Digital Commons Network^™

C2h2 Zinc Finger Transcription Factors Associated With Hemoglobinopathies, Xing Zhang, Fangfang Xia, Xiaotian Zhang, Robert M Blumenthal, Xiaodong Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In humans, specific aberrations in β-globin results in sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia, symptoms of which can be ameliorated by increased expression of fetal globin (HbF). Two recent CRISPR-Cas9 screens, centered on ∼1500 annotated sequence-specific DNA binding proteins and performed in a human erythroid cell line that expresses adult hemoglobin, uncovered four groups of candidate regulators of HbF gene expression. They are (1) members of the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex proteins that are already known for HbF control; (2) seven C2H2 zinc finger (ZF) proteins, including some (ZBTB7A and BCL11A) already known for directly silencing the fetal γ-globin …

New Horizons In Hyperpolarized13c Mri, Myriam M Chaumeil, James A Bankson, Kevin M Brindle, Shdema Epstein, Ferdia A Gallagher, Martin Grashei, Caroline Guglielmetti, Joshua D Kaggie, Kayvan R Keshari, Stephan Knecht, Christoffer Laustsen, Andreas B Schmidt, Daniel Vigneron, Yi-Fen Yen, Franz Schilling

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Hyperpolarization techniques significantly enhance the sensitivity of magnetic resonance (MR) and thus present fascinating new directions for research and applications with in vivo MR imaging and spectroscopy (MRI/S). Hyperpolarized 13C MRI/S, in particular, enables real-time non-invasive assessment of metabolic processes and holds great promise for a diverse range of clinical applications spanning fields like oncology, neurology, and cardiology, with a potential for improving early diagnosis of disease, patient stratification, and therapy response assessment. Despite its potential, technical challenges remain for achieving clinical translation. This paper provides an overview of the discussions that took place at the international workshop "New Horizons …

Unveiling Gene Interactions In Alzheimer's Disease By Integrating Genetic And Epigenetic Data With A Network-Based Approach, Keith L Sanders, Astrid M Manuel, Andi Liu, Boyan Leng, Xiangning Chen, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a complex disease and the leading cause of dementia in older people. We aimed to uncover aspects of AD’s pathogenesis that may contribute to drug repurposing efforts by integrating DNA methylation and genetic data. Implementing the network-based tool, a dense module search of genome-wide association studies (dmGWAS), we integrated a large-scale GWAS dataset with DNA methylation data to identify gene network modules associated with AD. Our analysis yielded 286 significant gene network modules. Notably, the foremost module included the BIN1 gene, showing the largest GWAS signal, and the GNAS gene, the most significantly hypermethylated. We conducted …

Identification Of Novel F2-Isoprostane Metabolites By Specific Udp-Glucuronosyltransferases, Ginger L Milne, Marina S Nogueira, Benlian Gao, Stephanie C Sanchez, Warda Amin, Sarah Thomas, Camille Oger, Jean-Marie Galano, Harvey J Murff, Gong Yang, Thierry Durand

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) catalyze the conjugation of glucuronic acid with endogenous and exogenous lipophilic small molecules to facilitate their inactivation and excretion from the body. This represents approximately 35 % of all phase II metabolic transformations. Fatty acids and their oxidized eicosanoid derivatives can be metabolized by UGTs. F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs) are eicosanoids formed from the free radical oxidation of arachidonic acid. These molecules are potent vasoconstrictors and are widely used as biomarkers of endogenous oxidative damage. An increasing body of evidence demonstrates the efficacy of measuring the β-oxidation metabolites of F2-IsoPs rather than the unmetabolized F2-IsoPs to quantify oxidative damage in …

Deep Learning To Predict Rapid Progression Of Alzheimer's Disease From Pooled Clinical Trials: A Retrospective Study, Xiaotian Ma, Madison Shyer, Kristofer Harris, Dulin Wang, Yu-Chun Hsu, Christine Farrell, Nathan Goodwin, Sahar Anjum, Avram S Bukhbinder, Sarah Dean, Tanveer Khan, David Hunter, Paul E Schulz, Xiaoqian Jiang, Yejin Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The rate of progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) differs dramatically between patients. Identifying the most is critical because when their numbers differ between treated and control groups, it distorts the outcome, making it impossible to tell whether the treatment was beneficial. Much recent effort, then, has gone into identifying RPs. We pooled de-identified placebo-arm data of three randomized controlled trials (RCTs), EXPEDITION, EXPEDITION 2, and EXPEDITION 3, provided by Eli Lilly and Company. After processing, the data included 1603 mild-to-moderate AD patients with 80 weeks of longitudinal observations on neurocognitive health, brain volumes, and amyloid-beta (Aβ) levels. RPs were defined …

