Digital Commons Network^™

Disentangling Sex Differences In Ptsd Risk Factors: A Systematic Overview And Multiple Mediation Analysis The The Aurora Study, Stephanie Haering, Antonia V. Seligowski, Sarah Linnstaedt, Vasiliki Michopoulos, Stacey L. House, Francesca Beaudoin, Xinming An, Thomas C. Neylan, Gari Clifford, Robert A. Swor

Articles

No abstract provided.

Recent Insights Into The Pathogenesis And Therapeutic Targets Of Chronic Liver Diseases, Yankai Wen, Lichun Ma, Cynthia Ju

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Viral hepatitis, alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are the three major causes of chronic liver diseases, which account for approximately 2 million deaths per year worldwide. The current direct-acting antiviral drugs and vaccinations have effectively reduced and ameliorated viral hepatitis infection, but there are still no effective drug treatments for ALD, NAFLD and liver cancer due to the poor understanding of their pathogenesis. To better understand the pathogenesis, the fifth Chinese American Liver Society/Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America Hepatology Division Annual Symposium, which was held virtually on 21-22 October 2022, focused on the topics …

Investigation Of Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields (Nspef) Induced Anti-Cancer Mechanism And Enhanced B16f10 Melanoma Cancer Treatment, Kamal Asadipour

Biomedical Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The use of nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF) has emerged as a promising area of research with vast implications across various scientific disciplines. The ability to generate ultra-short, high-voltage electric pulses has paved the way for numerous applications, ranging from fundamental investigations of biological phenomena to the development of innovative medical therapies. The aim of this thesis is to highlight the importance of nsPEF in two critical areas: 1) Understanding the impact of subtle postpulse waveforms through a comprehensive analysis of two common pulse generators and 2) using this knowledge to advance melanoma treatment by enhancing the therapeutic effect of …

Structural Insights Into The Cl-Par-4 Protein: Ionic Requirements, Conformational Transitions, And Interaction With Cisplatin, Krishna Kumar Raut

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Cancer continues to be the leading global cause of death, with challenges in early diagnosis, drug resistance, non-specific drug targeting, and cancer recurrence and metastasis posing formidable obstacles in cancer therapy. In this context, Prostate Apoptosis Response-4 (Par-4), a pro-apoptotic tumor suppressor protein, emerged as a promising therapeutic target due to its ability to selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells, thereby minimizing the drug-associated adverse effects. However, a comprehensive understanding of the structural features of Par-4, specifically the caspase-cleaved fragment (cl-Par-4), is crucial for therapeutic advancements.

This dissertation investigated the effects of various ions, both monovalent and divalent, on the …

Prevalence Of Pathogenic Germline Variants In Adult-Type Diffuse Glioma, Malcolm F Mcdonald, Lyndsey L Prather, Cassandra R Helfer, Ethan B Ludmir, Alfredo E Echeverria, Shlomit Yust-Katz, Akash J Patel, Benjamin Deneen, Ganesh Rao, Ali Jalali, Shweta U Dhar, Chris I Amos, Jacob J Mandel

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: No consensus germline testing guidelines currently exist for glioma patients, so the prevalence of germline pathogenic variants remains unknown. This study aims to determine the prevalence and type of pathogenic germline variants in adult glioma.

METHODS: A retrospective review at a single institution with paired tumor/normal sequencing from August 2018-April 2022 was performed and corresponding clinical data were collected.

