In honey bees, continuous foraging at an artificial feeder induced a sustained upregulation of the immediate early genes early growth response protein 1 ( Egr‐1 ) and hormone receptor 38 ( Hr38 ). This gene expression response was accompanied by an upregulation of several Egr‐1 candidate downstream genes: ecdysone receptor ( EcR ), dopamine/ecdysteroid receptor ( DopEcR ), dopamine decarboxylase and dopamine receptor 2 . Hr38 , EcR and DopEcR are components of the ecdysteroid signalling pathway, which is highly probably involved in learning and memory processes in honey bees and other insects. Time‐trained foragers still showed an upregulation of Egr‐1 when the feeder was presented at an earlier time of the day, suggesting that the genomic response is more dependent on the food reward than training time. However, presentation of the feeder at the training time without food was still capable of inducing a transient increase in Egr‐1 expression. Thus, learnt feeder cues, or even training time, probably affect Egr‐1 expression. In contrast, whole brain Egr‐1 expression changes did not differ between dancing and nondancing foragers. On the basis of our results we propose that food reward induced continuous foraging ultimately elicits a genomic response involving Egr‐1 and Hr38 and their downstream genes. Furthermore this genomic response is highly probably involved in foraging‐related learning and memory responses.

kakusei is a non-coding RNA that is overexpressed in foraging bee brain. This study describes a possible role of the IEG kakusei during the daily foraging of honey bees. kakusei was found to be transiently upregulated within two hours during rewarded foraging. Interestingly, during unrewarded foraging the gene was also found to be up-regulated, but immediately lowered when food was not rewarded. Moreover, the kakusei overexpression was diminished within a very short time when the time schedule of feeding was changed. This indicates the potential role of kakusei on the motivation of learned reward foraging. These results provide evidence for a dynamic role of kakusei during for aging of bees, and eventually its possible involvement in learning and memory. Thus the kakusei gene could be used as search tool in finding distinct molecular pathways that mediate diverse behavioral components of foraging.

According to the latest report in 2024 by the World Health Organization, based on global data from 2021, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other forms of dementia rank seventh among the leading causes of death worldwide, with an estimated 1.8 million deaths. This alarming number underscores the urgent requirement for effective treatments. AD and other dementias also severely affect the global economy. Unfortunately, no cure has been found, and effective treatments remain limited. Over the past two decades, thousands of disease-modifying drugs have been developed for AD treatment. However, most have failed to progress beyond phase I clinical trials, with only a few reaching phase III. To date, lecanemab (sold under the brand name Leqembi) is the only drug to receive full approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for slowing AD progression. This drug is specifically designed to target and clear amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques. Apart from targeting Aβ aggregation and tau tangles, neuroinflammatory regulatory pathways have emerged as promising therapeutic targets. With advancing research, neuroinflammation has been considered one of the core characteristics of AD and the third major pathological hallmark of the disease after Aβ plaques and neurofibrillary tau tangles. In this review, we summarize key research findings in neuroinflammatory regulation of AD and related dementias that are promising for treatments. We also provide an overview of clinical trials targeting the immune system or neuroinflammatory regulatory pathways, analyzing their challenges and potential successes.

The foraging of honey bees is one of the most well-organized and admirable behaviors that exist among social insects. In behavioral studies, these beautiful insects have been extensively used for understanding time–space learning, landmark use, and the concept of learning. Highly organized behaviors such as social interaction and communication are systematically well-organized behavioral components of honey bee foraging. Over the last two decades, understanding the regulatory mechanisms underlying honey bee foraging at the cellular and molecular levels has been increasingly interested to several researchers. Upon the search of regulatory genes of brain and behavior, immediate early (IE) genes are considered as a good tool to begin the search investigation. Our two recent studies have demonstrated three IE genes, namely,Egr-1, Hr38, andKakusei, playing a role in the daily foraging of bees and their association with learning and memory during foraging. These studies further evidence that IE genes can be used as a tool in finding the specific molecular/cellular players of foraging in honey bees and its behavioral components such as learning, memory, social interaction, and social communication. In this article, we provide the details of the method of sample collection at different times during foraging to investigate the foraging regulatory molecules.