Maria Nandini Colaco

Full member: March 2010 - February 2013

Dissertation title: Cytokines modulate pain-induced anxiety and cognitive impairment
Abstract: Chronic pain is a complex, multidimensional experience frequently associated with anxiety, depression and deficits in cognitive functions including memory, attention, and verbal performance. However with the practical challenge in modeling these facets in a rodent model of chronic pain, the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain unexplored. Cytokines have an established function in the initiation and maintenance of pain and an emerging role in anxiety as well as cognitive processes in several pathological disorders. This work aims to establish an appropriate pain model leading to anxiety and cognitive impairment and the role of cytokines in pain-induced anxiety and pain-induced cognitive impairment. B7-H1 (PD-L1, CD274), a co-inhibitory molecule, attenuates T cell proliferation and cytokine production and protects from inflammatory tissue damage. Hence, mice lacking this gene provide an opportunity to study the role of cytokines in pain induced anxiety and cognitive impairment.

Principal Investigator:

Prof. Dr. C. Sommer
Department of Neurology

http://www.neurologie.uk-wuerzburg.de/en/directory-of-staff/prof-dr-c-sommer.html

Current position:

Department of Neurology, University of Würzburg
Josef-Schneider-Str. 11
97080 Würzburg

Department of Neurology, University of Würzburg