ANA BEATRIZ DE PAULA E SILVA portrait
  • Assistant Professor, Pharmacology And Toxicology
801-585-3309

Research Keywords

  • Seizures
  • Neurovirology
  • Neuroinflammation
  • Neurobiology
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Mouse Models
  • Immune Response
  • Epilepsy
  • CNS viral infection

Research Interests

Viral infection of the central nervous system (CNS) results in neuroinflammation and are associated with the development of many neurological disorders. My research interest is to study how viral-host interactions are associated with the development of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, focusing mechanistically on the involvement of CNS-infiltrating immune cells in the development of epilepsy (program 1) and multiple sclerosis (program 2).

Our Goal: shed insight into disease mechanisms, allowing for the development of new therapies to improve the lives of patients who suffer from neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative conditions.

Publications

  • Barker-Haliski M, DePaula-Silva A, Pitsch J, Sontheimer H, Hirsch LJ, Galanopoulou AS, Kearney JA. Brain on Fire: How Brain Infection and Neuroinflammation Drive Worldwide Epilepsy Burden. Epilepsy Currents. 2024 April. doi: 10.1177/15357597241242238. Published, 04/2024.
  • DePaula-Silva AB. The Contribution of Microglia and Brain-Infiltrating Macrophages to the Pathogenesis of Neuroinflammatory and Neurodegenerative Diseases during TMEV Infection of the Central Nervous System. Viruses. 2024 Jan 13;16(1). doi: 10.3390/v16010119. Review. PubMed PMID: 38257819; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10819099. Published, 01/13/2024.
  • Sanchez JMS, DePaula-Silva AB, Libbey JE, Fujinami RS. Role of diet in regulating the gut microbiota and multiple sclerosis. Clin Immunol. 2022 Feb;235:108379. doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2020.108379. Epub 2020 Mar 7. Review. PubMed PMID: 32156562; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7483914. Published, 02/2022.
  • Sanchez JMS, DePaula-Silva AB, Doty DJ, Hanak TJ, Truong A, Libbey JE, Fujinami RS. The CSF1R-Microglia Axis Has Protective Host-Specific Roles During Neurotropic Picornavirus Infection. Front Immunol. 2021;12:621090. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.621090. eCollection 2021. PubMed PMID: 34566948; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8458822. Published, 12/2021.
  • DePaula-Silva AB, Bell LA, Wallis GJ, Wilcox KS. Inflammation Unleashed in Viral-Induced Epileptogenesis. Epilepsy Curr. 2021 Nov-Dec;21(6):433-440. doi: 10.1177/15357597211040939. eCollection 2021 Nov-Dec. PubMed PMID: 34924851; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8652320. Published, 12/2021.
  • Sarabia I, Novis CL, Macedo AB, Takata H, Nell R, Kakazu JC, Furler RL, Shakya B, Schubert HL, Hill CP, DePaula-Silva AB, Spivak AM, Trautmann L, Planelles V, Bosque A. Activation of the Anti-Oxidative Stress Response Reactivates Latent HIV-1 Through the Mitochondrial Antiviral Signaling Protein Isoform MiniMAVS. Front Immunol. 2021;12:682182. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.682182. eCollection 2021. PubMed PMID: 34194436; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8236643. Published, 12/2021.
  • Libbey JE, Sanchez JMS, Fleming BA, Doty DJ, DePaula-Silva AB, Mulvey MA, Fujinami RS. Modulation of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis through colonisation of the gut with Escherichia coli. Benef Microbes. 2020 Nov 15;11(7):669-684. doi: 10.3920/BM2020.0012. Epub 2020 Oct 13. PubMed PMID: 33045841. Published, 11/15/2020.
  • Sanchez JMS, Doty DJ, DePaula-Silva AB, Brown DG, Bell R, Klag KA, Truong A, Libbey JE, Round JL, Fujinami RS. Molecular patterns from a human gut-derived Lactobacillus strain suppress pathogenic infiltration of leukocytes into the central nervous system. J Neuroinflammation. 2020 Oct 6;17(1):291. doi: 10.1186/s12974-020-01959-2. PubMed PMID: 33023618; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7542353. Published, 10/06/2020.
  • DePaula-Silva AB, Gorbea C, Doty DJ, Libbey JE, Sanchez JMS, Hanak TJ, Cazalla D, Fujinami RS. Differential transcriptional profiles identify microglial- and macrophage-specific gene markers expressed during virus-induced neuroinflammation. J Neuroinflammation. 2019 Jul 20;16(1):152. doi: 10.1186/s12974-019-1545-x. PubMed PMID: 31325960; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6642742. Published, 07/20/2019.
  • Sanchez JMS, DePaula-Silva AB, Doty DJ, Truong A, Libbey JE, Fujinami RS. Microglial cell depletion is fatal with low level picornavirus infection of the central nervous system. J Neurovirol. 2019 Jun;25(3):415-421. doi: 10.1007/s13365-019-00740-3. Epub 2019 Mar 11. PubMed PMID: 30859497; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6635090. Published, 06/2019.