RESULTS: We identified 152 glioma patients of which 15 (9.8%) had pathogenic germline variants. Pathogenic germline variants were seen in 11/84 (13.1%) of Glioblastoma, IDH wild type; 3/42 (7.1%) of Astrocytoma, IDH mutant; and 1/26 (3.8%) of Oligodendroglioma, IDH mutant, …

Meeting The Demand For Fertility Services: The Present And Future Of Reproductive Endocrinology And Infertility In The United States, Eduardo Hariton, Ruben Alvero, Micah J Hill, Jennifer E Mersereau, Shana Perman, David Sable, Fiona Wang, Geoffrey David Adamson, Christos Coutifaris, Latasha B Craig, Pardis Hosseinzadeh, Anthony N Imudia, Erica B Johnstone, Ruth B Lathi, Paul C Lin, Erica E Marsh, Michele Munch, Gloria Richard-Davis, Lauren W Roth, Amy K Schutt, Kim Thornton, Lauren Verrilli, Rachel S Weinerman, Steven L Young, Kate Devine

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) is at a crossroads; there is a mismatch between demand for reproductive endocrinology, infertility and assisted reproductive technology (ART) services, and availability of care. This document's focus is to provide data justifying the critical need for increased provision of fertility services in the United States now and into the future, offer approaches to rectify the developing physician shortage problem, and suggest a framework for the discussion on how to meet that increase in demand. The Society of REI recommend the following: 1. Our field should aggressively explore and implement courses of action …

Universal Health Coverage: A Basis For Pandemic Preparedness?, Merline Feero

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Amid extensive research and reporting on the effects of COVID-19 on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) progress, this study explores an often neglected topic: the potential of UHC to contribute to the foundations of pandemic preparedness. Herein, quantitative analysis reveals that countries with higher UHC coverage tend to exhibit greater pandemic preparedness (as determined by the UHC Service Coverage Index and the Global Health Security Index). Complementary qualitative analysis is used to further illustrate and explain the correlation between UHC and pandemic preparedness using four case study countries, integrating literature reviews and relevant expert interviews. Through these methods, a clear tie …

Hidden Hurdles: Evaluating Informal Barriers To Primary Healthcare Access Among Undocumented Migrants In Switzerland, Arantxa Bonifaz Rosas

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Undocumented migrants face heightened difficulties in accessing healthcare due to a combination of legal, financial, and social challenges. Informal barriers to accessing healthcare further exacerbate poor health outcomes among undocumented migrants. In Switzerland, where undocumented migrants have the right to health insurance, barriers to receiving healthcare continue to restrict their access to essential services, such as primary healthcare (PHC). Employing a meta-analysis approach, this qualitative study aimed to broaden existing research on informal barriers hindering access to PHC for undocumented migrants, with a particular focus on the Swiss context. The identified informal barriers centered around health insurance, fear of deportation, …

Texas Developmental Center For Aids Research Cfar Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Pathway Initiative Program, Fred A Pereira, Alana D Newell, Andrew P Rice

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The Texas Developmental Center for AIDS Research (D-CFAR) diversity program, termed the CFAR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Pathway Initiative (CDEIPI), was created in 2021 to engage high school students and graduate students from Underrepresented Minorities/Black, Indigenous, and People of Color populations.

SETTING: The Texas D-CFAR CDEIPI has partnered with 2 Texas high schools with predominantly economically disadvantaged and minority student populations-Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions in Houston, TX, and the South Texas Independent School District Medical Professions High School in Olmito, TX in the Rio Grande Valley.

METHODS: A total of 370 high school student learners …

The Pre-Adaptation Of A Stroke-Specific Self-Management Program Among Older Adults, Timothy Reistetter, Kimberly Hreha, Julianna M Dean, Monique R Pappadis, Rachel R Deer, Chih-Ying Li, Ickpyo Hong, Annalisa Na, Sara Nowakowski, Hashem M Shaltoni, Suresh K Bhavnani

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objectives:

Managing multimorbidity as aging stroke patients is complex; standard self-management programs necessitate adaptations. We used visual analytics to examine complex relationships among aging stroke survivors’ comorbidities. These findings informed pre-adaptation of a component of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program.

Methods:

Secondary analysis of 2013–2014 Medicare claims with stroke as an index condition, hospital readmission within 90 days (n=42,938), and 72 comorbidities. Visual analytics identified patient subgroups and co-occurring comorbidities. Guided by the framework for reporting adaptations and modifications to evidence-based interventions (FRAME), an interdisciplinary team developed vignettes that highlighted multimorbidity to customize the self-management program.

