Megan Gina Massa

University of California, Los Angeles | UCLA · NSIDP

The high female-to-male sex ratio of multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence has continuously confounded researchers, especially in light of male patients' accelerated disease course at later stages of MS. Although multiple studies have concentrated on estrogenic mechanisms of disease modulation, fairly little attention has been paid to androgenic effec...

Homeotherms maintain a stable internal body temperature despite changing environments. During energy deficiency, some species can cease to defend their body temperature and enter a hypothermic and hypometabolic state known as torpor. Recent advances have revealed the medial preoptic area (MPA) as a key site for the regulation of torpor in mice. The...

Neuronal interactions at the level of vagal, homeostatic, and hedonic circuitry work to regulate the neuronal control of feeding. This integrative system appears to vary across sex and gender in the animal and human worlds. Most feeding research investigating these variations across sex and gender focus on how the organizational and activational me...

Oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) signalling in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) contributes to energy homeostasis by modulating physical activity and thermogenesis. However, the precise neuronal populations involved remain undefined. Here, we describe six neuronal populations in the mouse VMH by using single-cell RNA transcriptomics and in situ hy...

Short-chain fatty acids are processed from indigestible dietary fibers by gut bacteria and have immunomodulatory properties. Here, we investigate propionic acid (PA) in multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease. Serum and feces of subjects with MS exhibited significantly reduced PA amounts compared with controls, particul...

Liver X receptors limit cellular lipid uptake by stimulating the transcription of inducible degrader of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (IDOL), an E3 ubiquitin ligase that targets lipoprotein receptors for degradation. The function of IDOL in systemic metabolism is incompletely understood. Here we show that loss of IDOL in mice protects agains...

Estrogen signaling in the central nervous system promotes weight loss by increasing thermogenesis and physical activity in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), but the precise neuronal populations regulating these aspects of energy expenditure remain unclear. Here we define the molecular and functional heterogeneity of the VMH using single cell RNA...

Though several functional properties of laquinimod have been identified, our understanding of the underlying mechanisms is still incomplete. Since the compound elicits similar immunomodulatory effects to ligands of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), we compared the efficacy of laquinimod in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)-afflicte...

As multiple sclerosis research progresses, it is pertinent to continue to develop suitable paradigms to allow for ever more sophisticated investigations. Animal models of multiple sclerosis, despite their continuing contributions to the field, may not be the most prudent for every experiment. Indeed, such may be either insufficient to reflect the f...

Representative negative control stainings. (A) Neuronal cultures do not exhibit oligodendrocyte lineage markers a, O4 and b, MBP. (B) Cultures show limited presence of astrocytes, with MSiPNs showing 3.63 (1.22) and HCiPN 0.13 (0.13) percent (SEM) of GFAP-positive, tubulin-negative cells. Error bars depict SEM. (C) a, Negative controls of biotin in...

Overview images of HC, MSiPN characterization stainings. Representative pictures of β-III-Tubulin, neurogenin, SMI-32R, ChAT, and TH stainings from Fig 4; scale bar 100 μm. (TIF)

The relationship between sex and multiple sclerosis (MS) has long been of interest. Though MS is traditionally viewed as a primary autoinflammatory, demyelinating affliction of the central nervous system, recent research has demonstrated that neurodegenerative processes occur throughout disease course and contribute to patients' steady neurological...