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Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Altered Biological Characteristics Of Chorionic Stem Cells From Women With Gestational Diabetes, Liyun Chen, Chung-Teng Wang, Nicholas R Forsyth, Pensee Wu

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Gestational diabetes (GDM) is a common complication of pregnancy. The impact of pregnancy complications on placental function suggests that extraembryonic stem cells in the placenta may also be affected during pregnancy. Neonatal tissue-derived stem cells, with the advantages of their differentiation capacity and non-invasive isolation processes, have been proposed as a promising therapeutic avenue for GDM management through potential cell therapy approaches. However, the influence of GDM on autologous stem cells remains unclear. Thus, studies that provide comprehensive understanding of stem cells isolated from women with GDM are essential to guide future clinical applications.

METHODS: Human chorionic membrane-derived stem …

Interleukin-22 Inhibits Respiratory Syncytial Virus Production By Blocking Virus-Mediated Subversion Of Cellular Autophagy, Sudipta Das, Claudette St Croix, Misty Good, Jie Chen, Jinming Zhao, Sanmei Hu, Mark Ross, Michael M Myerburg, Joseph M Pilewski, John Williams, Sally E Wenzel, Jay K Kolls, Anuradha Ray, Prabir Ray

Open Access Publications

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can cause severe bronchiolitis in infants requiring hospitalization, whereas the elderly and immunocompromised are prone to RSV-induced pneumonia. RSV primarily infects lung epithelial cells. Given that no vaccine against RSV is currently available, we tested the ability of the epithelial-barrier protective cytokine interleukin-22 (IL-22) to control RSV production. When used in a therapeutic modality, IL-22 efficiently blunted RSV production from infected human airway and alveolar epithelial cells and IL-22 administration drastically reduced virus titer in the lungs of infected newborn mice. RSV infection resulted in increased expression of LC3B, a key component of the cellular …

Duodenal Microbiota In Stunted Undernourished Children With Enteropathy, Robert Y Chen, Vanderlene L Kung, Matthew C Hibberd, Janaki Guruge, Blanda Di Luccia, Kazi Ahsan, Elizabeth Kennedy, Jesus Santiago-Borges, Michael J Barratt, Jeffrey I Gordon, Et Al

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is an enigmatic disorder of the small intestine that is postulated to play a role in childhood undernutrition, a pressing global health problem. Defining the incidence of this disorder, its pathophysiological features, and its contribution to impaired linear and ponderal growth has been hampered by the difficulty in directly sampling the small intestinal mucosa and microbial community (microbiota).

METHODS: In this study, among 110 young children (mean age, 18 months) with linear growth stunting who were living in an urban slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and had not benefited from a nutritional intervention, we performed endoscopy …

The Brief Case: "Not Positive" Or "Not Sure"-Covid-19-Negative Results In A Symptomatic Patient, Bijal A Parikh, Thomas C Bailey, Patrick G Lyons, Neil W Anderson

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Preterm Intraventricular Hemorrhage In Vitro: Modeling The Cytopathology Of The Ventricular Zone, Leandro Castaneyra-Ruiz, James P Mcallister, Diego M Morales, Steven L Brody, Albert M Isaacs, David D Limbrick

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is one of the most devastating neurological complications in preterm infants, with the majority suffering long-term neurological morbidity and up to 50% developing post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH). Despite the importance of this disease, its cytopathological mechanisms are not well known. An in vitro model of IVH is required to investigate the effects of blood and its components on the developing ventricular zone (VZ) and its stem cell niche. To address this need, we developed a protocol from our accepted in vitro model to mimic the cytopathological conditions of IVH in the preterm infant.

METHODS: Maturing neuroepithelial …

Characterization Of A Multicenter Pediatric-Hydrocephalus Shunt Biobank, Jacob Gluski, Paul Zajciw, Prashant Hariharan, Amanda Morgan, Diego M Morales, Andrew Jea, William Whitehead, Neena Marupudi, Steven Ham, Sandeep Sood, James P Mcallister Ii, David D Limbrick Jr, Carolyn A Harris

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Pediatric hydrocephalus is a devastating and costly disease. The mainstay of treatment is still surgical shunting of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). These shunts fail at a high rate and impose a significant burden on patients, their families and society. The relationship between clinical decision making and shunt failure is poorly understood and multifaceted, but catheter occlusion remains the most frequent cause of shunt complications. In order to investigate factors that affect shunt failure, we have established the Wayne State University (WSU) shunt biobank.