Results:

There were five …

A Novel Pathogenic Mutation Of Mecp2 Impairs Chromatin Association Independent Of Protein Levels, Jian Zhou, Claudia Cattoglio, Yingyao Shao, Harini P Tirumala, Carlo Vetralla, Sameer S Bajikar, Yan Li, Hu Chen, Qi Wang, Zhenyu Wu, Bing Tang, Mahla Zahabiyon, Aleksandar Bajic, Xiangling Meng, Jack J Ferrie, Anel Lagrone, Ping Zhang, Jean J Kim, Jianrong Tang, Zhandong Liu, Xavier Darzacq, Nathaniel Heintz, Robert Tjian, Huda Y Zoghbi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Loss-of-function mutations in MECP2 cause Rett syndrome (RTT), a severe neurological disorder that mainly affects girls. Mutations in MECP2 do occur in males occasionally and typically cause severe encephalopathy and premature lethality. Recently, we identified a missense mutation (c.353G>A, p.Gly118Glu [G118E]), which has never been seen before in MECP2, in a young boy who suffered from progressive motor dysfunction and developmental delay. To determine whether this variant caused the clinical symptoms and study its functional consequences, we established two disease models, including human neurons from patient-derived iPSCs and a knock-in mouse line. G118E mutation partially reduces MeCP2 abundance …

Intraoperative Identification Of Thyroid And Parathyroid Tissues During Human Endocrine Surgery Using The Masspec Pen, Rachel J Dehoog, Mary E King, Michael F Keating, Jialing Zhang, Marta Sans, Clara L Feider, Kyana Y Garza, Alena Bensussan, Anna Krieger, John Q Lin, Sunil Badal, Elizabeth Alore, Christopher Pirko, Kirtan Brahmbhatt, Wendong Yu, Raymon Grogan, Livia S Eberlin, James Suliburk

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

IMPORTANCE: Intraoperative identification of tissues through gross inspection during thyroid and parathyroid surgery is challenging yet essential for preserving healthy tissue and improving outcomes for patients.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance and clinical applicability of the MasSpec Pen (MSPen) technology for discriminating thyroid, parathyroid, and lymph node tissues intraoperatively.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this diagnostic/prognostic study, the MSPen was used to analyze 184 fresh-frozen thyroid, parathyroid, and lymph node tissues in the laboratory and translated to the operating room to enable in vivo and ex vivo tissue analysis by endocrine surgeons in 102 patients undergoing thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy procedures. …

Heart Failure Epidemiology And Outcomes Statistics: A Report Of The Heart Failure Society Of America, Biykem Bozkurt, Tariq Ahmad, Kevin M Alexander, William L Baker, Kelly Bosak, Khadijah Breathett, Gregg C Fonarow, Paul Heidenreich, Jennifer E Ho, Eileen Hsich, Nasrien E Ibrahim, Lenette M Jones, Sadiya S Khan, Prateeti Khazanie, Todd Koelling, Harlan M Krumholz, Kiran K Khush, Christopher Lee, Alanna A Morris, Robert L Page, Ambarish Pandey, Mariann R Piano, Josef Stehlik, Lynne Warner Stevenson, John R Teerlink, Muthiah Vaduganathan, Boback Ziaeian, Writing Committee Members

