Guy Brown

Biography

He is  interested in the mechanisms of inflammatory neurodegeneration in the brain. We have been using cultures of neurons and glia to investigate how microglia become activated by inflammatory stimuli (such as cytokines, LPS, LTA, prions and beta-amyloid) and how such microglia damage neurons. We are particularly interested in nitric oxide, oxidants, glutamate, hypoxia, mitochondria, apoptosis, phagocytosis and interactions between neurons and glia. We have shown: how NO kills neurons, how the microglial NADPH oxidase regulates inflammation, how Ab and prions activate microglia, how hypoxia interacts with NO, how the proliferation of microglia and neuronal precursors is regulated by NO and oxidants, and how mitochondria contribute to neuronal death. Also interested in the regulation of apoptosis and its interaction with phagocytosis. The mechanisms of phagocytosis in the brain, and their roles in brain pathologies are current preoccupations. 

Research Interest

Neuroinflammation, mitochondria and cell death