IKEZU LAB

We are interested in the role of microglia in the pathobiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Environmental factors, such as infection, environmental pollutant, and maternal stresses are emerging risks of ASD. Systemic infection in the first trimester of pregnancy is known to increase the risk of ASD in the offspring. We hypothesize that such environmental factors dysregulate brain development through microglial dysfunction. We employ system biological approaches to comprehensively characterize the microglial and neuronal development in animal models of ASD... Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are powerful tools to reconstitute interaction of human neuronal and immune cells in tissue culture models. We are remodeling the central nervous system (spheroids) consisted with many neuronal cell types using human iPSCs derived from healthy and disease cases. These models are being tested using confocal microscopy, electrophysiology, RNA sequencing and proteomics... The Ikezu..

Also known as: Ikezu

Primary location: Jacksonville United States