Developmental Dopaminergic Signaling Modulates Neural Circuit Formation and Contributes to Autism Spectrum Disorder-Related Phenotypes.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder with a complex etiology. Recent evidence suggests that dopamine plays a crucial role in neural development. However, whether and how disrupted dopaminergic signaling during development contributes to ASD remains unknown. In this study, human brain RNA sequencing transcriptome analysis revealed a significant correlation between changes in dopaminergic signaling pathways and neural developmental signaling in ASD patients. In the zebrafish model, disrupted developmental dopaminergic signaling led to neural circuit abnormalities and behavior reminiscent of autism. Dopaminergic signaling may impact neuronal specification by potentially modulating integrins. These findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying the link between disrupted developmental dopamine signaling and ASD, and they point to the possibility of targeting dopaminergic signaling in early development for ASD treatment.

Switching from Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence in Single Crystals for Low-Threshold Laser to Room-temperature Phosphorescence in Amorphous-Film for Highly Efficient OLEDs.

Metal-organic phosphorescent complexes containing Ir or Pt are work horse in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology, which can harvest both singlet and triplet excitons in electroluminescence (EL) owing to strong heavy-atom effect. Recently, organic room-temperature phosphorescence (ORTP) have achieved high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) in rigid crystalline state, which, however, is unsuitable for OLED fabrication, therefore leading to an EL efficiency far low behind those of metal-organic phosphorescent complexes. Here, we reported a luminescence mechanism switch from thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) in single crystal microwires to ORTP in amorphous thin-films, based on a tert-butylcarbazole difluoroboron ß-diketonate derivative of DtCzBF2. Tightly packed and well-faceted single-crystal microwires exhibit aggregation induced emission (AIE), enabling TADF microlasers at 473 nm with an optical gain coefficient as high as 852 cm-1 . In contrast, loosely packed dimers of DtCzBF2 formed in guest-host amorphous thin-films decrease the oscillator strength of fluorescence transition but stabilize triplets for ORTP with a PLQY up to 61 %, leading to solution-processed OLEDs with EQE approaching 20 %. This study opens possibilities of low-cost ORTP emitters for high performance OLEDs and future low-threshold electrically injected organic semiconductor lasers (OSLs).

Role of inflammation in neurological damage and regeneration following spinal cord injury and its therapeutic implications.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is an incurable trauma that frequently results in partial or complete loss of motor and sensory function. Massive neurons are damaged after the initial mechanical insult. Secondary injuries, which are triggered by immunological and inflammatory responses, also result in neuronal loss and axon retraction. This results in defects in the neural circuit and a deficiency in the processing of information. Although inflammatory responses are necessary for spinal cord recovery, conflicting evidence of their contributions to specific biological processes have made it difficult to define the specific role of inflammation in SCI. This review summarizes our understanding of the complex role of inflammation in neural circuit events following SCI, such as cell death, axon regeneration and neural remodeling. We also review the drugs that regulate immune responses and inflammation in the treatment of SCI and discuss the roles of these drugs in the modulation of neural circuits. Finally, we provide evidence about the critical role of inflammation in facilitating spinal cord neural circuit regeneration in zebrafish, an animal model with robust regenerative capacity, to provide insights into the regeneration of the mammalian central nervous system.

Heterogeneity and Molecular Markers for CNS Glial Cells Revealed by Single-Cell Transcriptomics.

Glial cells, including astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and microglia, are the major components in the central nervous system (CNS). Studies have revealed the heterogeneity of each glial cell type and that they each may play distinct roles in physiological processes and/or neurological diseases. Single-cell sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology developed in recent years has extended our understanding of glial cell heterogeneity from the perspective of transcriptome profiling. This review summarizes the marker genes of major glial cells in the CNS and reveals their heterogeneity in different species, CNS regions, developmental stages, and pathological states (Alzheimer's disease and spinal cord injury), expanding our knowledge of glial cell heterogeneity on both molecular and functional levels.

[Impacts of electroacupuncture on left hippocampus NAA/Cr for patients of Uygur and Han nationality with mild cognitive impairment].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA) on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) for patients of Uygur and Han nationality and explore the national diversity among the patients with MCI. METHODS: Twenty-five cases were divided into Han nationality group (15 cases) and Uygur nationality group (10 cases) according to patient's nationality. In either group, EA was applied to Baihui (GV 20), Fengchi (GB 20), Xuanzhong (GB 39), Fuliu (KI 7), Sanyinjiao (SP 6) and Taixi (KI 3), once per day, 15 treatments made one session and there were 5 days at the interval among the sessions. Totally, 3 sessions of treatment were required. The proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was used to observe the changes in the ratio of N-acetylaspartate and creatine (NAA/Cr) on the left hippocampus for the patients in two groups before and after treatment as well as the changes in the results of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) separately. RESULTS: NAA/Cr in Uygur nationality group was higher than that in Han nationality group before treatment (1.659 +/- 0.418 vs 1.137 +/- 0.190, P < 0.05). After treatment, MMSE and MoCA scores all increased apparently as compared with those before treatment in two groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and NAA/Cr on the left hippocampus in either group was up-regulated as compared with that before treatment (both P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: EA can improve the overall cognitive function for the patients with MCI. There is the national diversity in the partial brain metabolite level between Uygur patients and Han patients with MCI.