Biology subjects

McDaniel, K.

Publications and source records attributed to McDaniel, K..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Centella asiatica improves sleep quality and quantity in aged mice

Age-related sleep disruption is common in older adults. Not only does the total amount of time spent in sleep decline, but the number of arousals during sleep increases with age. As sleep is important for both memory consolidation and to prevent neurodegenerative pathology, this decline in sleep and/or sleep consolidation may underlie age-related cognitive decline and dementias. Furthermore, treatment of sleep disruption can improve quality of life. However, few interventions have successfully reversed age-related sleep decline. Extracts from the plant Centella asiatica have demonstrated neuroprotective effects in human, rodent, and fly models of aging and neurodegenerative diseases, and is a promising intervention for dementias, yet little is known about how these extracts affect sleep patterns. Here, we administered Centella asiatica water extract (CAW) dosed or control chow to male and female C57BL6/J mice aged 18 months. Effects on sleep composition were determined using electrodes that recorded EEG and EMG signals. We found that CAW dosed chow (1000 mg/kg/day) increased REM sleep time in aged male mice and decreased the number of arousals during sleep observed in aged females, compared to age- and sex-matched controls. We conclude that CAW administered in food has a moderate, sex-dependent effect on sleep quantity and quality. Statement of SignificanceSleep declines with age and may underline age-related cognitive changes. However, few interventions have successfully reversed age-related sleep and cognitive decline. This study found that botanical extract from the plant Centella asiatica increased total REM sleep time in aged male mice, and decreased sleep fragmentation in aged female mice, compared to age- and sex-matched controls. Whether these moderate, sex-dependent effect sizes on sleep in aged mice are impactful enough to affect cognition, quality of life, and/or neurodegenerative pathology could be explored in future studies.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

The Neuroscience Multi-Omic Archive: A BRAIN Initiative resource for single-cell transcriptomic and epigenomic data from the mammalian brain

Scalable technologies to sequence the transcriptomes and epigenomes of single cells are transforming our understanding of cell types and cell states. The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN) is applying these technologies at unprecedented scale to map the cell types in the mammalian brain. In an effort to increase data FAIRness (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), the NIH has established repositories to make data generated by the BICCN and related BRAIN Initiative projects accessible to the broader research community. Here, we describe the Neuroscience Multi-Omic Archive (NeMO Archive; nemoarchive.org), which serves as the primary repository for genomics data from the BRAIN Initiative. Working closely with other BRAIN Initiative researchers, we have organized these data into a continually expanding, curated repository, which contains transcriptomic and epigenomic data from over 50 million brain cells, including single-cell genomic data from all of the major regions of the adult and prenatal human and mouse brains, as well as substantial single-cell genomic data from non-human primates. We make available several tools for accessing these data, including a searchable web portal, a cloud-computing interface for large-scale data processing (implemented on Terra, terra.bio), and a visualization and analysis platform, NeMO Analytics (nemoanalytics.org). KEY POINTSO_LIThe Neuroscience Multi-Omic Archive serves as the genomics data repository for the BRAIN Initiative. C_LIO_LIGenomic data from >50 million cells span all the major regions of the brains of humans and mice. C_LIO_LIWe provide a searchable web portal, a cloud-computing interface, and a data visualization platform. C_LI

genomics↗

bioRxiv2020

Influenza C and D viral load in cattle correlates with bovine respiratory disease (BRD): Emerging role of orthomyxoviruses in the pathogenesis of BRD

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the costliest disease affecting the cattle industry globally. Despite decades of research, the pathophysiology of BRD is not yet fully understood. It is widely believed that viruses predispose cattle to bacterial infection by causing direct damage to the respiratory tract and interfering with the immune system, leading to bacterial pneumonia. BRD remains a major challenge despite extensive vaccination against all major viral pathogens associated with the disease. Orthomyxoviruses (Influenza C & D viruses), have recently been found to infect cattle throughout the United States and are implicated to play a role in BRD. Here, we use the largest cohort study to date to investigate the association of influenza viruses in cattle with BRD. Cattle (n=599) from 3 locations were individually observed and scored for respiratory symptoms using the McGuirk scoring system. Deep pharyngeal and mid-nasal swabs were collected from each animal and were tested quantitatively for bovine viral diarrhea virus, bovine herpesvirus 1, bovine respiratory syncytial virus, bovine coronavirus, influenza C virus (ICV) and influenza D virus (IDV) by real-time PCR. Cattle that have higher viral loads of IDV and ICV also have greater numbers of co-infecting viruses than controls. More strikingly, in BRD-symptomatic cattle, the geometric mean of detectable IDV viral RNA was nearly 2 logs higher in co-infected animals (1.30x104) than those singly infected with IDV (2.19x102). This is strong evidence that viral coinfections can lead to higher replication of IDV. Our results strongly suggest that orthomyxoviruses may be significant contributors to BRD.

microbiology↗