Date: Friday, 21 June 2019

Venue: Seminar Room 7, LG1/F
Laboratory Block, Faculty of Medicine Building
21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong

Time: 5:00 p.m.

Title: Melatonin rescues visual and behavioral deficits in rd10 mouse model of retinal degeneration
Speaker: Mr. ROY Jaydeep (PhD candidate)

Summary:
Retinal degeneration 10 (rd10) is a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa with rapid retinal photoreceptors degeneration. Although recent study has demonstrated the delay of photoreceptors degeneration by melatonin treatment in rd10 mice, the mechanisms by which melatonin induced neuroprotection remained largely obscure. In this study, we found that melatonin treatment rescued the rd10 behavioral deficits of anxiety, social and visual memory impairment through neuroplasticity-dependent and -independent mechanisms. These results were further supported by morphological and electrophysiological studies on the neuroprotection effects of melatonin in the retina, visual cortical neurons and hippocampus. Taken together, our findings suggest that melatonin could be a potential therapeutic drug in rescuing retinal degeneration.

Title: From systemic inflammation to neuroinflammation: the role of cytokines-mediated macrophages migration
Speaker: Mr. CHEN Xiangke (PhD candidate)

Summary:
Microglia, central nervous system (CNS)-resident macrophages, serve vital roles in CNS homeostasis, whereas their disturbances contribute to various neurodegenerative diseases. A systemic inflammation-induced subsequent neuroinflammation characterized by elevated cytokines, such as IL-1β and IL-6, participates in the neurodegenerative diseases. However, macrophages responses to the neuroinflammation remain unclear, which may serve as the underlying mechanism. In this study, we applied zebrafish (Danio rerio) as model to study the macrophages/ microglia migration to the brain in responses to systemic inflammation-induced neuroinflammation. Transgenic zebrafish lines labelled with fluorescent proteins were utilized to monitor macrophages/ microglia in zebrafish, while transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) was applied to knock-out cytokines (IL-1β and IL-6) or their receptors. We found macrophage invasion to the brain under systemic inflammation-induced neuroinflammation in zebrafish, which was mediated by the IL-1β and IL-6. The finding may contribute to the understanding the roles of systemic inflammation-induced neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases.

ALL ARE WELCOME