Digital Commons Network^™

Moonshots For Aging, Sandeep Kumar, Timothy R Peterson

Open Access Publications

As the global population ages, there is increased interest in living longer and improving one's quality of life in later years. However, studying aging - the decline in body function - is expensive and time-consuming. And despite research success to make model organisms live longer, there still aren't really any feasible solutions for delaying aging in humans. With space travel, scientists and engineers couldn't know what it would take to get to the moon. They had to extrapolate from theory and shorter-range tests. Perhaps with aging, we need a similar moonshot philosophy. And though "shot" might imply medicine, perhaps we …

Beyond Just A Tight Fortress: Contribution Of Stroma To Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition In Pancreatic Cancer, Ashenafi Bulle, Kian-Huat Lim

Open Access Publications

Novel effective treatment is direly needed for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Therapeutics that target the driver mutations, especially the KRAS oncoprotein and its effector cascades, have been ineffective. It is increasing clear that the extensive fibro-inflammatory stroma (or desmoplasia) of PDAC plays an active role in the progression and therapeutic resistance of PDAC. The desmoplastic stroma is composed of dense extracellular matrix (ECM) deposited mainly by the cancer-associated-fibroblasts (CAFs) and infiltrated with various types of immune cells. The dense ECM functions as a physical barrier that limits tumor vasculatures and distribution of therapeutics to PDAC cells. In addition, …

The Cost Of A Single Concussion In American High School Football: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Aaron M. Yengo-Kahn, Patrick D. Kelly, David C. Liles, Lydia J. Mckeithan, Candace J. Grisham, Muhammad Saad Khan, Timothy Lee, Andrew M. Kuhn, Christopher M. Bonfield, Scott L. Zuckerman

Open Access Publications

Aim: The potential financial burden of American football-related concussions (FRC) is unknown. Our objective was to describe the healthcare costs associated with an FRC and determine factors associated with increased costs.

Methodology/results: A retrospective cohort study of concussed high school football players presenting between November 2017 and March 2020 was undertaken; 144 male high school football players were included. Total costs were about $115,000, for an average direct healthcare cost of $800.10/concussion. Visiting the emergency department (β = 502.29, 95% CI: 105.79-898.61; p = 0.01), the initial post-concussion symptom scale score (β = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.11-0.66; p = 0.01) …

Sarm1 Depletion Rescues Nmnat1-Dependent Photoreceptor Cell Death And Retinal Degeneration, Yo Sasaki, Hiroki Kakita, Shunsuke Kubota, Abdoulaye Sene, Tae Jun Lee, Norimitsu Ban, Zhenyu Dong, Joseph B. Lin, Sanford L. Boye, Aaron Diantonio, Shannon E. Boye, Rajendra S. Apte, Jeffrey Milbrandt

Open Access Publications

Leber congenital amaurosis type nine is an autosomal recessive retinopathy caused by mutations of the NAD

Role Of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase In Isoflurane Conditioning-Induced Neurovascular Protection In Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Umeshkumar Athiraman, Keshav Jayaraman, Meizi Liu, Tusar Giri, Jane Yuan, Gregory J Zipfel

Open Access Publications

Background Delayed cerebral ischemia remains a common and profound risk factor for poor outcome after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The aim of our current study is to define the role of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in isoflurane conditioning-induced neurovascular protection after SAH. Methods and Results Ten- to 14-week-old male wild-type mice (C57BL/6) as controls and eNOS knockout male mice (strain # 002684) were obtained for the study. Animals underwent either sham surgery, SAH surgery, or SAH with isoflurane conditioning. Anesthetic post conditioning was performed with isoflurane 2% for 1 hour, 1 hour after SAH. Normothermia was maintained with the homeothermic …

Burst Mitofusin Activation Reverses Neuromuscular Dysfunction In Murine Cmt2a, Antonietta Franco, Xiawei Dang, Emily K. Walton, Joshua N. Ho, Barbara Zablocka, Cindy Ly, Timothy M. Miller, Robert H. Baloh, Michael E. Shy, Andrew S. Yoo, Gerald W. Dorn