In Vitro Activity Of Cefepime/Taniborbactam And Comparator Agents Against Gram-Negative Bacterial Bloodstream Pathogens Recovered From Patients With Cancer, Bahgat Gerges, Joel Rosenblatt, Y-Lan Truong, Ying Jiang, Samuel A Shelburne, Anne-Marie Chaftari, Ray Hachem, Issam Raad

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Taniborbactam is a β-lactamase inhibitor that, when combined with cefepime, may offer a potential treatment option for patients with serious and resistant Gram-negative bacterial (GNB) pathogens.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated

METHODS: A total of 270 GNB pathogens (2019-23) isolated from patients with cancer were tested against cefepime/taniborbactam and comparator agents commonly used for these patients. CLSI-approved broth microdilution methods were used. MIC

RESULTS: Cefepime/taniborbactam showed highly potent activity against tested Enterobacterales, including isolates producing ESBLs and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales. At a provisional breakpoint of ≤16/4 mg/L, cefepime/taniborbactam inhibited most tested species of GNB pathogens, with overall 98.9% susceptibility, which was …

E-Cadherin Loss Drives Diffuse-Type Gastric Tumorigenesis Via Ezh2-Mediated Reprogramming, Gengyi Zou, Yuanjian Huang, Shengzhe Zhang, Kyung-Pil Ko, Bongjun Kim, Jie Zhang, Vishwa Venkatesan, Melissa P Pizzi, Yibo Fan, Sohee Jun, Na Niu, Huamin Wang, Shumei Song, Jaffer A Ajani, Jae-Il Park

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Diffuse-type gastric adenocarcinoma (DGAC) is a deadly cancer often diagnosed late and resistant to treatment. While hereditary DGAC is linked to CDH1 mutations, the role of CDH1/E-cadherin inactivation in sporadic DGAC tumorigenesis remains elusive. We discovered CDH1 inactivation in a subset of DGAC patient tumors. Analyzing single-cell transcriptomes in malignant ascites, we identified two DGAC subtypes: DGAC1 (CDH1 loss) and DGAC2 (lacking immune response). DGAC1 displayed distinct molecular signatures, activated DGAC-related pathways, and an abundance of exhausted T cells in ascites. Genetically engineered murine gastric organoids showed that Cdh1 knock-out (KO), KrasG12D, Trp53 KO (EKP) accelerates tumorigenesis with immune evasion …

Protective Effects Of The Postbiotic Lactobacillus Plantarum Md35 On Bone Loss In An Ovariectomized Mice Model, Ju-Yeong Myeong, Hye-Yeon Jung, Hyo-Seok Chae, Hyang Hyun Cho, Don-Kyu Kim, You-Jee Jang, Jae-Il Park

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is caused by estrogen deficiency, which impairs bone homeostasis, resulting in increased osteoclastic resorption without a corresponding increase in osteoblastic activity. Postbiotics have several therapeutic properties, including anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-osteoporotic effects. However, the beneficial effects of the postbiotic MD35 of Lactobacillus plantarum on bone have not been studied. In this study, we demonstrated that the postbiotic L. plantarum MD35, isolated from young radish water kimchi, influences osteoclast differentiation in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophage (BMM) culture. In addition, it was effective protecting against estrogen deficiency-induced bone loss in ovariectomized (OVX) mice, an animal model of postmenopausal osteoporosis. …

Clinical Efficacy Of Blood Derivatives On Wound Healing: A Systematic Review And Network Meta-Analysis, Yanhong Wu, Guang Peng, Yuzhi Wang, Jianwu Chen, Bin Zhang, Jianbing Tang, Biao Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study aims to evaluate the clinical effects of different blood derivatives on wound healing using network meta-analysis. PubMed, Embase, OVID, Web of Science, SCOPUS and Cochrane Central were searched to obtain studies about blood derivatives on wound healing until October 2023. R 4.2.0 and Stata 15.0 softwares were used for data analysis. Forty-four studies comprising 5164 patients were included. The results of network meta-analysis showed that the healing area from high to low was GF + ORCCB, ORCCB, GF, PRF, Unnas paste dressing, APG, PRP injection, PRP, PRP + thrombin gel, PPP, HPL, CT. The healing time from low …

