Historically, the two major ‘systems’ of the body were divided into nervous and immune. The former containing the electrical wiring governing our senses and our mind, the latter consisting of mobile defence cells ready to fight infection, disease and injury. Little did we know that our nerves and immune cells are so intertwined that their roles are dependent on one another. Microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells are now known to be involved in a host of brain functions, including development, neuronal function and protection from - or propagation of - disease. Recent evidence also shows that the higher functions of mammalian brains, those that manage emotions such as anxiety, and social behaviour and memory, can even be affected by mobile immune cells that have travelled to the edges of the brain. Here, immune cells do not enter the brain tissue itself, but reside in different structures bordering the brain and release factors that can change the way nerves work, and as a result, how animals behave. In certain circumstances, the brain may become inflamed, due to an injury or disease. This can even happen in ‘mild’ injuries such as a bang to the head, resulting in mild traumatic brain injury or concussion.
Concussion affects millions of people world-wide each year due to accidents, assaults, domestic violence, contact sports and war. These injuries increase the risk of developing mental health issues such as long-term anxiety and depression and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Repeated head injury is particularly dangerous. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms that underpin these problems is critical to treating brain injury and disease.
Overall objectives of the work
1) Define the immune-mediated brain inflammation in mouse model of brain injury
2) Develop approaches to promote the resolution of brain inflammation in response to brain injury, with a special focus on dietary lipids as beneficial agents.
