Digital Commons Network^™

A Class Ii Mhc-Targeted Vaccine Elicits Immunity Against Sars-Cov-2 And Its Variants, Novalia Pishesha, Paul W Rothlauf, Mariel J Liebeskind, Maria A Vakaki, Louis-Marie Bloyet, Marjorie Cornejo Pontelli, Ma Xenia G Ilagan, William J Buchser, Sean P J Whelan, Et Al

Open Access Publications

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in over 100 million infections and millions of deaths. Effective vaccines remain the best hope of curtailing SARS-CoV-2 transmission, morbidity, and mortality. The vaccines in current use require cold storage and sophisticated manufacturing capacity, which complicates their distribution, especially in less developed countries. We report the development of a candidate SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that is purely protein based and directly targets antigen-presenting cells. It consists of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor-binding domain (Spike

Cd36 Maintains The Gastric Mucosa And Associates With Gastric Disease, Miriam Jacome-Sosa, Zhi-Feng Miao, Vivek S Peche, Edward F Morris, Ramkumar Narendran, Kathryn M Pietka, Dmitri Samovski, Hei-Yong G Lo, Terri Pietka, Latisha Love-Gregory, Nada A Abumrad, Et Al

Open Access Publications

The gastric epithelium is often exposed to injurious elements and failure of appropriate healing predisposes to ulcers, hemorrhage, and ultimately cancer. We examined the gastric function of CD36, a protein linked to disease and homeostasis. We used the tamoxifen model of gastric injury in mice null for Cd36 (Cd36

Phase I Study Of Single Agent Niz985, A Recombinant Heterodimeric Il-15 Agonist, In Adult Patients With Metastatic Or Unresectable Solid Tumors, Kevin Conlon, Andrea Wang-Gillam, Et Al

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: NIZ985 is a recombinant heterodimer of physiologically active interleukin (IL-)15 and IL-15 receptor alpha. In preclinical models, NIZ985 promotes cytotoxic lymphocyte proliferation, killing function, and organ/tumor infiltration, with resultant anticancer effects. In this first-in-human study, we assessed the safety, pharmacokinetics, and immune effects of NIZ985 in patients with metastatic or unresectable solid tumors.

METHODS: Single agent NIZ985 dose escalation data are reported from a phase I dose escalation/expansion study of NIZ985 as monotherapy. Adult patients (N=14) received 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2 or 4 µg/kg subcutaneous NIZ985 three times weekly (TIW) for the first 2 weeks of each 28-day cycle, …

Coffee, Tea, And Mammographic Breast Density In Premenopausal Women, Adashi Margaret Odama, Valerie Otti, Shuai Xu, Olamide Adebayo, Adetunji T Toriola

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Studies have investigated the associations of coffee and tea with mammographic breast density (MBD) in premenopausal women with inconsistent results. We analyzed data from 375 premenopausal women who attended a screening mammogram at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO in 2016, and stratified the analyses by race (non-Hispanic White (NHW) vs. Black/African American). Participants self-reported the number of servings of coffee, caffeinated tea, and decaffeinated tea they consumed. Volpara software was used to determine volumetric percent density (VPD), dense volume (DV), and non-dense volume (NDV). We used generalized linear regression models to quantify the associations of coffee and …

High Seropositivity Rate Of Neutralizing Antibodies To Astrovirus Va1 In Human Populations, Andrew B Janowski, Macee C Owen, Holly Dudley, Tomás López, Rafaela Espinosa, Memory Elvin-Lewis, Alejandro Colichon, Carlos F Arias, Peter D Burbelo, David Wang

Open Access Publications

Astroviruses are common pathogens of the human gastrointestinal tract, but they have been recently identified from cases of fatal meningoencephalitis. Astrovirus VA1 is the most frequently detected astrovirus genotype from cases of human encephalitis, but the prevalence of neutralizing antibodies to VA1 in human sera is unknown. We developed a focus reduction neutralization assay (FRNT) for VA1 and measured the seroprevalence of neutralizing antibodies from two cohorts of adult and pediatric serum samples: (i) an age-stratified cohort from St. Louis, MO, collected from 2007 to 2008 and (ii) a cohort from the Peruvian Amazonian River Basin collected in the late …

Effects Of The Tailored Activity Program (Tap) On Dementia-Related Symptoms, Health Events And Caregiver Wellbeing: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Laura N Gitlin, Katherine Marx, Catherine V. Piersol, Nancy A Hodgson, Jin Huang, David L Roth, Constantine Lyketsos

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: People living with dementia (PLWD) and caregivers are adversely impacted by lack of meaningful activity leading to worse symptoms and impaired quality-of-life. There is a critical need to develop effective and well-tolerated treatments that mitigate clinical symptoms, engage PLWD and support caregiver wellbeing. We tested whether, compared to attention control, the Tailored Activity Program (TAP) reduced clinical symptoms and health-related events, and improved caregiver wellbeing, and if TAP activities were well-tolerated.

