Research Seminar: "In vivo imaging revealed early microglial responses and coagulation activity in neuroinflammatory disease" Dr. Dr. Davlos Dimitrios,
Staff Research Scientist, Gladstone Institutes

Microglia are the brain's resident immune cells, but their importance for normal brain function was underappreciated for many decades. By imaging their behavior in the intact living brain using two-photon microscopy, we demonstrated for the first time that they constantly survey the physiological brain by extending and retracting their fine processes. We also showed that they rapidly respond to focal brain injury, and identified purinergic signaling as a key pathway mediating these unexpectedly rapid responses. In recent years we studied how microglia become activated during the course of neuroinflammatory disease, and found a molecular link between blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption and new lesion formation in an animal model for multiple sclerosis. Ongoing research is focused at characterizing the activation profile of microglia and macrophages after ischemic injury in vivo. Future research interests include studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms through which microglia interact with the BBB and potentially regulate its disruption and its restoration at different stages of neurological disease, as well as deciphering the effects of microglial activation on neuronal plasticity and function in physiology and in disease. The seminar with also highlight the technologies and methods that make in vivo imaging studies of ongoing biological processes in the brain and spinal cord of mice possible.

Location:	1425 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Bldg [map]
Price:	free
Sponsor:	Dept. of Physiology
Contact:	Chris Shaltry shaltryc@cns.msu.edu 884-5034
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