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Second International Consensus Report On Gaps And Opportunities For The Clinical Translation Of Precision Diabetes Medicine, Deirdre K Tobias, Jordi Merino, Abrar Ahmad, Catherine Aiken, Jamie L Benham, Dhanasekaran Bodhini, Amy L Clark, Kevin Colclough, Rosa Corcoy, Sara J Cromer, Daisy Duan, Jamie L Felton, Ellen C Francis, Pieter Gillard, Véronique Gingras, Romy Gaillard, Eram Haider, Alice Hughes, Jennifer M Ikle, Laura M Jacobsen, Anna R Kahkoska, Jarno L T Kettunen, Raymond J Kreienkamp, Lee-Ling Lim, Jonna M E Männistö, Robert Massey, Niamh-Maire Mclennan, Rachel G Miller, Mario Luca Morieri, Jasper Most, Rochelle N Naylor, Bige Ozkan, Kashyap Amratlal Patel, Scott J Pilla, Katsiaryna Prystupa, Sridharan Raghavan, Mary R Rooney, Martin Schön, Zhila Semnani-Azad, Magdalena Sevilla-Gonzalez, Pernille Svalastoga, Wubet Worku Takele, Claudia Ha-Ting Tam, Anne Cathrine B Thuesen, Mustafa Tosur, Amelia S Wallace, Caroline C Wang, Jessie J Wong, Jennifer M Yamamoto, Katherine Young, Chloé Amouyal, Mette K Andersen, Maxine P Bonham, Mingling Chen, Feifei Cheng, Tinashe Chikowore, Sian C Chivers, Christoffer Clemmensen, Dana Dabelea, Adem Y Dawed, Aaron J Deutsch, Laura T Dickens, Linda A Dimeglio, Monika Dudenhöffer-Pfeifer, Carmella Evans-Molina, María Mercè Fernández-Balsells, Hugo Fitipaldi, Stephanie L Fitzpatrick, Stephen E Gitelman, Mark O Goodarzi, Jessica A Grieger, Marta Guasch-Ferré, Nahal Habibi, Torben Hansen, Chuiguo Huang, Arianna Harris-Kawano, Heba M Ismail, Benjamin Hoag, Randi K Johnson, Angus G Jones, Robert W Koivula, Aaron Leong, Gloria K W Leung, Ingrid M Libman, Kai Liu, S Alice Long, William L Lowe, Robert W Morton, Ayesha A Motala, Suna Onengut-Gumuscu, James S Pankow, Maleesa Pathirana, Sofia Pazmino, Dianna Perez, John R Petrie, Camille E Powe, Alejandra Quinteros, Rashmi Jain, Debashree Ray, Mathias Ried-Larsen, Zeb Saeed, Vanessa Santhakumar, Sarah Kanbour, Sudipa Sarkar, Gabriela S F Monaco, Denise M Scholtens, Elizabeth Selvin, Wayne Huey-Herng Sheu, Cate Speake, Maggie A Stanislawski, Nele Steenackers, Andrea K Steck, Norbert Stefan, Julie Støy, Rachael Taylor, Sok Cin Tye, Gebresilasea Gendisha Ukke, Marzhan Urazbayeva, Bart Van Der Schueren, Camille Vatier, John M Wentworth, Wesley Hannah, Sara L White, Gechang Yu, Yingchai Zhang, Shao J Zhou, Jacques Beltrand, Michel Polak, Ingvild Aukrust, Elisa De Franco, Sarah E Flanagan, Kristin A Maloney, Andrew Mcgovern, Janne Molnes, Mariam Nakabuye, Pål Rasmus Njølstad, Hugo Pomares-Millan, Michele Provenzano, Cécile Saint-Martin, Cuilin Zhang, Yeyi Zhu, Sungyoung Auh, Russell De Souza, Andrea J Fawcett, Chandra Gruber, Eskedar Getie Mekonnen, Emily Mixter, Diana Sherifali, Robert H Eckel, John J Nolan, Louis H Philipson, Rebecca J Brown, Liana K Billings, Kristen Boyle, Tina Costacou, John M Dennis, Jose C Florez, Anna L Gloyn, Maria F Gomez, Peter A Gottlieb, Siri Atma W Greeley, Kurt Griffin, Andrew T Hattersley, Irl B Hirsch, Marie-France Hivert, Korey K Hood, Jami L Josefson, Soo Heon Kwak, Lori M Laffel, Siew S Lim, Ruth J F Loos, Ronald C W Ma, Chantal Mathieu, Nestoras Mathioudakis, James B Meigs, Shivani Misra, Viswanathan Mohan, Rinki Murphy, Richard Oram, Katharine R Owen, Susan E Ozanne, Ewan R Pearson, Wei Perng, Toni I Pollin, Rodica Pop-Busui, Richard E Pratley, Leanne M Redman, Maria J Redondo, Rebecca M Reynolds, Robert K Semple, Jennifer L Sherr, Emily K Sims, Arianne Sweeting, Tiinamaija Tuomi, Miriam S Udler, Kimberly K Vesco, Tina Vilsbøll, Robert Wagner, Stephen S Rich, Paul W Franks

