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Building A Better Bypass Graft

Jefferson Surgical Solutions

Jefferson vascular surgeon obtains three research grants. Vascular surgeon Paul DiMuzio, MD, FACS,Assistant Professor of Surgery and Radiology,Jefferson Medical College (JMC) of ThomasJefferson University, has been awarded grantsfrom the National Institutes of Health (NIH),American Vascular Association and AmericanHeart Association totaling $975,000. Thesefunds will further his team's research to usetissue engineering and stem cell technologyto develop a novel bypass graft for patientswho lack autogenous tissues for vascularprocedures such as coronary and peripheralartery bypass and hemodialysis access. "Today, the gold standard for creatingthese grafts is using the patient's saphenousvein or another artery," Dr. DiMuzio says."When those are unavailable because theyare diseased, too …

Na/K-Atpase Beta1 Subunit Expression Is Required For Blastocyst Formation And Normal Assembly Of Trophectoderm Tight Junction-Associated Proteins., Pavneesh Madan, Keeley Rose, Andrew J Watson

Obstetrics & Gynaecology Publications

Na/K-ATPase plays an important role in mediating blastocyst formation. Despite the expression of multiple Na/K-ATPase alpha and beta isoforms during mouse preimplantation development, only the alpha1 and beta1 isoforms have been localized to the basolateral membrane regions of the trophectoderm. The aim of the present study was to selectively down-regulate the Na/K-ATPase beta1 subunit employing microinjection of mouse 1 cell zygotes with small interfering RNA (siRNA) oligos. Experiments comprised of non-injected controls and two groups microinjected with either Stealthtrade mark Na/K-ATPase beta1 subunit oligos or nonspecific Stealthtrade mark siRNA as control. Development to the 2-, 4-, 8-, and 16-cell and …

The Expression Of Ovine Placental Lactogen, Star And Progesterone-Associated Steroidogenic Enzymes In Placentae Of Overnourished Growing Adolescent Ewes., Richard G Lea, Peter Wooding, Ian Stewart, Lisa T Hannah, Stephen Morton, Karen Wallace, Raymond P Aitken, John S Milne, Timothy Regnault, Russell V Anthony, Jacqueline M Wallace

Paediatrics Publications

Overnourishing pregnant adolescent sheep promotes maternal growth but reduces placental mass, lamb birth weight and circulating progesterone. This study aimed to determine whether altered progesterone reflected transcript abundance for StAR (cholesterol transporter) and the steroidogenic enzymes (Cyp11A1, Hsd3b and Cyp17). Circulating and placental expression of ovine placental lactogen (oPL) was also investigated. Adolescent ewes with singleton pregnancies were fed high (H) or moderate (M) nutrient intake diets to restrict or support placental growth. Experiment 1: peripheral progesterone and oPL concentrations were measured in H (n=7) and M (n=6) animals across gestation (days 7-140). Experiment 2: progesterone was measured to mid- …

Neurosurgery, Shahzad Shamim

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

No abstract provided.

Preventing And Treating Type 2 Diabetes Through A Physically Active Lifestyle, Raymond W. Leung, Jim Kamla, Man-Cheong Lee, Jennifer Y. Mak

Management Faculty Research

By the late 1960s, the increasing number of type 2 diabetic cases in children and adolescents rapidly presented a signifi cant public health issue recognized by the American Diabetes Association (2000). Since then, the prevalence of pediatric type 2 diabetes appears to be on the rise not only in the United States but all around the world (Gungor et al., 2005). In the United States, an increase from fewer than four percent to more than 50 percent of new cases of type 2 diabetes in the pediatric population was reported between the years of 1982 and 1998 (American Diabetes Association, …

Gastric Juice For The Diagnosis Of Helicobacter Pylori Infection In Patients On Proton Pump Inhibitors, Javed Yakoob, Shahid Rasool, Z Abbas, Wasim Jafri, Muhammad Islam, Zubair Ahmad

Section of Gastroenterology

No abstract provided.

Psychiatry, Syed Ahmer

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

No abstract provided.

