Neurotoxicology

Developmental neurotoxicology. Project leader: Sonja Buratovic. 
Present information about interactive effects between radiation and pharmaceuticals is insufficient but has significant implications for protection of the developing neonate/child from adverse or harmful neurobiological effects following diagnostics or radiotherapy. 

With the neonatal mouse, we can model a developmental period equivalent to the first 3 years in humans. The developmental processes occurring during this period are conserved between mammals and include maturation of neurons and glia as well as tightly regulated ontogenetic patterns of functional units in neurotransmitter systems. Methods aimed at investigating molecular initiating events, cellular effects and cognitive phenotypes, i.e., transcriptomics, epigenetics and behavioural tests are utilized in the lab. Current studies include investigations of interaction effects between anaesthetics/analgesics and low-doses of ionizing radiation.

By extending our knowledge of the causative mechanistic factors we are able to provide a first step to safer diagnostic/therapeutic modalities, applied in the paediatric clinic and also provide insights into the adverse outcome pathways for radiation and/or pharmaceuticals to possibly be utilized in the risk-benefit assessment in clinical practice. 

Mechanisms behind L-DOPA induced neurotoxicity. Project leader: Malin Andersson.
In this project, we mainly combine in situ enzyme histochemistry and MALDI imaging mass spectrometry to be able to quickly identify and map the effect of different enzyme inhibitors in brain and spinal cord. We have introduced two variants of the method; one based on using a simple micropipette to apply reagents and that can be used in any lab with a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. The other variant uses a chemical ink-jet printer in order to decrease variability and increase precision so that the metabolites can be localized to various anatomical regions.