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Precision medicine is part of the logical evolution of contemporary evidence-based medicine that seeks to reduce errors and optimize outcomes when making medical decisions and health recommendations. Diabetes affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, many of whom will develop life-threatening complications and die prematurely. Precision medicine can potentially address this enormous problem by accounting for heterogeneity in the etiology, clinical presentation and pathogenesis of common forms of diabetes and risks of complications. This second international consensus report on precision diabetes medicine summarizes the findings from a systematic evidence review across the key pillars of precision medicine (prevention, diagnosis, treatment, …

A Pancreatic Player In Dementia: Pathological Role For Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Accumulation In The Brain, Angelina S Bortoletto, Ronald J Parchem

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients have a markedly higher risk of developing dementia. While multiple factors contribute to this predisposition, one of these involves the increased secretion of amylin, or islet amyloid polypeptide, that accompanies the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Islet amyloid polypeptide accumulation has undoubtedly been implicated in various forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, but the exact mechanisms underlying islet amyloid polypeptide’s causative role in dementia are unclear. In this review, we have summarized the literature supporting the various mechanisms by which islet amyloid polypeptide accumulation may cause neuronal damage, ultimately leading to …

Mammalian Aging Driven By Transcription Going Awry, Brenna S Mccauley, Weiwei Dang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The mechanisms that underlie increased cryptic transcription during senescence and aging have been poorly understood. Sen et al. recently identified cryptic transcription start sites (cTSSs) and chromatin state changes that may contribute to cTSS activation in mammals. Their results indicate that enhancer-promoter conversion may drive cryptic transcription in senescence.

A Retrospective Review Of Social Deprivation Index And Maternal Outcomes With Placenta Accreta Spectrum From A Single Referral Center, Alison N Goulding, Karin A Fox, Christina C Reed, Bahram Salmanian, Alireza A Shamshirsaz, Kjersti M Aagaard

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective

Little is known about how community characteristics influence placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) outcomes. Our objective was to evaluate whether adverse maternal outcomes among pregnant people (gravidae) with PAS delivering at a single referral center differ by community-level measures of social deprivation.

Study Design

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of singleton gravidae with histopathology confirmed PAS delivering from January 2011 to June 2021 at a referral center. Data abstraction collected relevant patient information, including resident zip code, which was linked to Social Deprivation Index (SDI) score (a measure of area-level social deprivation). SDI scores were divided into quartiles for …

The Improving Medication Adherence In Adolescents And Young Adults Following Liver Transplantation (Imalt) Multisite Trial: Design And Trial Implementation Considerations, Eyal Shemesh, Sarah Duncan-Park, George Mazariegos, Rachel Annunziato, Ravinder Anand, Miguel Reyes-Mugica, Jeff Mitchell, Benjamin L Shneider

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Medication non-adherence is a leading cause of transplant rejection, organ loss, and death; yet no rigorous controlled study to date has shown compelling clinical benefits from an adherence-improving intervention. Non-adherent patients are less likely to participate in trials, and therefore, most studies enroll a majority of adherent patients who do not stand to benefit from the intervention, as they do not have the condition (non-adherence) under investigation. The improving Medication Adherence in adolescent Liver Transplant recipients trial specifically targets non-adherent patients to investigate whether a remote intervention to improve adherence results in reduced incidence of biopsy-confirmed rejection.