Open Access Publications

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2A (CMT2A) is an untreatable childhood peripheral neuropathy caused by mutations of the mitochondrial fusion protein, mitofusin (MFN) 2. Here, pharmacological activation of endogenous normal mitofusins overcame dominant inhibitory effects of CMT2A mutants in reprogrammed human patient motor neurons, reversing hallmark mitochondrial stasis and fragmentation independent of causal

The Fgf8 Subfamily (Fgf8, Fgf17 And Fgf18) Is Required For Closure Of The Embryonic Ventral Body Wall, Michael Boylan, Matthew J Anderson, David M Ornitz, Mark Lewandoski

Open Access Publications

The closure of the embryonic ventral body wall in amniotes is an important morphogenetic event and is essential for life. Defects in human ventral wall closure are a major class of birth defect and a significant health burden. Despite this, very little is understood about how the ventral body wall is formed. Here, we show that fibroblast growth factor (FGF) ligands FGF8, FGF17 and FGF18 are essential for this process. Conditional mouse mutants for these genes display subtle migratory defects in the abdominal muscles of the ventral body wall and an enlarged umbilical ring, through which the internal organs are …

Covid-19-Associated Acute Kidney Injury: Consensus Report Of The 25th Acute Disease Quality Initiative (Adqi) Workgroup, Mitra K Nadim, Anitha Vijayan, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Kidney involvement in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is common, and can range from the presence of proteinuria and haematuria to acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT; also known as kidney replacement therapy). COVID-19-associated AKI (COVID-19 AKI) is associated with high mortality and serves as an independent risk factor for all-cause in-hospital death in patients with COVID-19. The pathophysiology and mechanisms of AKI in patients with COVID-19 have not been fully elucidated and seem to be multifactorial, in keeping with the pathophysiology of AKI in other patients who are critically ill. Little is known about the …

Acute Kidney Injury Pathology And Pathophysiology: A Retrospective Review, Joseph P. Gaut, Helen Liapis

Open Access Publications

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is the clinical term used for decline or loss of renal function. It is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and high morbidity and mortality. However, not all causes of AKI lead to severe consequences and some are reversible. The underlying pathology can be a guide for treatment and assessment of prognosis. The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes guidelines recommend that the cause of AKI should be identified if possible. Renal biopsy can distinguish specific AKI entities and assist in patient management. This review aims to show the pathology of AKI, including glomerular and tubular diseases.

Proceedings From The Fourth International Symposium On Sigma-2 Receptors: Role In Health And Disease, Nicholas J Izzo, Martí Colom-Cadena, Aladdin A Riad, Jinbin Xu, Meharvan Singh, Carmen Abate, Michael A Cahill, Tara L Spires-Jones, Wayne D Bowen, Robert H Mach, Susan M Catalano

Open Access Publications

The sigma-2 receptor (S2R) complex has been implicated in central nervous system disorders ranging from anxiety and depression to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). The proteins comprising the S2R complex impact processes including autophagy, cholesterol synthesis, progesterone signaling, lipid membrane-bound protein trafficking, and receptor stabilization at the cell surface. While there has been much progress in understanding the role of S2R in cellular processes and its potential therapeutic value, a great deal remains unknown. The

Med19 Regulates Adipogenesis And Maintenance Of White Adipose Tissue Mass By Mediating Pparγ-Dependent Gene Expression, John M Dean, Anyuan He, Min Tan, Jun Wang, Dongliang Lu, Babak Razani, Irfan J Lodhi

Open Access Publications

The Mediator complex relays regulatory signals from gene-specific transcription factors to the basal transcriptional machinery. However, the role of individual Mediator subunits in different tissues remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that MED19 is essential for adipogenesis and maintenance of white adipose tissue (WAT) by mediating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) transcriptional activity. MED19 knockdown blocks white adipogenesis, but not brown adipogenesis or C2C12 myoblast differentiation. Adipose-specific MED19 knockout (KO) in mice results in a striking loss of WAT, whitening of brown fat, hepatic steatosis, and insulin resistance. Inducible adipose-specific MED19 KO in adult animals also results in lipodystrophy, demonstrating its …

