The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded a major $1.5 million grant to Jianyang Du, PhD, of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, for a research study to uncover the mechanisms cellular and molecular that lead to neurological disorders caused by long COVID. -19.
Dr. Du is an associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology. Colleen Jonsson, PhD, director of the UT Health Sciences Center Regional Biocontainment Laboratory and professor in the Department of Microbiology, is a co-investigator on the grant, and Kun Li, PhD, assistant professor in the Lerner Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, is a consultant.
As the world grapples with the ramifications of the COVID pandemic, there is growing concern about the long-term health consequences of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, particularly among people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Understanding how the virus affects the brain is key to coping with the burdens of long COVID, which can have serious consequences on quality of life.
Dr. Du’s team developed a mouse model that mimics SARS-CoV-2 infection, allowing researchers to observe behavioral changes two weeks after infection. Remarkably, they discovered the virus’s genetic material in the brain just four days after infection, indicating direct effects on brain function. They also detected viral components specifically in neurons, as well as signs of immune system activation in the brain.
This research aims to provide insights into how the COVID virus alters neuronal activity, which could pave the way for new treatments to alleviate suffering associated with long COVID and reduce health disparities related to pandemic. The study will focus on three key areas:
-- Test whether the infection model results in increased neuronal activity in mice.
- Understand how infection activates microglia, the brain’s immune cells, through interactions with neurons.
- Evaluate how activated microglia influence surrounding neurons in response to infection.
By shedding light on these complex interactions, this research could lead to effective therapeutic strategies to combat the neurological challenges posed by COVID.
I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Qian Ge, my postdoctoral fellow, for her significant contribution to the grant application. Dr. Ge’s preliminary data not only supports the hypothesis, but also provides a solid basis for further exploration. We also express our deepest gratitude to Dr. Long-Jun Wu, professor and founding director of the Center for Neuroimmunology and Glial Biology at the Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Wu provided invaluable technical support for the grant application, and progress on this work would not have been possible without his generous assistance.
Dr. Jianyang Du, PhD, University of Tennessee Health Science Center
