Aya Osman
Postdoc, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
PhD, University of Surrey
MSc Toxicology, University of Surrey
About
Areas of Interest
- Neuropharmacology
- Endogenous Opioid System
- Gut-Brain axis
- Drug addiction
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Transcriptomics
Research
Regulation of brain and behavior involves signaling by neuromodulator systems including the endogenous opioid system. However, the brain does not act in isolation, its development and function are further shaped by signals from the periphery, including metabolites produced by the gut microbiome.
How does the endogenous opioid system contribute to neuropsychiatric conditions including drug addiction? Can we safely target the opioid system to treat these conditions? How do gut derived metabolites signal to influence brain development and behavior? Can gut metabolites be targeted to alter core behavioral deficits seen in neurodevelopmental disorders including autism?
To explore these questions, we:
- Utilize existing animal models of mood disorders, addiction and autism to probe contributions of the opioid system and gut microbiome. We also aim to develop new clinically relevant behavioral paradigms of these conditions
- Use RNA sequencing to identify changes in gene expression in brain regions involved in reward, cognition and mood and how they contribute to behavioral abnormalities observed in addiction and autism
- Radioligand binding, GTP gamma S and other molecular assays to capture changes to the endogenous opioid system at the protein and signaling level
- 16S sequencing, metagenomics and metabolomics to capture changes in gut microbiome composition and metabolic output
Publications
Fricker LD, Osman A, Gupta A, Gomes I, Devi L. Antidepressants and the Endogenous Opioid System. Biochemical Pharmacology, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2025.117392
Gupta A, Gomes I, Sierra S, Devi L, Osman A. Endothelin-converting enzyme 2 differentially regulates Kappa opioid receptor trafficking and function. The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpet.2025.103750
Lucerne KE, Dean CR, Osman A, Meckel KR, Dave YA, Shipman AL, Cazarez DR, Cathomas F, Hofford RS, Kiraly DD. Colony-stimulating factor 2 (CSF2) as a gut microbiome dependent immune factor that alters molecular and behavioral responses to cocaine in male mice. Brain Behavior Immunity, 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.08.003.
Gupta A, Gomes I, Osman A, Fujita W, Devi L. Regulation of cannabinoid and opioid receptors by endogenous and pharmacological chaperones. The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2024. DOI: 10.1124/jpet.124.002187
Iban-Arias R, Yang EJ, Griggs E, Soares Dias Portela A, Osman A, Trageser KJ, Shahed M, Pasinetti GM. Ad-derived bone marrow transplant induces proinflammatory immune peripheral mechanisms accompanied by decreased neuroplasticity and reduced gut microbiome diversity affecting AD-like phenotype in the absence of Aβ neuropathology. Brain Behavior Immunity, 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.03.012
Osman A, Mervosh NL, Start AN, Euston TJ, Zipursky JD, Pollak RM, Meckel KR, Tyler ST, Chan KL, Buxbaum AG, Drapeau E, Litichevskiy L, Gill J, Zeldin SH, Thaiss CA, Buxbaum JD, Breen MS, Kiraly DD. Acetate supplementation rescues social deficits and alters transcriptional regulation in prefrontal cortex of Shank3 deficient mice. Brain Behavior Immunity, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.08.020
Osman A, Hofford RS, Meckel RM, Dave YA, Zeldin SH, Shipmen AL, Lucerne KE, Trageser KJ, Ogushi T, Kiraly DD. Dietary polyphenols drive dose-dependent behavioral and molecular alterations to repeated morphine. Scientific Reports, 2023. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39334-9
Breen MS, Fan X, Levy T, Pollack R, Collins B, Osman A, Tocheva AS, Sahin M, Berry-Kravis E, Soorya L, Thurm A, Powell CM, Bernstein JA, Kolevzon A, Buxbaum JD. Large deletions perturb peripheral transcriptomic and metabolomic profiles in Phelan-McDermid syndrome. HGG Advances, Cell Press, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.xhgg.2022.100145
Chan K, Li L, Parise L, Cathomas F, LeClair K, Shimo Y, Lin H, Cuttoli RD, Aubry A, Alvarez J, Drescher T, Osman A, Yuan C, Fisher-Foye R, Price G, Schmitt Y, Kaster M, Futado G, Lira S, Wang J, Han W, Araujo I, Russo S. Stress-activated brain-gut circuits disrupt intestinal barrier integrity and social behavior. Research square, 2023 Doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3459170/v1.
Osman A, Ogbunugafor B. An epidemic analogy highlights the importance of targeted community engagement in Spaces Susceptible to misinformation. Frontiers in Communication, 2022. DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2022.824682
Lucerne KE, Osman A, Meckel KR, Kiraly DD. Contributions of neuroimmune and gut-brain signaling to vulnerability of developing substance use disorders. Neuropharmacology, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108598.
Brady LJ, Erickson KR, Lucerne KE, Osman A, Kiraly DD, Calipari ES. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) enhances cocaine effects in the nucleus accumbens via a dopamine release–based mechanism. Psychopharmacology, 2021. DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-05967-9
Osman A, Zuffa S, Walton G, Fagbodun E, Zanos P, Georgiou P, Kitchen I, Swann J, Bailey A. A1-β casein intake Post-weaning A1/A2 β-casein milk intake modulates depressive-like behavior, brain μ-opioid receptors and the metabolome of rats. iScience, Cell Press, 2021. DOI 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103048.