Systemic Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin Alterations In Chronic Pancreatitis: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Study, Kristyn Gumpper-Fedus, Kaylin Chasser, Valentina Pita-Grisanti, Molly Torok, Timothy Pfau, Thomas A Mace, Rachel M Cole, Martha A Belury, Stacey Culp, Phil A Hart, Somashekar G Krishna, Luis F Lara, Mitchell L Ramsey, William Fisher, Evan L Fogel, Chris E Forsmark, Liang Li, Stephen Pandol, Walter G Park, Jose Serrano, Stephen K Van Den Eeden, Santhi Swaroop Vege, Dhiraj Yadav, Darwin L Conwell, Zobeida Cruz-Monserrate, Consortium For The Study Of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes, And Pancreatic Cancer (Cpdpc)

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a progressive fibroinflammatory disorder lacking therapies and biomarkers. Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is a proinflammatory cytokine elevated during inflammation that binds fatty acids (FAs) such as linoleic acid. We hypothesized that systemic NGAL could serve as a biomarker for CP and, with FAs, provide insights into inflammatory and metabolic alterations.

Methods: NGAL was measured by immunoassay, and FA composition was measured by gas chromatography in plasma (n = 171) from a multicenter study, including controls (n = 50), acute and recurrent acute pancreatitis (AP/RAP) (n = 71), and CP (n = 50). Peripheral blood mononuclear …

Does A Reduction In Receiving Assistance With Daily Activities Among Older Adults In Mexico Indicate An Increase In Unmet Needs Or A Decrease In Needs For Care?, Brian Downer, Rafael Samper-Ternent, Philip Cantu, Matthew Miller, Rebeca Wong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: The percentage of older adults in Mexico with difficulty completing activities of daily living (ADL) who receive assistance from family appears to be decreasing. We compared 2 birth cohorts of older adults in Mexico to investigate whether this trend reflects an increase in unmet caregiving needs or a decrease in the need for care.

METHODS: We selected Mexican Health and Aging Study participants aged 60-76 in 2001 (n = 4,805) and 2018 (n = 6,494). ADL tasks were dressing, walking, bathing, getting in and out of bed, and toileting. Participants who reported difficulty with an ADL were asked if …

Potential Impact Of Annual Vaccination With Reformulated Covid-19 Vaccines: Lessons From The Us Covid-19 Scenario Modeling Hub, Sung-Mok Jung, Sara L Loo, Emily Howerton, Lucie Contamin, Claire P Smith, Erica C Carcelén, Katie Yan, Samantha J Bents, John Levander, Jessi Espino, Joseph C Lemaitre, Koji Sato, Clifton D Mckee, Alison L Hill, Matteo Chinazzi, Jessica T Davis, Kunpeng Mu, Alessandro Vespignani, Erik T Rosenstrom, Sebastian A Rodriguez-Cartes, Julie S Ivy, Maria E Mayorga, Julie L Swann, Guido España, Sean Cavany, Sean M Moore, T Alex Perkins, Shi Chen, Rajib Paul, Daniel Janies, Jean-Claude Thill, Ajitesh Srivastava, Majd Al Aawar, Kaiming Bi, Shraddha Ramdas Bandekar, Anass Bouchnita, Spencer J Fox, Lauren Ancel Meyers, Przemyslaw Porebski, Srini Venkatramanan, Aniruddha Adiga, Benjamin Hurt, Brian Klahn, Joseph Outten, Jiangzhuo Chen, Henning Mortveit, Amanda Wilson, Stefan Hoops, Parantapa Bhattacharya, Dustin Machi, Anil Vullikanti, Bryan Lewis, Madhav Marathe, Harry Hochheiser, Michael C Runge, Katriona Shea, Shaun Truelove, Cécile Viboud, Justin Lessler

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to cause significant hospitalizations and deaths in the United States. Its continued burden and the impact of annually reformulated vaccines remain unclear. Here, we present projections of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the United States for the next 2 years under 2 plausible assumptions about immune escape (20% per year and 50% per year) and 3 possible CDC recommendations for the use of annually reformulated vaccines (no recommendation, vaccination for those aged 65 years and over, vaccination for all eligible age groups based on FDA approval).