METHODS: Improving …

Views Of Adolescents And Young Adults With Cancer And Their Oncologists Toward Patients' Participation In Genomic Research, Amanda M Gutierrez, Jill O Robinson, Robin Raesz-Martinez, Isabel Canfield, Mary A Majumder, Sarah Scollon, Lauren R Desrosiers, Rebecca L Hsu, Wendy Allen-Rhoades, D Williams Parsons, Sharon E Plon, Amy L Mcguire, Janet Malek

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose:

With increased use of genomic testing in cancer research and clinical care, it is important to understand the perspectives and decision-making preferences of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer and their treating oncologists.

Methods:

We conducted an interview substudy of the BASIC3 Study, which enrolled newly diagnosed cancer patients <18 years of age with assent. Of 32 young adults (YAs) with cancer who reached the age of majority (AOM; 18 years) while on study, 12 were successfully approached and all consented to study continuation at AOM. Of those, seven completed an interview. Patients' oncologists, who enrolled and participated in return of clinical genomic results, were also interviewed (n = 12). Interviews were transcribed, deidentified, and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results:

YAs cited the possibility of helping others and advancing science as major reasons for their assent to initial study enrollment and their willingness to consent at AOM. YAs thought obtaining informed consent from research participants for …

Germline Pathogenic Smarca4 Variants In Neuroblastoma, Leora Witkowski, Kim E Nichols, Marjolijn Jongmans, Nienke Van Engelen, Ronald R De Krijger, Jennifer Herrera-Mullar, Lieve Tytgat, Armita Bahrami, Helen Mar Fan, Aimee L Davidson, Thomas Robertson, Michael Anderson, Martin Hasselblatt, Sharon E Plon, William D Foulkes

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Heterozygous germline pathogenic variants (GPVs) in SMARCA4, the gene encoding the ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling protein SMARCA4 (previously known as BRG1), predispose to several rare tumour types, including small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type, atypical teratoid and malignant rhabdoid tumor, and uterine sarcoma. The increase in germline testing of SMARCA4 in recent years has revealed putative GPVs affecting SMARCA4 in patients with other cancer types. Here we describe 11 patients with neuroblastoma, including four previously unreported cases, all of whom were found to harbour heterozygous germline variants in SMARCA4. Median age at diagnosis was 5 years (range 2 …

Tnf Is A Critical Cytokine In Age-Related Dry Eye Disease, Yashaswini Kelagere, Kaitlin K Scholand, Erica N Dejong, Andrea I Boyd, Zhiyuan Yu, Roger A Astley, Michelle C Callegan, Dawn Me Bowdish, Helen P Makarenkova, Cintia S De Paiva

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Aging is a complex biological process that is characterized by low-grade inflammation, called inflammaging. Aging affects multiple organs including eye and lacrimal gland. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a pleiotropic cytokine that participates in inflammation, activation of proteases such as cathepsin S, and formation of ectopic lymphoid organs. Using genetic and pharmacological approaches, we investigated the role of TNF in age-related dry eye disease, emphasizing the ocular surface and lacrimal gland inflammation. Our results show the increased protein and mRNA levels of TNF in aged lacrimal glands, accompanied by increased TNF, IL1β, IL-18, CCL5, CXCL1, IL-2, IL-2 receptor alpha (CD25), …

Conditional Deletion Of Cd25 In The Corneal Epithelium Reveals Sex Differences In Barrier Disruption, Anmar Abu-Romman, Kaitlin K Scholand, Sonali Pal-Ghosh, Zhiyuan Yu, Yashaswini Kelagere, Ghasem Yazdanpanah, Winston W-Y Kao, Vivien J Coulson-Thomas, Mary Ann Stepp, Cintia S De Paiva

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: IL-2 promotes activation, clonal expansion, and deletion of T cells. IL-2 signals through its heterotrimeric receptor (IL-2R) consisting of the CD25, CD122 and CD132 chains. CD25 knockout (KO) mice develop Sjögren Syndrome-like disease. This study investigates whether corneal CD25/IL-2 signaling is critical for ocular health.