Isg15 Connects Autophagy And Ifn-Γ-Dependent Control Of Toxoplasma Gondii Infection In Human Cells, Jaya Bhushan, Joshua B Radke, Yi-Chieh Perng, Michael Mcallaster, Deborah J Lenschow, Herbert W Virgin, L David Sibley

Open Access Publications

The intracellular protozoan parasite

Alternative Splicing During The Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii Cell Cycle, Manishi Pandey, Gary D Stormo, Susan K Dutcher

Open Access Publications

Genome-wide analysis of transcriptome data in

Ss-31 And Nmn: Two Paths To Improve Metabolism And Function In Aged Hearts, Jeremy A Whitson, Alessandro Bitto, Huiliang Zhang, Mariya T Sweetwyne, Rene Coig, Saakshi Bhayana, Eric G Shankland, Lu Wang, Theo K Bammler, Kathryn F Mills, Shin-Ichiro Imai, Kevin E Conley, David J Marcinek, Peter S Rabinovitch

Open Access Publications

The effects of two different mitochondrial-targeted drugs, SS-31 and NMN, were tested on Old mouse hearts. After treatment with the drugs, individually or Combined, heart function was examined by echocardiography. SS-31 partially reversed an age-related decline in diastolic function while NMN fully reversed an age-related deficiency in systolic function at a higher workload. Metabolomic analysis revealed that both NMN and the Combined treatment increased nicotinamide and 1-methylnicotinamide levels, indicating greater NAD

Spontaneous Restoration Of Functional Β-Cell Mass In Obese Sm/J Mice, Mario A Miranda, Caryn Carson, Celine L St Pierre, Juan F Macias-Velasco, Jing W Hughes, Marcus Kunzmann, Heather Schmidt, Jessica P Wayhart, Heather A Lawson

Open Access Publications

Maintenance of functional β-cell mass is critical to preventing diabetes, but the physiological mechanisms that cause β-cell populations to thrive or fail in the context of obesity are unknown. High fat-fed SM/J mice spontaneously transition from hyperglycemic-obese to normoglycemic-obese with age, providing a unique opportunity to study β-cell adaptation. Here, we characterize insulin homeostasis, islet morphology, and β-cell function during SM/J's diabetic remission. As they resolve hyperglycemia, obese SM/J mice dramatically increase circulating and pancreatic insulin levels while improving insulin sensitivity. Immunostaining of pancreatic sections reveals that obese SM/J mice selectively increase β-cell mass but not α-cell mass. Obese SM/J …

Neurofibromatosis 1 - Mutant Microglia Exhibit Sexually-Dimorphic Cyclic Amp-Dependent Purinergic Defects, Nirmeen Elmadany, Francesca Logiacco, Alice Buonfiglioli, Verena C Haage, Elizabeth C Wright-Jin, Alexander Schattenberg, Roxane M Papawassiliou, Helmut Kettenmann, Marcus Semtner, David H Gutmann

Open Access Publications

As critical regulators of brain homeostasis, microglia are influenced by numerous factors, including sex and genetic mutations. To study the impact of these factors on microglia biology, we employed genetically engineered mice that model Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a disorder characterized by clinically relevant sexually dimorphic differences. While microglia phagocytic activity was reduced in both male and female heterozygous Nf1 mutant (Nf1+/-) mice, purinergic control of phagocytosis was only affected in male Nf1+/- mice. ATP-induced P2Y-mediated membrane currents and P2RY12-dependent laser lesion-induced accumulation of microglial processes were also only impaired in male, but not female Nf1+/-, microglia. These defects resulted …

