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Full-Text Articles in Medical Molecular Biology

Pirnas As Modulators Of Disease Pathogenesis, Kayla J. Rayford, Ayorinde Cooley, Jelonia T. Rumph, Ashutosh Arun, Girish Rachakonda, Fernando Villalta, Maria F. Lima, Siddharth Pratap, Smita Misra, Pius N. Nde Feb 2021

Pirnas As Modulators Of Disease Pathogenesis, Kayla J. Rayford, Ayorinde Cooley, Jelonia T. Rumph, Ashutosh Arun, Girish Rachakonda, Fernando Villalta, Maria F. Lima, Siddharth Pratap, Smita Misra, Pius N. Nde

Publications and Research

Advances in understanding disease pathogenesis correlates to modifications in gene expression within different tissues and organ systems. In depth knowledge about the dysregulation of gene expression profiles is fundamental to fully uncover mechanisms in disease development and changes in host homeostasis. The body of knowledge surrounding mammalian regulatory elements, specifically regulators of chromatin structure, transcriptional and translational activation, has considerably surged within the past decade. A set of key regulators whose function still needs to be fully elucidated are small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs). Due to their broad range of unfolding functions in the regulation of gene expression during transcription and …


Trypanosoma Cruzi Modulates Piwi-Interacting Rna Expression In Primary Human Cardiac Myocytes During The Early Phase Of Infection, Kayla J. Rayford, Ayorinde Cooley, Ashutosh Arun, Girish Rachakonda, Yulia Kleschenko, Fernando Villalta, Siddharth Pratap, Maria F. Lima, Pius N. Nde Dec 2020

Trypanosoma Cruzi Modulates Piwi-Interacting Rna Expression In Primary Human Cardiac Myocytes During The Early Phase Of Infection, Kayla J. Rayford, Ayorinde Cooley, Ashutosh Arun, Girish Rachakonda, Yulia Kleschenko, Fernando Villalta, Siddharth Pratap, Maria F. Lima, Pius N. Nde

Publications and Research

Trypanosoma cruzi dysregulates the gene expression profile of primary human cardiomyocytes (PHCM) during the early phase of infection through a mechanism which remains to be elucidated. The role that small non-coding RNAs (sncRNA) including PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) play in regulating gene expression during the early phase of infection is unknown. To understand how T. cruzi dysregulate gene expression in the heart, we challenged PHCM with T. cruzi trypomastigotes and analyzed sncRNA, especially piRNA, by RNA-sequencing. The parasite induced significant differential expression of host piRNAs, which can target and regulate the genes which are important during the early infection phase. An …


Epigenetic Targeting Of Mcl-1 Is Synthetically Lethal With Bcl-Xl/Bcl-2 Inhibition In Model Systems Of Glioblastoma, Enyuan Shang, Trang T. T. Nguyen, Chang Shu, Mike-Andrew Westhoff, Georg Karpel-Massler, Markus D. Siegelin Aug 2020

Epigenetic Targeting Of Mcl-1 Is Synthetically Lethal With Bcl-Xl/Bcl-2 Inhibition In Model Systems Of Glioblastoma, Enyuan Shang, Trang T. T. Nguyen, Chang Shu, Mike-Andrew Westhoff, Georg Karpel-Massler, Markus D. Siegelin

Publications and Research

Apoptotic resistance remains a hallmark of glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary brain tumor in adults, and a better understanding of this process may result in more efficient treatments. By utilizing chromatin immunoprecipitation with next-generation sequencing (CHIP-seq), we discovered that GBMs harbor a super enhancer around the Mcl-1 locus, a gene that has been known to confer cell death resistance in GBM.We utilized THZ1, a known super-enhancer blocker, and BH3-mimetics, including ABT263, WEHI-539, and ABT199. Combined treatment with BH3-mimetics and THZ1 led to synergistic growth reduction in GBM models. Reduction in cellular viability was accompanied by significant cell death induction …


Thrombospondin-1 Plays An Essential Role In Yes-Associated Protein Nuclear Translocation During The Early Phase Of Trypanosoma Cruzi Infection In Heart Endothelial Cells, Ashutosh Arun, Kayla J. Rayford, Ayorinde Cooley, Girish Rachakonda, Fernando Villalta, Siddharth Pratap, Maria F. Lima, Nader Sheibani, Pius N. Nde Jul 2020

Thrombospondin-1 Plays An Essential Role In Yes-Associated Protein Nuclear Translocation During The Early Phase Of Trypanosoma Cruzi Infection In Heart Endothelial Cells, Ashutosh Arun, Kayla J. Rayford, Ayorinde Cooley, Girish Rachakonda, Fernando Villalta, Siddharth Pratap, Maria F. Lima, Nader Sheibani, Pius N. Nde