METHODS: To date, four hospital centers have contributed various components of failed shunts and CSF from patients …

Single-Subject Grey Matter Network Trajectories Over The Disease Course Of Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer's Disease, Lisa Vermunt, Guoqiao Wang, Aylin Dincer, Shaney Flores, Sarah J Keefe, Carlos Cruchaga, Jason Hassenstab, Celeste M Karch, Eric Mcdade, John C Morris, Richard J Perrin, Chengjie Xiong, Randall J Bateman, Tammie L S Benzinger, Brian A Gordon, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Structural grey matter covariance networks provide an individual quantification of morphological patterns in the brain. The network integrity is disrupted in sporadic Alzheimer's disease, and network properties show associations with the level of amyloid pathology and cognitive decline. Therefore, these network properties might be disease progression markers. However, it remains unclear when and how grey matter network integrity changes with disease progression. We investigated these questions in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease mutation carriers, whose conserved age at dementia onset allows individual staging based upon their estimated years to symptom onset. From the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network observational cohort, we selected …

Cross-Serotype Protection Against Group A Streptococcal Infections Induced By Immunization With Spy_2191, Pooja Sanduja, Manish Gupta, Vikas Kumar Somani, Vikas Yadav, Meenakshi Dua, Emanuel Hanski, Abhinay Sharma, Rakesh Bhatnagar, Atul Kumar Johri

Open Access Publications

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) infection causes a range of diseases, but vaccine development is hampered by the high number of serotypes. Here, using reverse vaccinology the authors identify SPy_2191 as a cross-protective vaccine candidate. From 18 initially identified surface proteins, only SPy_2191 is conserved, surface-exposed and inhibits both GAS adhesion and invasion. SPy_2191 immunization in mice generates bactericidal antibodies resulting in opsonophagocytic killing of prevalent and invasive GAS serotypes of different geographical regions, including M1 and M49 (India), M3.1 (Israel), M1 (UK) and M1 (USA). Resident splenocytes show higher interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α secretion upon antigen re-stimulation, suggesting activation …

Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy For The Treatment Of Spastic Triplegic Cerebral Palsy, T. S. Park, Susan Joh, Deanna M. Walter, Matthew B. Dobbs

Open Access Publications

Background Spastic triplegia is a recognized subtype of cerebral palsy (CP). In the course of treating spastic triplegic children with selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), we found that some children who had "minimal or mild involvement" in the stronger arm improved strikingly after undergoing SDR. Some of them became independent ambulators, which was an outcome that is not usually achieved in spastic quadriplegic children. However, the literature currently contains no data on the natural clinical course and the effects of CP interventions on spastic triplegia. Objectives Our aim was to elucidate the clinical characteristics of spastic triplegia and the effects of …

An Important Role For Cd4 + T Cells In Adaptive Immunity To Toxoplasma Gondii In Mice Lacking The Transcription Factor Batf3, Roxane Tussiwand, Michael S Behnke, Nicole M Kretzer, Gary E Grajales-Reyes, Theresa L Murphy, Robert D Schreiber, Kenneth M Murphy, L David Sibley

Open Access Publications

Immunity to

Molecular And Clinicopathologic Features Of Gliomas Harboring Ntrk Fusions, Matthew Torre, Sonika Dahiya, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Fusions involving neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) genes are detected in ≤2% of gliomas and can promote gliomagenesis. The remarkable therapeutic efficacy of TRK inhibitors, which are among the first Food and Drug Administration-approved targeted therapies for NTRK-fused gliomas, has generated significant clinical interest in characterizing these tumors. In this multi-institutional retrospective study of 42 gliomas with NTRK fusions, next generation DNA sequencing (n = 41), next generation RNA sequencing (n = 1), RNA-sequencing fusion panel (n = 16), methylation profile analysis (n = 18), and histologic evaluation (n = 42) were performed. All infantile NTRK-fused gliomas (n = 7) …

Fam20b-Catalyzed Glycosaminoglycans Control Murine Tooth Number By Restricting Fgfr2b Signaling, Jingyi Wu, Ling Li, David M Ornitz, Et Al

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: The formation of supernumerary teeth is an excellent model for studying the molecular mechanisms that control stem/progenitor cell homeostasis needed to generate a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues. Although multiple growth factors and transcriptional factors have been associated with supernumerary tooth formation, the regulatory inputs of extracellular matrix in this regenerative process remains poorly understood.