Quadruple Therapy Using Esomeprazole, Furazolidone, Amoxicillin-Clavulanate, And Colloidal Bismuth Subcitrate In Patients Who Failed To Eradicate H-Pylori With Triple Therapy, Z Abbas, Javed Yakoob, Shahab Abid, Wasim Jafri

Section of Gastroenterology

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Low Dose Gm-Csf On Microglial Inflammatory Profiles To Diverse Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (Pamps)., Nilufer Esen, Tammy Kielian

Journal Articles: Pathology and Microbiology

BACKGROUND: It is well appreciated that obtaining sufficient numbers of primary microglia for in vitro experiments has always been a challenge for scientists studying the biological properties of these cells. Supplementing culture medium with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) partially alleviates this problem by increasing microglial yield. However, GM-CSF has also been reported to transition microglia into a dendritic cell (DC)-like phenotype and consequently, affect their immune properties.

METHODS: Although the concentration of GM-CSF used in our protocol for mouse microglial expansion (0.5 ng/ml) is at least 10-fold less compared to doses reported to affect microglial maturation and function (>/= …

Teaching Outbreak Preparedness In The Emergency Medicine Clerkship: An Innovative Approach, Larissa S. May

E-Learning Modules

Clinicians should be competent at contagious disease outbreak detection and management. Given the threat of emerging infectious diseases and biowarfare, there is a need to develop instructional methods on these topics. We have created a case-based exercise addressing sentinel case recognition, reporting, and containment. The workshop, conducted for medical students during their emergency medicine clerkship, incorporates the core competencies of systems-based practice, practice-based learning, and patient care. The workshop is held in a hospital conference room with the availability of internet, telephone, and other resources, simulating "real life." A hypothetical case of Ebola presenting to an emergency department is outlined. …

The Nestin Progenitor Lineage Is The Compartment Of Origin For Pancreatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia, Catherine Carriere, Elliot S. Seeley, Tobias Goetze, Daniel S. Longnecker, Murray Korc

Dartmouth Scholarship

To determine the cell compartment in which initial oncogenic mutations occur in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), we generated a mouse model in which endogenous expression of mutated Kras (Kras(G12D)) was initially directed to a population of pancreatic exocrine progenitors characterized by the expression of Nestin. Targeting of oncogenic Kras to such a restricted cell compartment was sufficient for the formation of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias (PanINs), putative precursors to PDAC. PanINs appeared with the same grade and frequency as observed when Kras(G12D) was targeted to the whole pancreas by a Pdx1-driven Cre recombinase strategy. Thus, the Nestin cell lineage is highly …

Oocyte Cytoplasmic Maturation: A Key Mediator Of Oocyte And Embryo Developmental Competence., A J Watson

Obstetrics & Gynaecology Publications

Efforts have intensified to successfully mature and inseminate oocytes in vitro and then culture ensuing embryos to transferable stages from a large number of mammalian species. Success varies, but generally even for the most successful species it is only possible to obtain a maximum of a 40 to 50% development of zygotes to the blastocyst stage. Reduced oocyte developmental competence is suggested as a primary reason for the reduced potential of in vitro-produced embryos. The vast majority of in vitro-matured oocytes are meiotically competent; however, many do not attain an optimal oocyte diameter before insemination. Variations in oocyte in vitro …

Association Of The Tensin N-Terminal Protein-Tyrosine Phosphatase Domain With The Alpha Isoform Of Protein Phosphatase-1 In Focal Adhesions, Masumi Eto, Jason Kirkbride, Elizabeth Elliott, Su Hao Lo, David L. Brautigan

Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Faculty Papers

Focal adhesions attach cultured cells to the extracellular matrix, and we found endogenous protein phosphatase-1alpha isoform (PP1alpha) localized in adhesions across the entire area of adherent fibroblasts. However, in fibroblasts migrating into a scrape wound or spreading after replating PP1alpha did not appear in adhesions near the leading edge but was recruited into other adhesions coincident in time and space with incorporation of tensin. Endogenous tensin and PP1alpha co-precipitated from cell lysates with isoform-specific PP1 antibodies. Chemical cross-linking of focal adhesion preparations with Lomant's reagent demonstrated molecular proximity of endogenous PP1alpha and tensin, whereas neither focal adhesion kinase nor vinculin …