Striatal Cholinergic Interneuron Numbers Are Increased In A Rodent Model Of Dystonic Cerebral Palsy, Sushma Gandham, Yearam Tak, Bhooma R Aravamuthan

Open Access Publications

Neonatal brain injury leading to cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of childhood dystonia, a painful and functionally debilitating movement disorder. Rare monogenic etiologies of dystonia have been associated with striatal cholinergic interneuron (ChI) pathology. However it is unclear whether striatal ChI pathology is also associated with dystonia following neonatal brain injury. We used unbiased stereology to estimate striatal ChI and parvalbumin-positive GABAergic interneuron (PVI) numbers in a rodent model of neonatal brain injury that demonstrates electrophysiological markers of dystonia and spasticity. Striatal ChI numbers are increased following neonatal brain injury while PVI numbers are unchanged. These numbers …

Esophageal Baseline Impedance From High-Resolution Impedance Manometry Correlates With Mean Nocturnal Baseline Impedance From Ph-Impedance Monitoring, Anthony Horton, Brian Sullivan, Katie Charles, Thasha Mcintosh, Andrea Davis, Ziad Gellad, Rahul Shimpi, C Prakash Gyawali, Amit Patel

Open Access Publications

Background/Aims: Esophageal baseline impedance (BI) can be extracted from pH-impedance tracings as mean nocturnal baseline impedance (MNBI), and from high-resolution impedance manometry (HRIM), but it is unknown if values are similar between acquisition methods across HRIM manufacturers. We aim to assess correlations between MNBI and BI from HRIM (BI-HRIM) from 2 HRIM manufacturers in the setting of physiologic acid exposure time (AET).

Methods: HRIM and pH-impedance monitoring demonstrating physiologic AET (< 4%) off proton pump inhibitors were required. BI-HRIM was extracted as the average from 5 cm and 10 cm above the lower esophageal sphincter. Distal BI-HRIM (DBI-HRIM) was also extracted from the most distal channel (Medtronic studies). MNBI was extracted from 6 channels. Concordance between BI-HRIM across manufacturers with MNBI was analyzed.

Results: Thirty-six patients met the inclusion criteria (59.6 ± 1.7 years; 22% female; body mass index 30.5 ± 0.7; AET 1.6 ± 0.2%). Although MNBI was similar at all …

Adaptation Of Arginine Synthesis Among Uropathogenic Branches Of The Escherichia Coli Phylogeny Reveals Adjustment To The Urinary Tract Habitat, Michael E Hibbing, Karen W Dodson, Vasilios Kalas, Swaine L Chen, Scott J Hultgren

Open Access Publications

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are predominantly caused by uropathogenic

Digenic Variants In The Fgf21 Signaling Pathway Associated With Severe Insulin Resistance And Pseudoacromegaly, Stephen I Stone, Daniel J Wegner, Jennifer A Wambach, F Sessions Cole, Fumihiko Urano, David M Ornitz

Open Access Publications

Insulin-mediated pseudoacromegaly (IMPA) is a rare disease of unknown etiology. Here we report a 12-year-old female with acanthosis nigricans, hirsutism, and acromegalic features characteristic of IMPA. The subject was noted to have normal growth hormone secretion, with extremely elevated insulin levels. Studies were undertaken to determine a potential genetic etiology for IMPA. The proband and her family members underwent whole exome sequencing. Functional studies were undertaken to validate the pathogenicity of candidate variant alleles. Whole exome sequencing identified monoallelic, predicted deleterious variants in genes that mediate fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) signaling,

Integrase-Rna Interactions Underscore The Critical Role Of Integrase In Hiv-1 Virion Morphogenesis, Jennifer L. Elliott, Jenna E. Eschbach, Pratibha C. Koneru, Wen Li, Maritza Puray-Chavez, Dana Townsend, Dana Q. Lawson, Alan N. Engelman, Mamuka Kvaratskhelia, Sebla B. Kutluay