METHODS AND FINDINGS: The COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub …

Does Emotional Distress Predict Worse Glycemic Control Over Time? Results From The Glycemia Reduction Approaches In Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study (Grade), Andrea L Cherrington, Ionut Bebu, Heidi Krause-Steinrauf, Claire J Hoogendoorn, Gladys Crespo-Ramos, Caroline Presley, Aanand D Naik, Ashok Balasubramanyam, Michaela R Gramzinski, Tina Killean, Valerie L Arends, Jeffrey S Gonzalez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To evaluate whether baseline levels of depressive symptoms and diabetes-specific distress are associated with glycemic control in Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study (GRADE), a large randomized controlled trial comparing the metabolic effects of four common glucose-lowering medications when combined with metformin in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Research design and methods: The primary and secondary outcomes were defined as an HbA1c value ≥7%, subsequently confirmed, and an HbA1c value >7.5%, subsequently confirmed, respectively. Separate Cox proportional hazards models assessed the association between baseline levels of each exposure of interest (depressive symptoms measured with …

Identifying Cancer Subtypes Based On Embryonic And Hematopoietic Stem Cell Signatures In Pan-Cancer, Jiali Lei, Jiangti Luo, Qian Liu, Xiaosheng Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Cancer cells with stem cell-like properties may contribute to cancer development and therapy resistance. The advancement of multi-omics technology has sparked interest in exploring cancer stemness from a multi-omics perspective. However, there is a limited number of studies that have attempted to subtype cancer by combining different types of stem cell signatures.

Methods: In this study, 10,323 cancer specimens from 33 TCGA cancer types were clustered based on the enrichment scores of six stemness gene sets, representing two types of stem cell backgrounds: embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).

Results: We identified four subtypes of pan-cancer, …

Druggable Site Near The Upper Vestibule Determines The High Affinity And P2x3 Homotrimer Selectivity Of Sivopixant/S-600918 And Its Analogue Ddtpa, Dong-Ping Wang, Meng Zhang, Ming Li, Xiao-Na Yang, Changzhu Li, Peng Cao, Michael X Zhu, Yun Tian, Ye Yu, Yun-Tao Lei

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and purpose: The P2X3 receptor, a trimeric ionotropic purinergic receptor, has emerged as a potential therapeutic target for refractory chronic cough (RCC). Nevertheless, gefapixant/AF-219, the only marketed P2X3 receptor antagonist, might lead taste disorders by modulating the human P2X2/3 (hP2X2/3) heterotrimer. Hence, in RCC drug development, compounds exhibiting strong affinity for the hP2X3 homotrimer and a weak affinity for the hP2X2/3 heterotrimer hold promise. An example of such a molecule is sivopixant/S-600918, a clinical Phase II RCC candidate with a reduced incidence of taste disturbance compared to gefapixant. Sivopixant and its analogue, (3-(4-([3-chloro-4-isopropoxyphenyl]amino)-3-(4-methylbenzyl)-2,6-dioxo-3,6-dihydro-1,3,5-triazin-1(2H)-yl)propanoic acid (DDTPA), exhibit both high affinity …

Flexible Bayesian Product Mixture Models For Vector Autoregressions, Suprateek Kundu, Joshua Lukemire

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Bayesian non-parametric methods based on Dirichlet process mixtures have seen tremendous success in various domains and are appealing in being able to borrow information by clustering samples that share identical parameters. However, such methods can face hurdles in heterogeneous settings where objects are expected to cluster only along a subset of axes or where clusters of samples share only a subset of identical parameters. We overcome such limitations by developing a novel class of product of Dirichlet process location-scale mixtures that enables independent clustering at multiple scales, which results in varying levels of information sharing across samples. First, we develop …

How Territoriality And Sociality Influence The Habitat Selection And Movements Of A Large Carnivore, K Whitney Hansen, Nathan Ranc, John Morgan, Neil R Jordan, J Weldon Mcnutt, Alan Wilson, Christopher C Wilmers

