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Hydrocephalus can be provoked by viruses
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Scientists representing Duke University have determined that the development of hydrocephalus can provoke viruses that damage brain cells. The scientific project was led by Professors Kadar Abdi and Chai Kuo.
Ependyma cells are the epithelioid cells of the neuroglia, which are lined with the ventricles of the brain. Thanks to them - or rather, thanks to the cilia, located on these cells - the circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid is maintained. In addition, the cells interact with neural stem cells, identifying a key value in preventing the formation of hydrocephalus, a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid accumulates inside the brain. This condition is otherwise called dropsy: it accompanies various neurological diseases of the congenital and acquired type. To date, there is only one way to correct hydrocephalus - this is a bypass to create a yield of accumulated fluid. But such treatment is not always successful. Thus, the scientists set a goal to find a new method of therapy, more effective.
At the very beginning of the experiment, scientists were engaged in the cultivation of ependyma cells, in order to study their significance for the creation of neural stem cells. In the course of the work, it was found that the mature ependyma cells in rodents need a continuous synthesis of the Foxj1 transcription factor to maintain their own form and functionality. Without the sounded factor, cells lose their cilia: their degradation occurs before the early period of development.
As scientists have discovered, the synthesis of the transcription factor stops under the influence of viruses that can cause many serious brain pathologies, including hydrocephalus. Subsequent studies have shown that the introduction into the brain structures of cells with a drug that stimulates the synthesis of the factor leads to the restoration of the function and the number of ependyma cells.
After a full analysis of the work done, the scientists suggested that drugs capable of normalizing the synthesis of the transcription factor can be successfully used to treat hydrocephalus. However, clinical trials have not yet been carried out by specialists.
At the moment, experts are fully confident in the importance of their research: for example, no one has previously been able to determine that the protein substance Foxj1 decomposes for two hours. This means that the ependyma cells under the action of the enzyme substance IKK2 activate the production of the transcription factor. And some types of viruses (in particular, herpevirus) have a mechanism for blocking this enzyme substance, so their effect on the brain is much greater than previously thought.
The results of the study are published in Nature Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03812-w).
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