Justin Trotter

A divergent astrocytic response to stress alters activity patterns via distinct mechanisms in male and female mice - Nature Communications Early-life stress has lifelong impacts on neuronal function and behavior. Here, the authors show that astrocytic glucocorticoid receptor signaling drives stress-induced neuronal and behavioral change ...

Absolutely thrilled to share the first half of my PhD work! Super proud to see it finally out!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Thread below for a quick (10 point) recap of what we found!
🧵🧪🧠

Systems consolidation reorganizes hippocampal engram circuitry Nature - A study shows that loss of memory precision associated with systems consolidation can be explained by neurogenesis-dependent reorganization of engram circuitry within the hippocampus over...

Sharing a new paper from the lab. This paper, led by Sangyoon Ko, represents a merging of two longstanding research themes in the lab-- adult neurogenesis and systems consolidation.

rdcu.be/el18q

A short thread follows for those interested.

1/n

Inflammasome signaling in astrocytes modulates hippocampal plasticity The function of immune pathways in homeostatic neurobiology remains underexplored. Zengeler et al. find that the inflammasome complex, typically associated with immune responses, is involved in memory...

Excited to share our new work demonstrating a role for astrocytic inflammasome signaling in modulating hippocampal plasticity. @cp-immunity.bsky.social
All credit to Kristine Zengeler, who was the brains🧠 and muscle💪 behind this project and is a wonderful collaborator. www.cell.com/immunity/ful...

Congrats!!!

Thrilled to announce that my lab is now open at Ohio State! We study astrocytes as gene therapy targets for brain repair after ischemic stroke and in vascular dementia, developing new viral tools along the way. If you're interesting in joining or collaborating, please reach out!
gleichmanlab.com

Our lab's 1st paper, led by @fchrisbennett.bsky.social & @waisenberg.bsky.social. A decade thinking how to directly assess the impact of microglia replacement. Yrs of hard work. This kind of work is needed to expand brain disease care for kids & the vision for safer, more effective cell therapy.

Really cool and important work with interferon at the podium composing a glial symphony (alongside a visiting lymphocyte ensemble) geared towards repair!

This paper changed my life: Shane Liddelow on two papers that upended astrocyte research A game-changing cell culture method developed in Ben Barres’ lab completely transformed the way we study astrocytes and helped me build a career studying their reactive substates.

In our latest edition of “This paper changed my life,” @liddelowsa.bsky.social explains how two papers from Ben Barres’ lab completely changed the way the field studies astrocytes and enabled everything discovered in glia research since.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/this-paper-c...

Distinct synaptic plasticity rules operate across dendritic compartments in vivo during learning Synaptic plasticity underlies learning by modifying specific synaptic inputs to reshape neural activity and behavior. However, the rules governing which synapses will undergo different forms of plasti...

Our new paper is out in Science.

What is the synaptic plasticity rule in the brain, we asked. It turns out there are multiple, even within individual neurons.

Congrats Jake!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Multi-omic analysis reveals the unique glycan landscape of the blood-brain barrier glycocalyx The blood-brain barrier (BBB) glycocalyx is the dense layer of glycans and glycoconjugates that coats the luminal surface of the central nervous system (CNS) vasculature. Despite being the first point...

🚨 A new Daneman Lab preprint!! 🚨

Reid Larsen, one of the brightest scientists I know, studied the BBB glycocalyx, identified its structure, composition, and function and uncovered what makes the CNS glycocalyx unique. It was a true pleasure to be a part of this seminal study!
shorturl.at/Wkhxr

A neuroimmune circuit mediates cancer cachexia-associated apathy Cachexia, a severe wasting syndrome associated with inflammatory conditions, often leads to multiorgan failure and death. Patients with cachexia experience extreme fatigue, apathy, and clinical depres...

1/ Why do patients with late-stage cancer lose motivation & sink into apathy?
🔥 Our new Science paper shows chronic inflammation activates a cytokine-sensing brain circuit that lowers motivation. Huge team effort: Aelita Zhu, Sarah Starosta, Pignatelli & Janowitz labs! 🧵
🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Refreshing to see @moeneuro.bsky.social deliver a home-run on empathy and compassion in a time that needs more of it.