METHODS: Eyes from C57BL/6 mice were collected and prepared for immunostaining or in-situ hybridization. Bulk RNA sequencing was performed on the corneal epithelium from wild-type and CD25KO mice. We generated a conditional corneal-specific deletion of CD25 in the corneal epithelium (CD25

RESULTS: In C57BL/6 mice, CD25 mRNA was expressed in ocular tissues. Protein expression …

The Improving Medication Adherence In Adolescents And Young Adults Following Liver Transplantation (Imalt) Multisite Trial: Design And Trial Implementation Considerations, Eyal Shemesh, Sarah Duncan-Park, George Mazariegos, Rachel Annunziato, Ravinder Anand, Miguel Reyes-Mugica, Jeff Mitchell, Benjamin L Shneider

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background/aims: Medication non-adherence is a leading cause of transplant rejection, organ loss, and death; yet no rigorous controlled study to date has shown compelling clinical benefits from an adherence-improving intervention. Non-adherent patients are less likely to participate in trials, and therefore, most studies enroll a majority of adherent patients who do not stand to benefit from the intervention, as they do not have the condition (non-adherence) under investigation. The improving Medication Adherence in adolescent Liver Transplant recipients trial specifically targets non-adherent patients to investigate whether a remote intervention to improve adherence results in reduced incidence of biopsy-confirmed rejection.

Methods: Improving …

The Role Of Alcohol Extract Of Cranberry In Improving Serum Indices Of Experimental Metaproterenol-Induced Heart Damage In Rats, Kimia Salmasi, Ali Hassanpour, Bahram Amouoghli Tabrizi, Sina Moghaddam

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Cranberry offers numerous cardiovascular benefits. According to several studies, this fruit promotes the oxidation of low‐density lipoprotein, enhances high‐density lipoprotein, reduces platelet coagulation, and improves vascular activity. Albino male rats were divided into five groups (n = 5 per group). The control group received intraperitoneal administration of normal saline. The second group was injected with metaproterenol (MET) 3 days a week for 4 weeks. The third, fourth, and fifth groups were given cranberry extract in doses of 75, 100, and 150, respectively, along with heart‐damaging drugs. Blood samples were collected and sent to the laboratory on the fourth weekend …

Current Perspectives On Mass Spectrometry-Based Immunopeptidomics: The Computational Angle To Tumor Antigen Discovery, Bing Zhang, Michal Bassani-Sternberg

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Identification of tumor antigens presented by the human leucocyte antigen (HLA) molecules is essential for the design of effective and safe cancer immunotherapies that rely on T cell recognition and killing of tumor cells. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based immunopeptidomics enables high-throughput, direct identification of HLA-bound peptides from a variety of cell lines, tumor tissues, and healthy tissues. It involves immunoaffinity purification of HLA complexes followed by MS profiling of the extracted peptides using data-dependent acquisition, data-independent acquisition, or targeted approaches. By incorporating DNA, RNA, and ribosome sequencing data into immunopeptidomics data analysis, the proteogenomic approach provides a powerful means for identifying …

Human Glp1r Variants Affecting Glp1r Cell Surface Expression Are Associated With Impaired Glucose Control And Increased Adiposity, Wenwen Gao, Lei Liu, Eunna Huh, Florence Gbahou, Erika Cecon, Masaya Oshima, Ludivine Houzé, Panagiotis Katsonis, Alan Hegron, Zhiran Fan, Guofei Hou, Guillaume Charpentier, Mathilde Boissel, Mehdi Derhourhi, Michel Marre, Beverley Balkau, Philippe Froguel, Raphael Scharfmann, Olivier Lichtarge, Julie Dam, Amélie Bonnefond, Jianfeng Liu, Ralf Jockers