Publications and Research

The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas disease. This neglected tropical disease causes severe morbidity and mortality in endemic regions. About 30% of T. cruzi infected individuals will present with cardiac complications. Invasive trypomastigotes released from infected cells can be carried in the vascular endothelial system to infect neighboring and distant cells. During the process of cellular infection, the parasite induces host cells, to increase the levels of host thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), to facilitate the process of infection. TSP-1 plays important roles in the functioning of vascular cells, including vascular endothelial cells with important implications in cardiovascular …


Inhibition Of Hdac1/2 Along With Trap1 Causes Synthetic Lethality In Glioblastoma Model Systems, Trang T. T. Nguyen, Yiru Zhang, Enyuan Shang, Chang Shu, Catarina M. Quinzii, Mike-Andrew Westhoff, Georg Karpel-Massler, Markus D. Siegelin Jul 2020

Inhibition Of Hdac1/2 Along With Trap1 Causes Synthetic Lethality In Glioblastoma Model Systems, Trang T. T. Nguyen, Yiru Zhang, Enyuan Shang, Chang Shu, Catarina M. Quinzii, Mike-Andrew Westhoff, Georg Karpel-Massler, Markus D. Siegelin

Publications and Research

The heterogeneity of glioblastomas, the most common primary malignant brain tumor, remains a significant challenge for the treatment of these devastating tumors. Therefore, novel combination treatments are warranted. Here, we showed that the combined inhibition of TRAP1 by gamitrinib and histone deacetylases (HDAC1/HDAC2) through romidepsin or panobinostat caused synergistic growth reduction of established and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) glioblastoma cells. This was accompanied by enhanced cell death with features of apoptosis and activation of caspases. The combination treatment modulated the levels of pro- and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members, including BIM and Noxa, Mcl-1, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. Silencing of Noxa, BAK and …


Endothelial Iqgap1 Regulates Leukocyte Transmigration By Directing The Lbrc To The Site Of Diapedesis, David P. Sullivan, Prarthana J. Dalal, Fanny Jaulin, David B. Sacks, Geri Kreitzer, William A. Muller Aug 2019

Endothelial Iqgap1 Regulates Leukocyte Transmigration By Directing The Lbrc To The Site Of Diapedesis, David P. Sullivan, Prarthana J. Dalal, Fanny Jaulin, David B. Sacks, Geri Kreitzer, William A. Muller

Publications and Research

Transendothelial migration (TEM) of leukocytes across the endothelium is critical for inflammation. In the endothelium, TEM requires the coordination of membrane movements and cytoskeletal interactions, including, prominently, recruitment of the lateral border recycling compartment (LBRC). The scaffold protein IQGAP1 was recently identified in a screen for LBRC-interacting proteins. Knockdown of endothelial IQGAP1 disrupted the directed movement of the LBRC and substantially reduced leukocyte TEM. Expression of truncated IQGAP1 constructs demonstrated that the calponin homology domain is required for IQGAP1 localization to endothelial borders and that the IQ domain, on the same IQGAP1 polypeptide, is required for its function in TEM. …


Biotransformed Metabolites Of The Hop Prenylflavanone Isoxanthohumol, Hyun Jung Kim, Soon-Ho Yim, Fubo Han, Bok Yun Kang, Hyun Jin Choi, Da-Woon Jung, Darren R. Williams, Kirk R. Gustafson, Edward J. Kennelly, Ik-Soo Lee Jan 2019

Biotransformed Metabolites Of The Hop Prenylflavanone Isoxanthohumol, Hyun Jung Kim, Soon-Ho Yim, Fubo Han, Bok Yun Kang, Hyun Jin Choi, Da-Woon Jung, Darren R. Williams, Kirk R. Gustafson, Edward J. Kennelly, Ik-Soo Lee

Publications and Research

A metabolic conversion study on microbes is known as one of the most useful tools to predict the xenobiotic metabolism of organic compounds in mammalian systems. The microbial biotransformation of isoxanthohumol (1), a major hop prenylflavanone in beer, has resulted in the production of three diastereomeric pairs of oxygenated metabolites (2–7). The microbial metabolites of 1 were formed by epoxidation or hydroxylation of the prenyl group, and HPLC, NMR, and CD analyses revealed that all of the products were diastereomeric pairs composed of (2S)- and (2R)- isomers. The structures of these metabolic compounds were elucidated to be (2S,200S)- and (2R,200S)-40 …