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

While territoriality is one of the key mechanisms influencing carnivore space use, most studies quantify resource selection and movement in the absence of conspecific influence or territorial structure. Our analysis incorporated social information in a resource selection framework to investigate mechanisms of territoriality and intra‐specific competition on the habitat selection of a large, social carnivore. We fit integrated step selection functions to 3‐h GPS data from 12 collared African wild dog packs in the Okavango Delta and estimated selection coefficients using a conditional Poisson likelihood with random effects. Packs selected for their neighbors' 30‐day boundary (defined as their 95% kernel …

Fear Antiviral Response Pathway Is Independent Of Interferons And Countered By Poxvirus Proteins, Emily A Rex, Dahee Seo, Sruthi Chappidi, Chelsea Pinkham, Sabrynna Brito Oliveira, Aaron Embry, David Heisler, Yang Liu, Moiz Munir, Karolin Luger, Neal M Alto, Flávio Guimarães Da Fonseca, Robert Orchard, Dustin C Hancks, Don B Gammon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The human facilitates chromatin transcription (FACT) complex is a chromatin remodeller composed of human suppressor of Ty 16 homologue (hSpt16) and structure-specific recognition protein-1 subunits that regulates cellular gene expression. Whether FACT regulates host responses to infection remained unclear. We identify a FACT-mediated, interferon-independent, antiviral pathway that restricts poxvirus replication. Cell culture and bioinformatics approaches suggest that early viral gene expression triggers nuclear accumulation of SUMOylated hSpt16 subunits required for the expression of E26 transformation-specific sequence-1 (ETS-1)-a transcription factor that activates virus restriction programs. However, biochemical studies show that poxvirus-encoded A51R proteins block ETS-1 expression by outcompeting structure-specific recognition protein-1 …

Reciprocal Relationships Between Stress And Depressive Symptoms: The Essential Role Of The Nucleus Accumbens, Yizhou Ma, Peter Kochunov, Mark D Kvarta, Tara Legates, Bhim M Adhikari, Joshua Chiappelli, Andrew Van Der Vaart, Eric L Goldwaser, Heather Bruce, Kathryn S Hatch, Si Gao, Shuo Chen, Ann Summerfelt, Thomas E Nichols, L Elliot Hong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Stress and depression have a reciprocal relationship, but the neural underpinnings of this reciprocity are unclear. We investigated neuroimaging phenotypes that facilitate the reciprocity between stress and depressive symptoms.

METHODS: In total, 22 195 participants (52.0% females) from the population-based UK Biobank study completed two visits (initial visit: 2006-2010, age = 55.0 ± 7.5 [40-70] years; second visit: 2014-2019; age = 62.7 ± 7.5 [44-80] years). Structural equation modeling was used to examine the longitudinal relationship between self-report stressful life events (SLEs) and depressive symptoms. Cross-sectional data were used to examine the overlap between neuroimaging correlates of SLEs and …

Rfx Transcription Factor In The Human-Associated Yeast Candida Albicans Regulates Adhesion To Oral Epithelium, Diana L Rodríguez, Elena Lindemann-Perez, J Christian Perez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Adhesion to mucosal surfaces is a critical step in many bacterial and fungal infections. Here, using a mouse model of oral infection by the human fungal pathobiont Candida albicans, we report the identification of a novel regulator of C. albicans adhesion to the oral mucosa. The regulator is a member of the regulatory factor X (RFX) family of transcription factors, which control cellular processes ranging from genome integrity in model yeasts to tissue differentiation in vertebrates. Mice infected with the C. albicans rfx1 deletion mutant displayed increased fungal burden in tongues compared to animals infected with the reference strain. High-resolution …

4r-Cembranoid Suppresses Glial Cells Inflammatory Phenotypes And Prevents Hippocampal Neuronal Loss In Lps-Treated Mice, Luis A Rojas-Colón, John B Redell, Pramod K Dash, Pedro E Vegas, Wanda Vélez-Torres

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chronic neuroinflammation has been implicated in neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis. A key feature of neuroinflammation is neuronal loss and glial activation, including microglia and astrocytes. 4R-cembranoid (4R) is a natural compound that inhibits hippocampal pro-inflammatory cytokines and increases memory function in mice. We used the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection model to study the effect of 4R on neuronal density and microglia and astrocyte activation. C57BL/6J wild-type mice were injected with LPS (5 mg/kg) and 2 h later received either 4R (6 mg/kg) or vehicle. Mice were sacrificed after 72 h for analysis of brain pathology. Confocal images of brain sections immunostained for …