Open Access Publications

A large number of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) integrase (IN) alterations, referred to as class II substitutions, exhibit pleiotropic effects during virus replication. However, the underlying mechanism for the class II phenotype is not known. Here we demonstrate that all tested class II IN substitutions compromised IN-RNA binding in virions by one of the three distinct mechanisms: (i) markedly reducing IN levels thus precluding the formation of IN complexes with viral RNA; (ii) adversely affecting functional IN multimerization and consequently impairing IN binding to viral RNA; and (iii) directly compromising IN-RNA interactions without substantially affecting IN levels or functional …

Interplay Of Rfx Transcription Factors 1, 2 And 3 In Motile Ciliogenesis, Sylvain Lemeille, Marie Paschaki, Dominique Baas, Laurette Morlé, Jean-Luc Duteyrat, Aouatef Ait-Lounis, Emmanuèle Barras, Fabien Soulavie, Julie Jerber, Joëlle Thomas, Yong Zhang, Michael J. Holtzman, W Stephen Kistler, Walter Reith, Bénédicte Durand

Open Access Publications

Cilia assembly is under strict transcriptional control during animal development. In vertebrates, a hierarchy of transcription factors (TFs) are involved in controlling the specification, differentiation and function of multiciliated epithelia. RFX TFs play key functions in the control of ciliogenesis in animals. Whereas only one RFX factor regulates ciliogenesis in C. elegans, several distinct RFX factors have been implicated in this process in vertebrates. However, a clear understanding of the specific and redundant functions of different RFX factors in ciliated cells remains lacking. Using RNA-seq and ChIP-seq approaches we identified genes regulated directly and indirectly by RFX1, RFX2 and RFX3 …

Chamber-Specific Transcriptional Responses In Atrial Fibrillation, Catherine E Lipovsky, Jesus Jimenez, Qiusha Guo, Gang Li, Tiankai Yin, Stephanie C Hicks, Somya Bhatnagar, Kentaro Takahashi, David M Zhang, Brittany D Brumback, Uri Goldsztejn, Rangarajan D Nadadur, Carlos Perez-Cervantez, Ivan P Moskowitz, Shaopeng Liu, Bo Zhang, Stacey L Rentschler

Open Access Publications

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, yet the molecular signature of the vulnerable atrial substrate is not well understood. Here, we delineated a distinct transcriptional signature in right versus left atrial cardiomyocytes (CMs) at baseline and identified chamber-specific gene expression changes in patients with a history of AF in the setting of end-stage heart failure (AF+HF) that are not present in heart failure alone (HF). We observed that human left atrial (LA) CMs exhibited Notch pathway activation and increased ploidy in AF+HF but not in HF alone. Transient activation of Notch signaling within adult CMs in a …

Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: Progress And Challenges In Eight South Asian And Southeast Asian Countries, Sumanth Gandra, Gerardo Alvarez-Uria, Paul Turner, Jyoti Joshi, Direk Limmathurotsakul, H. Rogier Van Doorn

Open Access Publications

SUMMARYAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious global health threat and is predicted to cause significant health and economic impacts, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). AMR surveillance is critical in LMICs due to high burden of bacterial infections; however, conducting AMR surveillance in resource-limited settings is constrained by poorly functioning health systems, scarce financial resources, and lack of skilled personnel. In 2015, the United Nations World Health Assembly endorsed the World Health Organization's Global Action Plan to tackle AMR; thus, several countries are striving to improve their AMR surveillance capacity, including making significant investments and establishing and expanding surveillance …

Anti-Human Trem2 Induces Microglia Proliferation And Reduces Pathology In An Alzheimer's Disease Model, Shoutang Wang, Carla M. Yuede, Susan Gilfillan, Marco Colonna, Et Al