Aldosterone-Induced Sgk1 Relieves Dot1a-Af9-Mediated Transcriptional Repression Of Epithelial Na+ Channel Alpha, Wenzheng Zhang, Xuefeng Xia, Mary Rose Reisenauer, Timo Rieg, Florian Lang, Dietmar Kuhl, Volker Vallon, Bruce C Kone

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Aldosterone plays a major role in the regulation of salt balance and the pathophysiology of cardiovascular and renal diseases. Many aldosterone-regulated genes--including that encoding the epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC), a key arbiter of Na+ transport in the kidney and other epithelia--have been identified, but the mechanisms by which the hormone modifies chromatin structure and thus transcription remain unknown. We previously described the basal repression of ENaCalpha by a complex containing the histone H3 Lys79 methyltransferase disruptor of telomeric silencing alternative splice variant a (Dot1a) and the putative transcription factor ALL1-fused gene from chromosome 9 (Af9) as well as the release …

Traumatic Brain Injury Stimulates Hippocampal Catechol-O-Methyl Transferase Expression In Microglia, John B Redell, Pramod K Dash

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Outcome following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is in large part determined by the combined action of multiple processes. In order to better understand the response of the central nervous system to injury, we utilized an antibody array to simultaneously screen 507 proteins for altered expression in the injured hippocampus, a structure critical for memory formation. Array analysis indicated 41 candidate proteins have altered expression levels 24h after TBI. Of particular interest was catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT), an enzyme involved in metabolizing catecholamines released following neuronal activity. Altered catecholamine signaling has been observed after brain injury, and may contribute to the cognitive …

Cephalalgiaphobia: A Possible Specific Phobia Of Illness., Mario F P Peres, Juliane P P Mercante, Vera Z Guendler, Felipe Corchs, Marcio A Bernik, Eliova Zukerman, Stephen Silberstein

Department of Jefferson Headache Center Papers and Presentations

Psychiatric comorbidity, mainly anxiety and depression, are common in chronic migraine (CM). Phobias are reported by half of CM patients. Phobic avoidance associated with fear of headache or migraine attack has never been adequately described. We describe 12 migraine patients with particular phobic-avoidant behaviours related to their headache attacks, which we classified as a specific illness phobia, coined as cephalalgiaphobia. All patients were women, mean age 42, and all had a migraine diagnosis (11 CM, all overused acute medications). Patients had either a phobia of a headache attack during a pain-free state or a phobia of pain worsening during mild …

Toward A Biopsychosocial Understanding Of The Patient-Physician Relationship: An Emerging Dialogue, Herbert M. Adler

Department of Family & Community Medicine Faculty Papers

Complexity theory has been used to view the patient-physician relationship as constituted by complex responsive processes of relating. It describes an emergent, psychosocial relational process through which patients and physicians continually and reciprocally influence each other's behavior and experience. As psychosocial responses are necessarily biopsychosocial responses, patients and physicians must likewise be influencing each other's psychobiology. This mutual influence may be subjectively experienced as empathy, and may be skillfully employed by the clinician to directly improve the patient's psychobiology.

Prevalence Of Gastric Varices And Results Of Sclerotherapy With N-Butyl 2 Cyanoacrylate For Controlling Acute Gastric Variceal Bleeding., Mumtaz J Khan, Shahid Majid,, Syed H Shah, Kashif Hameed, Ashfaq Ahmed, Saeed Hamid, Wasim Jafri

Department of Medicine

Aim: To study the prevalence, predictors and control of bleeding following N-butyl 2 cyanoacrylate (NBC) sclerotherapy of gastric varix (GV).

Methods: We analyzed case records of 1436 patients with portal hypertension, who underwent endoscopy during the past five years for variceal screening or upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Fifty patients with bleeding GV underwent sclerotherapy with a mean of 2 mL NBC for control of bleeding. Outcome parameters were primary hemostasis (bleeding control within the first 48 h), recurrent bleeding (after 48 h of esophagogastro-duodenoscopy) and in-hospital mortality were analyzed.