🚨iGluSnFR4 is finally out!🚨🧪

We present iGluSnFR4f and 4s, a novel pair of genetically-encoded glutamate indicators designed for high-fidelity imaging of synaptic activity in the living brain. ⬇️

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🎥 Below: iGluSnFR4s detecting minis in cultures w/ TTX

#Neuroscience

Aging activates escape of the silent X chromosome in the female mouse hippocampus Aging activates the silent X chromosome, increasing escape expression, and potentially cognitive resilience, in the female mouse.

this exciting work comes from studying sex differences - reactivation of the silent X chromosome in aging female mice reveals factors that promote cognition in old XX and XY mice. super cool, congrats to all - lets keep studying what makes us different!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Microglia dysfunction, neurovascular inflammation and focal neuropathologies are linked to IL-1- and IL-6-related systemic inflammation in COVID-19 - Nature Neuroscience The authors show that brain inflammation in COVID-19 correlates with viral load, systemic inflammation and virus-sensing pattern recognition receptors. Microglial dysfunction occurs at sites of vascul...

Microglia dysfunction, neurovascular inflammation and focal neuropathologies are linked to IL-1- and IL-6-related systemic inflammation in COVID-19 @natureneuro.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Defining the molecular identity and morphology of glia limitans superficialis astrocytes in vertebrates Hasel et al. show that molecularly and morphologically specialized astrocytes make up the brain and spinal cord surface, thereby creating the glia limitans superficialis. These astrocytes selectively ...

Defining the molecular identity and morphology of glia limitans superficialis astrocytes in vertebrates: Cell Reports www.cell.com/cell-reports...

LET’S DO THIS UCSD

#standupforscienceUCSD

Talked for 1+ hour with my Trump-supporting grandma and succeeded in convincing her to call her AL representatives to protect a strong American investment in science and to end the chaos. Have these difficult conversations, provide detail, and you will be surprised of their power.

☀️☀️☀️ NEW WEBSITE IS UP! ☀️☀️☀️

www.standupforscience2025.org

Read about us, our policy goals, and ways to get involved. This website will also continue to grow as we do, so keep an eye on it!

Teaching citizens about science
🤝
Teaching students about being a citizen

Sign the Petition Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap (NOT-OD-25-068)

Petition to Reverse the NIH Indirect Cost Cap initiated by Tom Maniatis. Please amplify
Sign the Petition: chng.it/kK2HMP5pGk
"Share with Leadership & Faculty. Reach out to professional societies, biotech and pharma leaders, and philanthropic organizations to raise awareness and mobilize support."

Sunday ponderings at the microscope on how to convince the average American that knowing the mysteries buried within this image (and others) is important and that sustained public funding (including sufficient indirect support) remains as important as ever.

However hard it may be, we must find common ground (where possible) with Trump supporting friends and family. We need them to pressure their representatives to protect shared values and priorities (e.g. public investment in science). Some issues aren’t possible, but for many, science still is.

How a Canadian scientist and a venomous lizard helped pave the way for Ozempic - National | Globalnews.ca In 1984, Dr. Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist from the University of Toronto, discovered a hormone that helped pave the way for popular diabetes drugs such as Ozempic.

This is the most relevant article to NIH and research cuts I’ve seen.

Imagine if this was today , how many people would be saying “Why are we studying Gila Monsters and their impact on diabetes ? That’s wasted money !”

globalnews.ca/news/9793403...

Thinking back on all this I better understand the pain I feel to see science under devastating attack here. It’s not just about my livelihood or my university. It’s about my identity. And it’s about a pursuit that I see as standing along with art, literature, and music as among our highest callings.

This is the end of science as we know it if it stands—15% IDCs for all NIH Grants.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Got my first small grant as a PI. This is much welcomed news amidst the chaos of the moment.

Painting by Sir Charles Bell depicting opisthotonos, which can be caused by tetanus (1809)

Tetanus on demand! (not for bioweapons, but for neuroscience research)

Tetanus toxin induces paralysis by using a protease to cleave VAMP2, a protein required for synaptic vesicle fusion and neurotransmitter release.

To harness this toxicity and use it as a beneficial tool for neuroscience,

What are they doing!?! Mouse astrocytes in an ocean of HS. In uncertain times, images like these give me both wonder and hope that the curiosity that infects our diverse community will never be extinguished. This was taken by a talented tech as part of her first independent project.