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP1R) is a major drug target with several agonists being prescribed in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity 1, 2. The impact of genetic variability of GLP1R on receptor function and its association with metabolic traits are unclear with conflicting reports. Here, we performed a functional profiling of 60 GLP1R variants across four signaling pathways and revealed an unexpected diversity of phenotypes ranging from defective cell surface expression to complete or pathway-specific gain- (GoF) and loss-of-functions (LoF). The defective insulin secretion of GLP1R LoF variants was rescued by allosteric GLP1R ligands …

Best Practices For Effective Management Of Point Of Care Testing, Anil K Chokkalla, Brandy D Recio, Sridevi Devaraj

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, point-of-care testing has gained tremendous attention, particularly in acute care settings. The point-of-care testing landscape is rapidly expanding and being contemplated for any crucial test with a central laboratory turnaround time >25% of the clinical decision time. A typical point-of-care testing program within a large hospital system encompasses a multitude of operators utilizing a wide range of devices across multiple testing sites. Thus, managing a large point-of-care testing network remains a daunting task with challenges related to staffing, standardization, quality management, training and competency assessment, and data management. This review will focus on understanding the …

Scalable Nanopore Sequencing Of Human Genomes Provides A Comprehensive View Of Haplotype-Resolved Variation And Methylation, Mikhail Kolmogorov, Kimberley J Billingsley, Mira Mastoras, Melissa Meredith, Jean Monlong, Ryan Lorig-Roach, Mobin Asri, Pilar Alvarez Jerez, Laksh Malik, Ramita Dewan, Xylena Reed, Rylee M Genner, Kensuke Daida, Sairam Behera, Kishwar Shafin, Trevor Pesout, Jeshuwin Prabakaran, Paolo Carnevali, Jianzhi Yang, Arang Rhie, Sonja W Scholz, Bryan J Traynor, Karen H Miga, Miten Jain, Winston Timp, Adam M Phillippy, Mark Chaisson, Fritz J Sedlazeck, Cornelis Blauwendraat, Benedict Paten

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Long-read sequencing technologies substantially overcome the limitations of short-reads but have not been considered as a feasible replacement for population-scale projects, being a combination of too expensive, not scalable enough or too error-prone. Here we develop an efficient and scalable wet lab and computational protocol, Napu, for Oxford Nanopore Technologies long-read sequencing that seeks to address those limitations. We applied our protocol to cell lines and brain tissue samples as part of a pilot project for the National Institutes of Health Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias. Using a single PromethION flow cell, we can detect single nucleotide polymorphisms with …

The Interaction Between Autophagy, Helicobacter Pylori, And Gut Microbiota In Gastric Carcinogenesis, Ali Nabavi-Rad, Abbas Yadegar, Amir Sadeghi, Hamid Asadzadeh Aghdaei, Mohammad Reza Zali, Daniel J Klionsky, Yoshio Yamaoka

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori is the primary risk factor for the development of gastric cancer. Hindering our ability to comprehend the precise role of autophagy during H. pylori infection is the complexity of context-dependent autophagy signaling pathways. Recent and ongoing progress in understanding H. pylori virulence allows new frontiers of research for the crosstalk between autophagy and H. pylori. Novel approaches toward discovering autophagy signaling networks have further revealed their critical influence on the structure of gut microbiota and the metabolome. Here we intend to present a holistic view of the perplexing role of autophagy in H. pylori pathogenesis …

Supplemental Issue Of The Journal Of The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (Jaids): The Centers For Aids Research (Cfar) Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Pathway Initiative (Cdeipi), Alan E Greenberg, Anthony K Wutoh, Lisa Bowleg, Manya Magnus, Brandi Robinson, Lorena Segarra, Eric Refsland

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.