Results: The prevalence of GV in patients with portal hypertension was …

Phosphorylation Of The Proline-Rich Domain Of Xp95 Modulates Xp95 Interaction With Partner Proteins, Robert E Dejournett, Ryuji Kobayashi, Shujuan Pan, Chuanfen Wu, Laurence D Etkin, Richard B Clark, Oliver Bögler, Jian Kuang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The mammalian adaptor protein Alix [ALG-2 (apoptosis-linked-gene-2 product)-interacting protein X] belongs to a conserved family of proteins that have in common an N-terminal Bro1 domain and a C-terminal PRD (proline-rich domain), both of which mediate partner protein interactions. Following our previous finding that Xp95, the Xenopus orthologue of Alix, undergoes a phosphorylation-dependent gel mobility shift during progesteroneinduced oocyte meiotic maturation, we explored potential regulation of Xp95/Alix by protein phosphorylation in hormone-induced cell cycle re-entry or M-phase induction. By MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization-time-of-flight) MS analyses and gel mobility-shift assays, Xp95 is phosphorylated at multiple sites within the N-terminal half of the …

Beta Blocker Specificity: A Building Block Toward Personalized Medicine., Brent R Degeorge, Walter J Koch

Center for Translational Medicine Faculty Papers

Drugs known as beta blockers, which antagonize the beta-adrenergic receptor (beta-AR), are an important component of the treatment regimen for chronic heart failure (HF). However, a significant body of evidence indicates that genetic heterogeneity at the level of the beta(1)-AR may be a factor in explaining the variable responses of HF patients to beta blockade. In this issue of the JCI, Rochais et al. describe how a single amino acid change in beta(1)-AR alters its structural conformation and improves its functional response to carvedilol, a beta blocker currently used in the treatment of HF (see the related article beginning on …

Contrasting Roles Of Neural Firing Rate And Local Field Potentials In Human Memory, A. Ekstrom, Indre Viskontas, M. Kahana, J. Jacobs, K. Upchurch, S. Bookheimer, I. Fried

Psychology

Recording the activity of neurons is a mainstay of animal memory research, while human recordings are generally limited to the activity of large ensembles of cells. The relationship between ensemble activity and neural firing rate during declarative memory processes, however, remains unclear. We recorded neurons and local field potentials (LFPs) simultaneously from the same sites in the human hippocampus and entorhinal cortex (ERC) in patients with implanted intracranial electrodes during a virtual taxi-driver task that also included a memory retrieval component. Neurons increased their firing rate in response to specific passengers or landmarks both during navigation and retrieval. Although we …

Com Outlook Winter 2007, College Of Osteopathic Medicine

COM Outlook

No abstract provided.

Medical Education Digest, Vol. 9 No. 1 (January/February 2007), Nova Southeastern University

Medical Education Digest

No abstract provided.

Department Of Radiology-Annual Executive Summary Report-July 1, 2006 To June 30, 2007, Vijay M. Rao M.D.

Department of Radiology Administrative Documents and Reports

91 page Department of Radiology Annual Executive Summary Report, July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Management Of Anthracycline Extravasation Injuries, David J. Reeves

Scholarship and Professional Work – COPHS

OBJECTIVE: To review the evidence for the management of anthracycline extravasation and determine the optimal treatment of such injuries.

DATA SOURCES: A search of MEDLINE (1966–February 2007) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970–February 2007) was performed using the search terms anthracyclines and extravasation.

