Mini-brain reveals how concussions trigger neurodegenerative cascades

Medical XPress highlights biomedical engineering research at the University of Cincinnati that used a mini-brain model to study the cascade of neurodegenerative effects caused by blunt-force trauma associated with concussions.

UC College of Engineering and Applied Science Assistant Professor Volha “Olga” Liaudanskaya wants to know more about mild, repetitive blows children in youth sports can sustain that can lead to injury. In her lab at UC's Bioscience Center, she is studying how cells in the brain are affected by concussive forces — and how this trauma can lead to neurodegenerative diseases.

"We still know very little about what’s going on in the brain. And the injury can depend on the severity and location,” she said. “Brain trauma is so different from patient to patient, both the intensity of the injury and the patients themselves.”

Liaudanskaya and her team of student researchers are studying traumatic brain injury, or TBI, at the cellular level using novel models she created. She calls them "mini-brains" and in her lab studies three brain cell types that regulate brain activity, including neurons. To that, she added two vascular cells, creating a complex "pentaculture" of five cell types that she can track simultaneously using living tissue.

"There was a big part missing, which was a vascular unit. For neurodegenerative diseases, the vascular system is a critical driver of inflammation, degeneration and proteinopathies like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE," she said.

For people with a history of concussions or repeated blunt-force head trauma, understanding this vascular contribution is especially important.

Read the Medical XPress story.

Featured image at top: UC Assistant Professor Olga Liaudanskaya is studying concussions at the cellular level in her biomedical engineering lab. Photo/Connor Boyle/UC Marketing + Brand