RESULTS: In this study, we present evidence that disrupting glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the dental epithelium of mice by inactivating FAM20B, a xylose kinase essential for GAG assembly, leads to supernumerary tooth formation in a pattern reminiscent of replacement teeth. The dental epithelial …

Expert Consensus On The Management Of Adverse Events And Prescribing Practices Associated With The Treatment Of Patients Taking Pirfenidone For Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Delphi Consensus Study, Franck F Rahaghi, Zeenat Safdar, Anne Whitney Brown, Joao A De Andrade, Kevin R Flaherty, Robert J Kaner, Christopher S King, Maria L Padilla, Imre Noth, Mary Beth Scholand, Adrian Shifren, Steven D Nathan

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: In patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) treated with pirfenidone (Esbriet®, Genentech USA, Inc. South San Francisco, CA.), effectively managing treatment-related adverse events (AEs) may improve adherence. Due to a lack of clinical evidence and expertise, managing these AEs can be challenging for patients and physicians alike. In the absence of evidence, consensus recommendations from physicians experienced in using pirfenidone to treat IPF are beneficial.

METHODS: Using a modified Delphi process, expert recommendations were developed by a panel of physicians experienced with using pirfenidone for IPF. Over three iterations, panelists developed and refined a series of statements on the …

Analysis Of Single-Cell Rnaseq Identifies Transitional States Of T Cells Associated With Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Yanying Yang, Fangming Liu, Weiren Liu, Mingyue Ma, Jie Gao, Yan Lu, Li-Hao Huang, Xiaoying Li, Yinghong Shi, Xiangdong Wang, Duojiao Wu

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Exhausted T cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs) comprise diverse subsets of tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment that play key roles in tumor progress. Understanding subset diversity in T cells is a critical question for developing cancer immunotherapy.

METHODS: A total of 235 specimens from surgical resections of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients were examined for infiltration of exhausted T cell (Tex) in tumor and adjacent tissue. We conducted deep single-cell targeted immune profiling on CD3

RESULTS: We observed transitional differentiation of exhausted CD8

CONCLUSIONS: T cell exhaustion is a progressive process, and the gene-expression profiling displayed T cell exhaustion and anergy …

Physical Robustness And Resilience Among Long-Lived Female Siblings: A Comparison With Sporadic Long-Livers, Angéline Galvin, Svetlana Ukraintseva, Konstantin Arbeev, Mary Feitosa, Kaare Christensen

Open Access Publications

Long-lived individuals are central in studies of healthy longevity. However, few pro-longevity factors have been identified, presumably because of "phenocopies", i.e. individuals that live long by chance. Familial longevity cases may include less phenocopies than sporadic cases and provide better insights into longevity mechanisms. Here we examined whether long-lived female siblings have a better ability to avoid diseases at ages 65+ (proxy for "robustness") and/or survive to extreme ages (proxy for "resilience") compared to sporadic long-livers. A total of 1,156 long-lived female siblings were selected from three nationwide Danish studies and age-matched with sporadic long-lived female controls. Outcomes included cumulative …

Inhibition Of Fatty Acid Oxidation Promotes Macrophage Control Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Pallavi Chandra, Li He, Matthew Zimmerman, Guozhe Yang, Stefan Köster, Mireille Ouimet, Han Wang, Kathyrn J Moore, Véronique Dartois, Joel D Schilling, Jennifer A Philips

Open Access Publications

Macrophage activation involves metabolic reprogramming to support antimicrobial cellular functions. How these metabolic shifts influence the outcome of infection by intracellular pathogens remains incompletely understood.

Taf15 Contributes To The Radiation-Inducible Stress Response In Cancer, Abhay Kumar Singh, Vaishali Kapoor, Dinesh Thotala, Dennis E. Hallahan

Open Access Publications

Resistance to radiation therapy is a significant problem in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). There is an unmet need to discover new molecular targets for drug development in combination with standard of care cancer therapy. We found that TAF15 was radiation-inducible using phage-displayed peptide libraries. In this study, we report that overexpression of TAF15 is correlated with worsened survival in NSCLC patients. Radiation treatment led to surface induction of TAF15

Defining A Research Agenda For Layperson Prehospital Hemorrhage Control: A Consensus Statement, Eric Goralnick, Erin Andrade, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Importance: Trauma is the leading cause of death for US individuals younger than 45 years, and uncontrolled hemorrhage is a major cause of trauma mortality. The US military's medical advancements in the field of prehospital hemorrhage control have reduced battlefield mortality by 44%. However, despite support from many national health care organizations, no integrated approach to research has been made regarding implementation, epidemiology, education, and logistics of prehospital hemorrhage control by layperson immediate responders in the civilian sector.

Objective: To create a national research agenda to help guide future work for prehospital hemorrhage control by laypersons.