Open Access Publications

TREM2 is a receptor for lipids expressed in microglia. The R47H variant of human TREM2 impairs ligand binding and increases Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk. In mouse models of amyloid β (Aβ) accumulation, defective TREM2 function affects microglial response to Aβ plaques, exacerbating tissue damage, whereas TREM2 overexpression attenuates pathology. Thus, AD may benefit from TREM2 activation. Here, we examined the impact of an anti-human TREM2 agonistic mAb, AL002c, in a mouse AD model expressing either the common variant (CV) or the R47H variant of TREM2. Single-cell RNA-seq of microglia after acute systemic administration of AL002c showed induction of proliferation in …

Higher Csf Strem2 And Microglia Activation Are Associated With Slower Rates Of Beta-Amyloid Accumulation, Michael Ewers, Laura Piccio, Carlos Cruchaga, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Microglia activation is the brain's major immune response to amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Both cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of soluble TREM2 (sTREM2), a biomarker of microglia activation, and microglia PET are increased in AD; however, whether an increase in these biomarkers is associated with reduced amyloid-beta (Aβ) accumulation remains unclear. To address this question, we pursued a two-pronged translational approach. Firstly, in non-demented and demented individuals, we tested CSF sTREM2 at baseline to predict (i) amyloid PET changes over ∼2 years and (ii) tau PET cross-sectionally assessed in a subset of patients. We found higher CSF sTREM2 associated …

Amygdalin Promotes Fracture Healing Through Tgf- Β/Smad Signaling In Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Jun Ying, Jie Shen, Et Al

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Hepatic Lipids Promote Liver Metastasis, Yongjia Li, Xinming Su, Nidhi Rohatgi, Yan Zhang, Jonathan R Brestoff, Kooresh I Shoghi, Yalin Xu, Clay F Semenkovich, Charles A Harris, Lindsay L Peterson, Katherine N Weilbaecher, Steven L Teitelbaum, Wei Zou

Open Access Publications

Obesity predisposes to cancer and a virtual universality of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the impact of hepatic steatosis on liver metastasis is enigmatic. We find that while control mice were relatively resistant to hepatic metastasis, those which were lipodystrophic or obese, with NAFLD, had a dramatic increase in breast cancer and melanoma liver metastases. NAFLD promotes liver metastasis by reciprocal activation initiated by tumor-induced triglyceride lipolysis in juxtaposed hepatocytes. The lipolytic products are transferred to cancer cells via fatty acid transporter protein 1, where they are metabolized by mitochondrial oxidation to promote tumor growth. The histology of human …

Malignant Cell-Specific Cxcl14 Promotes Tumor Lymphocyte Infiltration In Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Anuraag Parikh, Juneho Shin, William Faquin, Derrick T Lin, Itay Tirosh, John B Sunwoo, Sidharth V Puram

Open Access Publications

OBJECTIVES: To explore lymphocyte infiltration as a potential mechanism behind CXCL14-mediated tumor growth suppression in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

METHODS: We analyzed single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from OSCC to identify expression changes among malignant cells in lymph nodes (LN) versus primary tumors. CXCL14 expression in murine OSCC cell lines was quantified using qRT-PCR. Short hairpin RNA knockdown of CXCL14 was performed in mouse oral cavity (MOC)1 cells, and CXCL14 overexpression was performed in MOC2 cells. Cells in each condition were injected into C57BL/6 mice with and without T cell depletion, and tumor volume was measured. At 30 …

Co-Clinical Imaging Resource Program (Cirp): Bridging The Translational Divide To Advance Precision Medicine, Kooresh I. Shoghi, Richard Laforest, Daniel S. Marcus, Et Al

Open Access Publications

The National Institutes of Health's (National Cancer Institute) precision medicine initiative emphasizes the biological and molecular bases for cancer prevention and treatment. Importantly, it addresses the need for consistency in preclinical and clinical research. To overcome the translational gap in cancer treatment and prevention, the cancer research community has been transitioning toward using animal models that more fatefully recapitulate human tumor biology. There is a growing need to develop best practices in translational research, including imaging research, to better inform therapeutic choices and decision-making. Therefore, the National Cancer Institute has recently launched the Co-Clinical Imaging Research Resource Program (CIRP). Its …