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A research team at the University of Illinois at Chicago published a study that showed that certain cells in the human brain continue to be active for some time after they die, and some rather show an activation phenomenon called gene expression and grow. The zombie gene, which is activated after death, is creating the function of growing glial cells, which are brain-specific immune cells for a while after death.
The zombie gene discovered by a research team at the University of Washington in 2016 was a survey of genes taken from human blood and liver. However, this study investigated in detail changes in gene expression in human brain cells.
The research team says that it is not surprising given that glial cell death and growth have the ability to repair brain damage caused by oxygen starvation or stroke. Rather, what was important was what this discovery had. Most researchers who use human brain tissue to study the treatment of autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease are temporary, but do not believe that post-mortem gene expression or cellular activity will be activated.
The research team said the findings were necessary to interpret research on human brain tissue, and that so far, they have not quantified the changes in dead cells. In order to reproduce the post-mortem changes in the new brain tissues collected, the research team conducted an experiment in which the human gene expression status was checked at 0 to 24 hours at room temperature. And it was confirmed that the overall pattern of gene expression in fresh human brain tissue was inconsistent with any published reports of brain gene expression after people with various neurological disorders, from autism to Alzheimer’s.
Of the analyzed genes, 80% were relatively stable 24 hours post-mortem, and the amount of gene expression hardly changed. However, because it exists in nerve cells and is intricately related to brain activity such as memory, thought, and paralysis, the gene group important for the study of schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s has been rapidly decomposed several hours after death.
In addition, the third gene group called zombie genes became more active as the number of genes decreased in the preceding neurons, and the activity reached its peak 12 hours after death, and activity was observed for at least 24 hours.
The findings reveal that it is easier to understand the results of post-brain studies by knowing which genes or cell types are stable and which are susceptible to deterioration, and which forms reversely activate and increase.
Experiments have shown that post-mortem brain tissue studies need to take into account the significant changes that have occurred within the tissue. And the research team says that if possible, brain tissue studies should be carried out without going through time from time to death. Related information can be found here.
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