Evidence Review: The 2-day, …

Clinical Teaching: An Evidence-Based Guide To Best Practices From The Council Of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors, Sreeja Natesan, John Bailitz, Andrew King, Sara M Krzyzaniak, Sarah K Kennedy, Albert J Kim, Richard Byyny, Michael Gottlieb

Open Access Publications

Clinical teaching is the primary educational tool use to train learners from day one of medical school all the way to the completion of fellowship. However, concerns over time constraints and patient census have led to a decline in bedside teaching. This paper provides a critical review of the literature on clinical teaching with a focus on instructor teaching strategies, clinical teaching models, and suggestions for incorporating technology. Recommendations for instructor-related teaching factors include adequate preparation, awareness of effective teacher attributes, using evidence-based-knowledge dissemination strategies, ensuring good communication, and consideration of environmental factors. Proposed recommendations for potential teaching strategies include …

Epigenomics And Genotype-Phenotype Association Analyses Reveal Conserved Genetic Architecture Of Complex Traits In Cattle And Human, Shuli Liu, Ying Yu, Shengli Zhang, John B Cole, Albert Tenesa, Ting Wang, Tara G Mcdaneld, Li Ma, George E Liu, Lingzhao Fang

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Lack of comprehensive functional annotations across a wide range of tissues and cell types severely hinders the biological interpretations of phenotypic variation, adaptive evolution, and domestication in livestock. Here we used a combination of comparative epigenomics, genome-wide association study (GWAS), and selection signature analysis, to shed light on potential adaptive evolution in cattle.

RESULTS: We cross-mapped 8 histone marks of 1300 samples from human to cattle, covering 178 unique tissues/cell types. By uniformly analyzing 723 RNA-seq and 40 whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) datasets in cattle, we validated that cross-mapped histone marks captured tissue-specific expression and methylation, reflecting tissue-relevant …

Associations Among Discharge Opioid Prescribing And Inpatient Postpartum Opioid Usage After Delivery, Ashley Veade, Tyler Mckinnish, Ebony Carter, Adam Lewkowitz

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Clinical Outcomes Of Patients With Advanced Synovial Sarcoma Or Myxoid/Round Cell Liposarcoma Treated At Major Cancer Centers In The United States, Seth M Pollack, Neeta Somaiah, Dejka M Araujo, Mihaela Druta, Brian A Van Tine, Melissa A Burgess, Sant P Chawla, Mahesh Seetharam, Scott H Okuno, Chet Bohac, Michael Chen, Sergey Yurasov, Steven Attia

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Outcomes data regarding advanced synovial sarcoma (SS) and myxoid/round cell liposarcoma (MRCL) are limited, consisting primarily of retrospective series and post hoc analyses of clinical trials.

METHODS: In this multi-center retrospective study, data were abstracted from the medical records of 350 patients from nine sarcoma centers throughout the United States and combined into a registry. Patients with advanced/unresectable or metastatic SS (n = 249) or MRCL (n = 101) who received first-line systemic anticancer therapy and had records of tumor imaging were included. Overall survival (OS), time to next treatment, time to distant metastasis, and progression-free survival (PFS) were …

Skeletal Muscle In Healthy Humans Exhibits A Day-Night Rhythm In Lipid Metabolism, Ntsiki M Held, Jakob Wefers, Michel Van Weeghel, Sabine Daemen, Jan Hansen, Frédéric M Vaz, Dirk Van Moorsel, Matthijs K C Hesselink, Riekelt H Houtkooper, Patrick Schrauwen

Open Access Publications

OBJECTIVE: Human energy metabolism is under the regulation of the molecular circadian clock; we recently reported that mitochondrial respiration displays a day-night rhythm under study conditions that are similar to real life. Mitochondria are interconnected with lipid droplets, which are of importance in fuel utilization and play a role in muscle insulin sensitivity. Here, we investigated if skeletal muscle lipid content and composition also display day-night rhythmicity in healthy, lean volunteers.

