Lorise Gahring, PhD - Professor and GRECC Investigator
Whether considering Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy or just normal aging, inflammation is part of the disease pathogenesis. My lab studies several aspects of neuroinflammation that involve how inflammatory cytokines interact with neurotransmitter receptors. During the course of a peripheral inflammatory event, cytokines are produced locally and upon release into the blood stream stimulate cells within the central nervous system (CNS) to produce more cytokines. In most cases, inflammatory cytokines are produced transiently in the brain and have a positive effect on neuronal survival. Interleukin-1 ( a and b ), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF a ) can protect neurons against subsequent toxic challenges (including b -amyloid peptide, paraquat, and N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (NMDA)). Chronic stimulation of these inflammatory cytokines, however, can have deleterious effects on neuronal viability. Overexpression of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF is detected in neurological diseases. My laboratory investigates the effects of inflammatory cytokines on neurons through measuring intracellular events induced by these proteins.
