Farnesol brain transcriptomics in CNS inflammatory demyelination

To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the protective neuroinflammatory activity of farnesol (FOL), we examined the transcriptomic profile of the brains of EAE mice treated with daily oral FOL using next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq). EAE-induced mice, compared to naïve, healthy mice, overall showed increased expression in pathways for immune response, as well as increased cytokine signaling pathway, with downregulation of cellular stress proteins. Our analysis found that FOL downregulated pro-inflammatory pathways and attenuated the immune response in EAE. FOL downregulated the expression of genes involved in misfolded protein response, MAPK activation/signaling, and pro-inflammatory response. Overall design: Total RNA from whole brains from EAE mice, EAE mice treated with FOL or with corn oil (vehicle), and naïve (healthy) mice was obtained at the peak of EAE (day 19). Transcriptomics analysis was performed in total RNA obtained from whole brains