METHODS: We conducted a single-blind randomized controlled trial among 250 dyads recruited from Baltimore-Washington DC (2012-2016) with a dementia diagnosis and clinically significant agitation/aggression. Dyads were randomized to …

Equine Ovarian Tissue Xenografting: Impacts Of Cooling, Vitrification, And Vegf., Samara Silva Souza, Francisco Leo Nascimento Aguiar, Benner Geraldo Alves, Kele Amaral Alves, Fabiana Aparecida Santilli Brandão, Danielle Cristina Calado Brito, Ramon Da Silva Raposo, Melba Oliveira Gastal, Ana Paula Ribeiro Rodrigues, José Ricardo Figueiredo, Dárcio Ítalo Alves Teixeira, Eduardo Leite Gastal

Peer-reviewed Articles

Ovarian tissue transplantation methods using cooled and cryopreserved samples have been attractive options for fertility preservation in animal models and humans. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of previous exposure to cooling, cryopreservation, and VEGF on the overall efficiency of equine ovarian tissue after heterotopic xenotransplantation in mice. The end points evaluated were follicular morphology and development, follicular and stromal cell densities, angiogenesis (i.e. the density of new and mature blood vessels), collagen types I and III fiber densities, and total fibrosis. Ovaries of adult mares were harvested after ovariectomy, and ovarian fragments were xenografted in …

Neurotoxins Subvert The Allosteric Activation Mechanism Of Sarm1 To Induce Neuronal Loss, Tong Wu, Jian Zhu, Amy Strickland, Kwang Woo Ko, Yo Sasaki, Caitlin B Dingwall, Yurie Yamada, Matthew D Figley, Xianrong Mao, Alicia Neiner, A Joseph Bloom, Aaron Diantonio, Jeffrey Milbrandt

Open Access Publications

SARM1 is an inducible TIR-domain NAD

Nrf2 Promotes Urothelial Cell Response To Bacterial Infection By Regulating Reactive Oxygen Species And Rab27b Expression, Chetanchandra S Joshi, Amy Mora, Paul A Felder, Indira U Mysorekar

Open Access Publications

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) cause urinary tract infections (UTIs) by invading urothelial cells. In response, the host mounts an inflammatory response to expel bacteria. Here, we show that the NF-E2-related factor 2 (NRF2) pathway is activated in response to UPEC-triggered reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. We demonstrate the molecular sequence of events wherein NRF2 activation in urothelial cells reduces ROS production, inflammation, and cell death, promotes UPEC expulsion, and reduces the bacterial load. In contrast, loss of NRF2 leads to increased ROS production, bacterial burden, and inflammation, both in vitro and in vivo. NRF2 promotes UPEC expulsion by regulating transcription …

Trem2 Modulates Differential Deposition Of Modified And Non-Modified Aβ Species In Extracellular Plaques And Intraneuronal Deposits, Pranav Joshi, Florian Riffel, Sathish Kumar, Nàdia Villacampa, Sandra Theil, Samira Parhizkar, Christian Haass, Marco Colonna, Michael T Heneka, Thomas Arzberger, Jochen Herms, Jochen Walter

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Progressive accumulation of Amyloid-β (Aβ) deposits in the brain is a characteristic neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). During disease progression, extracellular Aβ plaques undergo specific changes in their composition by the sequential deposition of different modified Aβ species. Microglia are implicated in the restriction of amyloid deposits and play a major role in internalization and degradation of Aβ. Recent studies showed that rare variants of the Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) are associated with an increased risk for AD. Post-translational modifications of Aβ could modulate the interaction with TREM2, and the uptake by microglia. Here, we …

A Selective Antibiotic For Lyme Disease, Nadja Leimer, Xiaoqian Wu, Yu Imai, Madeleine Morrissette, Norman Pitt, Quentin Favre-Godal, Akira Iinishi, Samta Jain, Mariaelena Caboni, Inga V Leus, Vincent Bonifay, Samantha Niles, Rachel Bargabos, Meghan Ghiglieri, Rachel Corsetti, Megan Krumpoch, Gabriel Fox, Sangkeun Son, Dorota Klepacki, Yury S Polikanov, Cecily A Freliech, Julie E Mccarthy, Diane G Edmondson, Steven J Norris, Anthony D'Onofrio, Linden T Hu, Helen I Zgurskaya, Kim Lewis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Lyme disease is on the rise. Caused by a spirochete Borreliella burgdorferi, it affects an estimated 500,000 people in the United States alone. The antibiotics currently used to treat Lyme disease are broad spectrum, damage the microbiome, and select for resistance in non-target bacteria. We therefore sought to identify a compound acting selectively against B. burgdorferi. A screen of soil micro-organisms revealed a compound highly selective against spirochetes, including B. burgdorferi. Unexpectedly, this compound was determined to be hygromycin A, a known antimicrobial produced by Streptomyces hygroscopicus. Hygromycin A targets the ribosomes and is taken up by B. burgdorferi, explaining …