DATA SYNTHESIS: Extravasation of anthracyclines can have devastating effects. After infiltration of these drugs into the interstitial tissue, damage may range from mild erythema and pain to severe tissue necrosis. Many agents have been studied in the management of these injuries; however, few have demonstrated efficacy and treatment remains controversial. Nonpharmacologic modalities shown to limit extravasation injuries include …

Mouse Preimplantation Embryo Responses To Culture Medium Osmolarity Include Increased Expression Of Ccm2 And P38 Mapk Activation., Barry Fong, Patricia H Watson, Andrew J Watson

Obstetrics & Gynaecology Publications

BACKGROUND: Mechanisms that confer an ability to respond positively to environmental osmolarity are fundamental to ensuring embryo survival during the preimplantation period. Activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) occurs following exposure to hyperosmotic treatment. Recently, a novel scaffolding protein called Osmosensing Scaffold for MEKK3 (OSM) was linked to p38 MAPK activation in response to sorbitol-induced hypertonicity. The human ortholog of OSM is cerebral cavernous malformation 2 (CCM2). The present study was conducted to investigate whether CCM2 is expressed during mouse preimplantation development and to determine whether this scaffolding protein is associated with p38 MAPK activation following exposure of preimplantation …

Inhibition Of Proteasome Activity By The Dietary Flavonoid Apigenin Is Associated With Growth Inhibition In Cultured Breast Cancer Cells And Xenografts, Di Chen, Kristin R. Landis-Piwowar, Marina S. Chen, Q Ping Dou

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Introduction

Proteasome inhibition is an attractive approach to anticancer therapy and may have relevancy in breast cancer treatment. Natural products, such as dietary flavonoids, have been suggested as natural proteasome inhibitors with potential use for cancer prevention and therapeutics. We previously reported that apigenin, a flavonoid widely distributed in many fruits and vegetables, can inhibit proteasome activity and can induce apoptosis in cultured leukemia Jurkat T cells. Whether apigenin has proteasome-inhibitory activity in the highly metastatic human breast MDA-MB-231 cells and xenografts, however, is unknown.

Methods

MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell cultures and xenografts were treated with apigenin, followed by …

Effects Of Curcumin On Retinal Oxidative Stress And Inflammation In Diabetes, Renu A. Kowluru, Mamta Kanwar

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Oxidative stress and inflammation are implicated in the pathogenesis of retinopathy in diabetes. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of curcumin, a polyphenol with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, on diabetes-induced oxidative stress and inflammation in the retina of rats.

Methods

A group of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats received powdered diet supplemented with 0.05% curcumin (w/w), and another group received diet without curcumin. The diets were initiated soon after induction of diabetes, and the rats were sacrificed 6 weeks after induction of diabetes. The retina was used to quantify oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory markers.

Results

Antioxidant …

Paradoxical Antiproliferative Effect By A Murine Mammary Tumor-Derived Epithelial Cell Line, Esteban N. Gurzov, Sanaa M. Nabha, Hamilto Yamamoto, Hong Meng, O Graciela Scharovsky, R Daniel Bonfil

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Despite significant advancement in breast cancer therapy, there is a great need for a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in breast carcinogenesis and progression, as well as of the role of epigenetic contributions from stromal cells in mammary tumorigenesis. In this study, we isolated and characterized murine mammary tumor-derived epithelial and myofibroblast cell lines, and investigated the in vitro and in vivo effect of cellular soluble factors produced by the epithelial cell line on tumor cells.

Methods

Morphology, immunophenotype, cytogenetics, invasiveness, and tumorigenicity of epithelial (LM-234ep) and myofibroblast (LM-234mf) cell lines isolated from two murine mammary adenocarcinomas …

Progression Of Renal Cell Carcinoma Is Inhibited By Genistein And Radiation In An Orthotopic Model, Gilda G. Hillman, Yu Wang, Mingxin Che, Julian J. Raffoul, Mark Yudelev, Omer Kucuk, Fazlul H. Sarkar

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

We have previously reported the potentiation of radiotherapy by the soy isoflavone genistein for prostate cancer using prostate tumor cells in vitro and orthotopic prostate tumor models in vivo. However, when genistein was used as single therapy in animal models, it promoted metastasis to regional para-aortic lymph nodes. To clarify whether these intriguing adverse effects of genistein are intrinsic to the orthotopic prostate tumor model, or these results could also be recapitulated in another model, we used the orthotopic metastatic KCI-18 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) model established in our laboratory.

Methods

The KCI-18 RCC cell line was generated …