METHODS: Skeletal muscle biopsies were obtained from 12 healthy lean male volunteers every 5 h over a 24 h period. Volunteers were provided with standardized meals, and biopsies were …

A Simplified, Combined Protocol Versus Standard Treatment For Acute Malnutrition In Children 6-59 Months (Compas Trial): A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Non-Inferiority Trial In Kenya And South Sudan, Jeanette Bailey, Charles Opondo, Natasha Lelijveld, Bethany Marron, Pamela Onyo, Eunice N. Musyoki, Susan W. Adongo, Mark Manary, André Briend, Marko Kerac

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition underlies 3 million child deaths worldwide. Current treatments differentiate severe acute malnutrition (SAM) from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) with different products and programs. This differentiation is complex and costly. The Combined Protocol for Acute Malnutrition Study (ComPAS) assessed the effectiveness of a simplified, unified SAM/MAM protocol for children aged 6-59 months. Eliminating the need for separate products and protocols could improve the impact of programs by treating children more easily and cost-effectively, reaching more children globally.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: A cluster-randomized non-inferiority trial compared a combined protocol against standard care in Kenya and South Sudan. Randomization was stratified …

Inhibitors Of Cellular Stress Overcome Acute Effects Of Ethanol On Hippocampal Plasticity And Learning, Yukitoshi Izumi, Charles F Zorumski

Open Access Publications

Ethanol intoxication can produce marked changes in cognitive function including states in which the ability to learn and remember new information is completely disrupted. These defects likely reflect changes in the synaptic plasticity thought to underlie memory formation. We have studied mechanisms contributing to the adverse effects of ethanol on hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and provided evidence that ethanol-mediated LTP inhibition involves a form of metaplasticity resulting from local metabolism of ethanol to acetaldehyde and untimely activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), both of which are neuronal stressors. In the present studies, we sought to understand the role of cellular stress …

Driving Factors Of Preterm Birth Risk In Adolescents, Marta J. Perez, Jen J. Chang, Lorene A. Temming, Ebony B. Carter, Julia D. López, Methodius G. Tuuli, George A. Macones, Molly J. Stout

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Comparative Genomics And Transcriptomics Of 4 Paragonimus Species Provide Insights Into Lung Fluke Parasitism And Pathogenesis, Bruce A. Rosa, Young-Jun Choi, Samantha N. Mcnulty, Hyeim Jung, John Martin, Takeshi Agatsuma, Hiromu Sugiyama, Thanh Hoa Le, Pham Ngoc Doanh, Wanchai Maleewong, David Blair, Paul J. Brindley, Peter U. Fischer, Makedonka Mitreva

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Paragonimus spp. (lung flukes) are among the most injurious foodborne helminths, infecting ∼23 million people and subjecting ∼292 million to infection risk. Paragonimiasis is acquired from infected undercooked crustaceans and primarily affects the lungs but often causes lesions elsewhere including the brain. The disease is easily mistaken for tuberculosis owing to similar pulmonary symptoms, and accordingly, diagnostics are in demand.

RESULTS: We assembled, annotated, and compared draft genomes of 4 prevalent and distinct Paragonimus species: Paragonimus miyazakii, Paragonimus westermani, Paragonimus kellicotti, and Paragonimus heterotremus. Genomes ranged from 697 to 923 Mb, included 12,072-12,853 genes, and were 71.6-90.1% complete according …

Lathosterol Oxidase (Sterol C-5 Desaturase) Deletion Confers Resistance To Amphotericin B And Sensitivity To Acidic Stress In Leishmania Major, Yu Ning, Cheryl Frankfater, Fong-Fu Hsu, Rodrigo P Soares, Camila A Cardoso, Paula M Nogueira, Noelia Marina Lander, Roberto Docampo, Kai Zhang

Open Access Publications

Lathosterol oxidase (LSO) catalyzes the formation of the C-5-C-6 double bond in the synthesis of various types of sterols in mammals, fungi, plants, and protozoa. In

Brainstorm: A Multi-Institutional Phase 1/2 Study Of Rrx-001 In Combination With Whole Brain Radiation Therapy For Patients With Brain Metastases, Michelle M Kim, Christina I Tsien, Et Al

Open Access Publications

PURPOSE: To determine the recommended phase 2 dose of RRx-001, a radiosensitizer with vascular normalizing properties, when used with whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) for brain metastases and to assess whether quantitative changes in perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after RRx-001 correlate with response.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Five centers participated in this phase 1/2 trial of RRx-001 given once pre-WBRT and then twice weekly during WBRT. Four dose levels were planned (5 mg/m

RESULTS: Between 2015 and 2017, 31 patients were enrolled. Two patients dropped out before any therapy. Median age was 60 years (range, 30-76), and 12 were male. The …

Creatine Kinase/Α-Crystallin Interaction Functions In Cataract Development, Paul D Hamilton, Stephanie L Bozeman, Usha P Andley

Open Access Publications

Creatine kinase (CK) is an energy storage enzyme that plays an important role in energy metabolism. CK/phosphocreatine functions as an energy buffer and links ATP production sites with ATP utilization sites. Several key mutations in the αA-crystallin (