Readiness Of Nociceptor Cell Bodies To Generate Spontaneous Activity Results From Background Activity Of Diverse Ion Channels And High Input Resistance, Jinbin Tian, Alexis G Bavencoffe, Michael X Zhu, Edgar T Walters

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Nociceptor cell bodies generate "spontaneous" discharge that can promote ongoing pain in persistent pain conditions. Little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Recordings from nociceptor cell bodies (somata) dissociated from rodent and human dorsal root ganglia have shown that previous pain in vivo is associated with low-frequency discharge controlled by irregular depolarizing spontaneous fluctuations of membrane potential (DSFs), likely produced by transient inward currents across the somal input resistance. Using mouse nociceptors, we show that DSFs are associated with high somal input resistance over a wide range of membrane potentials, including depolarized levels where DSFs approach action potential (AP) threshold. …

Recurrent Lymphoid And Myeloid Relapses Due To Treatment Cessations Reveal Natural History Of Ph-Positive B-All And Pose A Diagnostic Challenge, Shimin Hu, Elias J Jabbour, Collin Y Hu, Guilin Tang, Wei Wang, L Jeffrey Medeiros, Carlos Bueso-Ramos

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Temporal Changes In Treatment And Late Mortality And Morbidity In Adult Survivors Of Childhood Glioma: A Report From The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, Peter M K De Blank, Katharine R Lange, Mengqi Xing, Sedigheh Mirzaei Salehabadi, Deokumar Srivastava, Tara M Brinkman, Kirsten K Ness, Kevin C Oeffinger, Joseph Neglia, Kevin R Krull, Paul C Nathan, Rebecca Howell, Lucie M Turcotte, Wendy Leisenring, Gregory T Armstrong, M Fatih Okcu, Daniel C Bowers

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pediatric glioma therapy has evolved to delay or eliminate radiation for low-grade tumors. This study examined these temporal changes in therapy with long-term outcomes in adult survivors of childhood glioma. Among 2,501 5-year survivors of glioma in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study diagnosed 1970-1999, exposure to radiation decreased over time. Survivors from more recent eras were at lower risk of late mortality (≥5 years from diagnosis), severe/disabling/life-threatening chronic health conditions (CHCs) and subsequent neoplasms (SNs). Adjusting for treatment exposure (surgery only, chemotherapy, or any cranial radiation) attenuated this risk (for example, CHCs (1990s versus 1970s), relative risk (95% confidence interval), …

Loss-Of-Function Mutation In Prmt9 Causes Abnormal Synapse Development By Dysregulation Of Rna Alternative Splicing, Lei Shen, Xiaokuang Ma, Yuanyuan Wang, Zhihao Wang, Yi Zhang, Hoang Quoc Hai Pham, Xiaoqun Tao, Yuehua Cui, Jing Wei, Dimitri Lin, Tharindumala Abeywanada, Swanand Hardikar, Levon Halabelian, Noah Smith, Taiping Chen, Dalia Barsyte-Lovejoy, Shenfeng Qiu, Yi Xing, Yanzhong Yang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Protein arginine methyltransferase 9 (PRMT9) is a recently identified member of the PRMT family, yet its biological function remains largely unknown. Here, by characterizing an intellectual disability associated PRMT9 mutation (G189R) and establishing a Prmt9 conditional knockout (cKO) mouse model, we uncover an important function of PRMT9 in neuronal development. The G189R mutation abolishes PRMT9 methyltransferase activity and reduces its protein stability. Knockout of Prmt9 in hippocampal neurons causes alternative splicing of ~1900 genes, which likely accounts for the aberrant synapse development and impaired learning and memory in the Prmt9 cKO mice. Mechanistically, we discover a methylation-sensitive protein-RNA interaction between …

Recurrent Nontraumatic Subgaleal Hematomas In A Pediatric Patient With Sickle Cell Disease, Irtiza N Sheikh, Olayinka Okeleji, Rabya Afzal, Eliana Bonfante, Monica Kodakandla, Neethu M Menon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Spontaneous subgaleal hematoma in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) is a rare occurrence that can present with symptoms mimicking ischemic stroke, a known complication of SCD. However, unlike ischemic stroke, subgaleal hematoma is nonlethal and can be managed conservatively without major sequelae. Here, we present the case of an adolescent with SCD who presented with 2 episodes of subgaleal and epidural hematomas, 2 years apart. The latter episode occurred while on crizanlizumab, an anti-P-selectin antibody, approved for use in SCD in 2019 to reduce the number of acute pain crises. We demonstrate the diagnosis of subgaleal hematoma and …

