The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.”

The meninges, which envelop and protect the brain, host a large number of resident macrophages that play a crucial role in regulating homeostasis and neuroinflammation. Intracellular Ca2+ signaling me...

Glioblastoma—the deadliest form of brain cancer—alters the calvarial bone and its marrow components, pushing it toward producing more myeloid cells and contributing to an immunosuppressive environment.

Recent research has revealed a remarkable role for immunosurveillance in healthy and diseased brains, dispelling the notion that this organ is a passive immune-privileged site[1][1]–[3][2]. Better und...

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is seeking a Laboratory/Technical Assistant for the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience within the School of Arts and Sciences. Our mission is to un...

Apply for a PhD: MRC CoRE in Exposome Immunology at The University of Manchester

Recent research has revealed a remarkable role for immunosurveillance in healthy and diseased brains, dispelling the notion that this organ is a passive immune-privileged site (1–3). Better understand...

SignificanceBehavior regulates dural and cerebral vessels, with spontaneous locomotion inducing dural vessel constriction and increasing stimulus-evoked cerebral hemodynamic responses. It is vital to investigate the function of different vascular network components, surrounding and within the brain, to better understand the role of the neurovascular unit in health and neurodegeneration.AimWe characterized locomotion-induced hemodynamic responses across vascular compartments of the whisker barrel cortex: artery, vein, parenchyma, draining, and meningeal vein.ApproachUsing 2D-OIS, hemodynamic responses during locomotion were recorded in 9- to 12-month-old awake mice: wild-type, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), atherosclerosis, or mixed (atherosclerosis/AD) models. Within the somatosensory cortex, responses were taken from pial vessels inside the whisker barrel region [(WBR): “whisker artery” and “whisker vein”], a large vein from the sagittal sinus adjacent to the WBR (draining vein), and meningeal vessels from the dura mater (which do not penetrate cortical tissue).ResultsWe demonstrate that locomotion evokes an initial decrease in total hemoglobin (HbT) within the draining vein before the increase in HbT within WBR vessels. The locomotion event size influences the magnitude of the HbT increase in the pial vessels of the WBR but not of the early HbT decrease within the draining veins. Following locomotion onset, an early HbT decrease was also observed in the overlying meningeal vessels, which unlike within the cortex did not go on to exceed baseline HbT levels during the remainder of the locomotion response. We show that locomotion-induced hemodynamic responses are altered in disease in the draining vein and whisker artery, suggesting this could be an important neurodegeneration biomarker.ConclusionsThis initial reduction in HbT within the draining and meningeal veins potentially serves as a “space-saving” mechanism, allowing for large increases in cortical HbT associated with locomotion. Given this mechanism is impacted by disease, it may provide an important target for vascular-based therapeutic interventions.

Browse and apply for current job openings at the University of Aberdeen across various schools, departments and roles, including admin and academic.

Our Glyco-Immunology (Dyer) lab has produced published and preliminary data demonstrating that an under-appreciated structure, the glycocalyx, on endothelial- and immune- cells regulates immune cell recruitment by: