Approach to Address Wicked Problems with Big Data and Analytics

Wicked problems like sustainable energy and financial market stability are societal challenges that arise from complex socio-technical systems in which numerous social, economic, political, and technical factors interact. Understanding and mitigating them requires research methods that scale beyond the traditional areas of inquiry of Information Systems (IS) “individuals, organizations, and markets” and that deliver solutions in addition to insights. We describe an approach to address these challenges through Competitive Benchmarking (CB), a novel research method that helps interdisciplinary research communities to tackle complex challenges of societal scale by using different types of data from a variety of sources such as usage data from customers, production patterns from producers, public policy and regulatory constraints, etc. for a given instantiation. Further, the CB platform generates data that can be used to improve operational strategies and judge the effectiveness of regulatory regimes and policies. We describe our experience applying CB to the sustainable energy challenge in the Power Trading Agent Competition (Power TAC) in which more than a dozen research groups from around the world jointly devise, benchmark, and improve IS-based solutions

We like to move it - patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders are impaired in estimating their physical fitness levels and benefit from individualized exercise

Background: People with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) engage less in physical activity than healthy individuals. The impact of subjectively assessed physical fitness levels on motivation for sports engagement and its relation to objective fitness parameters in SSD is unclear. Methods: 25 patients with SSD (P-SSD) and 24 healthy controls (H-CON) participated in a randomized controlled study. Individual anaerobic thresholds (AT) were determined by an incremental exercise test and on separate days, aerobic exercise (cycling at 80% of workload at AT) and non-exercise control (sitting on an ergometer without cycling) sessions were performed. Demographic, clinical and objective physical fitness data (i.e., weekly physical activity, workload at AT, heart rate) were collected. Subjective physical fitness parameters were assessed before and after exercise and control sessions. Results: Weekly physical activity in P-SSD was lower than in H-CON (p

Endogenous transforming growth factor ß1 suppresses inflammation and promotes survival in adult CNS.

Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF beta 1) is a pleiotropic cytokine with potent neurotrophic and immunosuppressive properties that is upregulated after injury, but also expressed in the normal nervous system. In the current study, we examined the regulation of TGF beta 1 and the effects of TGF beta 1 deletion on cellular response in the uninjured adult brain and in the injured and regenerating facial motor nucleus. To avoid lethal autoimmune inflammation within 3 weeks after birth in TGF beta 1-deficient mice, this study was performed on a T- and B-cell-deficient RAG2-/- background. Compared with wild-type siblings, homozygous deletion of TGF beta 1 resulted in an extensive inflammatory response in otherwise uninjured brain parenchyma. Astrocytes increased in GFAP and CD44 immunoreactivity; microglia showed proliferative activity, expression of phagocytosis-associated markers [alpha X beta 2, B7.2,and MHC1 (major histocompatibility complex type 1)], and reduced branching. Ultrastructural analysis revealed focal blockade of axonal transport, perinodal damming of axonal organelles, focal demyelination, and myelin debris in granule-rich, phagocytic microglia. After facial axotomy, absence of TGF beta 1 led to a fourfold increase in neuronal cell death (52 vs 13%), decreased central axonal sprouting, and significant delay in functional recovery. It also interfered with the microglial response, resulting in a diminished expression of early activation markers [ICAM1 ( intercellular adhesion molecule 1), alpha 6 beta 1, and alpha M beta 2] and reduced proliferation. In line with axonal and glial findings in the otherwise uninjured CNS, absence of endogenous TGF beta 1 also caused an similar to 10% reduction in the number of normal motoneurons, pointing to an ongoing and potent trophic role of this anti-inflammatory cytokine in the normal as well as in the injured brain