Oral Decitabine And Cedazuridine Plus Venetoclax For Older Or Unfit Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Phase 2 Study, Alexandre Bazinet, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Nicholas Short, Yesid Alvarado, Alex Bataller, Tareq Abuasab, Rabiul Islam, Kathryn Montalbano, Ghayas Issa, Abhishek Maiti, Musa Yilmaz, Nitin Jain, Lucia Masarova, Steven Kornblau, Elias Jabbour, Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, Caitlin R Rausch, Sherry Pierce, Courtney D Dinardo, Tapan Kadia, Naval Daver, Marina Konopleva, Xuelin Huang, Hagop Kantarjian, Farhad Ravandi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Hypomethylating agents combined with venetoclax are effective regimens in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. Decitabine and cedazuridine (ASTX727) is an oral formulation of decitabine that achieves equivalent area-under-curve exposure to intravenous decitabine. We performed a single centre phase 2 study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ASTX727 plus venetoclax.

Methods: This study enrolled patients with newly diagnosed (frontline treatment group) acute myeloid leukaemia who were ineligible for intensive chemotherapy (aged ≥75 years, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG] performance status of 2-3, or major comorbidities) or relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia. …

Trajectories Of Health Care Contact Days For Patients With Stage Iv Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Arjun Gupta, Paul Nguyen, Danielle Kain, Andrew G Robinson, Amit A Kulkarni, David H Johnson, Carolyn J Presley, Anne H Blaes, Gabrielle B Rocque, Ishani Ganguli, Christopher M Booth, Timothy P Hanna

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Importance: Patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) experience substantial morbidity and mortality. Contact days (ie, the number of days with health care contact outside the home) measure how much of a person's life is consumed by health care, yet little is known about patterns of contact days for patients with NSCLC.

Objective: To describe the trajectories of contact days in patients with stage IV NSCLC and how trajectories vary by receipt of cancer-directed treatment in routine practice.

Design, setting, and participants: A retrospective, population-based decedent cohort study was conducted in Ontario, Canada. Participants included adults aged 20 …

Combined Ion Beam Irradiation Platform And 3d Fluorescence Microscope For Cellular Cancer Research, Andrew D Harken, Naresh T Deoli, Citlali Perez Campos, Brian Ponnaiya, Guy Garty, Grace S Lee, Malte J Casper, Shikhar Dhingra, Wenze Li, Gary W Johnson, Sally A Amundson, Peter W Grabham, Elizabeth M C Hillman, David J Brenner

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To improve particle radiotherapy, we need a better understanding of the biology of radiation effects, particularly in heavy ion radiation therapy, where global responses are observed despite energy deposition in only a subset of cells. Here, we integrated a high-speed swept confocally-aligned planar excitation (SCAPE) microscope into a focused ion beam irradiation platform to allow real-time 3D structural and functional imaging of living biological samples during and after irradiation. We demonstrate dynamic imaging of the acute effects of irradiation on 3D cultures of U87 human glioblastoma cells, revealing characteristic changes in cellular movement and intracellular calcium signaling following ionizing irradiation.

Cytoplasmic Redox Imbalance In The Thioredoxin System Activates Hsf1 And Results In Hyperaccumulation Of The Sequestrase Hsp42 With Misfolded Proteins, Davi Goncalves, Duong Long Duy, Sara Peffer, Kevin A Morano

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cells employ multiple systems to maintain homeostasis when experiencing environmental stress. For example, the folding of nascent polypeptides is exquisitely sensitive to proteotoxic stressors including heat, pH, and oxidative stress, and is safeguarded by a network of protein chaperones that concentrate potentially toxic misfolded proteins into transient assemblies to promote folding or degradation. The redox environment itself is buffered by both cytosolic and organellar thioredoxin and glutathione pathways. How these systems are linked is poorly understood. Here, we determine that specific disruption of the cytosolic thioredoxin system resulted in constitutive activation of the heat shock response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and …