Untargeted Metabolomic Analysis Of Human Milk From Mothers Of Preterm Infants, Lila S Nolan, Angela N Lewis, Qingqing Gong, James J Sollome, Olivia N Dewitt, Robert D Williams, Misty Good

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The application of metabolomics in neonatology offers an approach to investigate the complex relationship between nutrition and infant health. Characterization of the metabolome of human milk enables an investigation into nutrients that affect the neonatal metabolism and identification of dietary interventions for infants at risk of diseases such as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). In this study, we aimed to identify differences in the metabolome of breast milk of 48 mothers with preterm infants with NEC and non-NEC healthy controls. A minimum significant difference was observed in the human milk metabolome between the mothers of infants with NEC and mothers of healthy …

Nuclear-Localized Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Ns1 Protein Modulates Host Gene Transcription, Jingjing Pei, Nina R Beri, Angela J Zou, Philipp Hubel, Hannah K Dorando, Valter Bergant, Rebecca D Andrews, Jiehong Pan, Jared M Andrews, Kathleen C F Sheehan, Andreas Pichlmair, Gaya K Amarasinghe, Steven L Brody, Jacqueline E Payton, Daisy W Leung

Open Access Publications

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in the pediatric, elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. RSV non-structural protein NS1 is a known cytosolic immune antagonist, but how NS1 modulates host responses remains poorly defined. Here, we observe NS1 partitioning into the nucleus of RSV-infected cells, including the human airway epithelium. Nuclear NS1 coimmunoprecipitates with Mediator complex and is chromatin associated. Chromatin-immunoprecipitation demonstrates enrichment of NS1 that overlaps Mediator and transcription factor binding within the promoters and enhancers of differentially expressed genes during RSV infection. Mutation of the NS1 C-terminal helix reduces NS1 impact on …

Rn7sk Small Nuclear Rna Controls Bidirectional Transcription Of Highly Expressed Gene Pairs In Skin, Roberto Bandiera, Rebecca E Wagner, Thiago Britto-Borges, Christoph Dieterich, Sabine Dietmann, Susanne Bornelöv, Michaela Frye

Open Access Publications

Pausing of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) close to promoters is a common regulatory step in RNA synthesis, and is coordinated by a ribonucleoprotein complex scaffolded by the noncoding RNA RN7SK. The function of RN7SK-regulated gene transcription in adult tissue homoeostasis is currently unknown. Here, we deplete RN7SK during mouse and human epidermal stem cell differentiation. Unexpectedly, loss of this small nuclear RNA specifically reduces transcription of numerous cell cycle regulators leading to cell cycle exit and differentiation. Mechanistically, we show that RN7SK is required for efficient transcription of highly expressed gene pairs with bidirectional promoters, which in the epidermis …

A Transcriptomic And Epigenomic Cell Atlas Of The Mouse Primary Motor Cortex, Zizhen Yao, Hanqing Liu, Fangming Xie, Stephan Fischer, Xinxin Wang, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Single-cell transcriptomics can provide quantitative molecular signatures for large, unbiased samples of the diverse cell types in the brain

Alveolar Socket Healing In 5-Lipoxygenase Knockout Aged Female Mice Treated Or Not With High Dose Of Zoledronic Acid, Ramez H Mahmoud, Claudia C Biguetti, Gustavo B Simionato, Isabela C Custódio, Raquel B P Silva, Marco A H Duarte, Leonardo P Faverani, Edilson Ervolino, Walid D Fakhouri, Mariza A Matsumoto

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study investigated the role 5-lypoxigenase (5-LO) on alveolar socket healing in aged female mice treated with zoledronic acid (ZL). Forty 129/Sv female mice (64-68 weeks old), 20 wild type (WT) and 20 5-LO knockout (5LOKO) were equally distributed according to ZL treatment: WT Control, WT ZL, 5LOKO Control, and 5LOKO ZL. ZL groups were treated with an intraperitoneal injection of 250 µg/Kg of ZL, while controls were treated with saline. Treatments were administered once a week, starting four weeks before surgery for tooth extraction and until 7 and 21 days post-surgery. Mice were euthanized for a comprehensive microscopic analysis …

Gut Microbiota-Derived Short-Chain Fatty Acids Protect Against The Progression Of Endometriosis, Sangappa B Chadchan, Pooja Popli, Chandrasekhar R Ambati, Eric Tycksen, Sang Jun Han, Serdar E Bulun, Nagireddy Putluri, Scott W Biest, Ramakrishna Kommagani

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Worldwide, ∼196 million are afflicted with endometriosis, a painful disease in which endometrial tissue implants and proliferates on abdominal peritoneal surfaces. Theories on the origin of endometriosis remained inconclusive. Whereas up to 90% of women experience retrograde menstruation, only 10% develop endometriosis, suggesting that factors that alter peritoneal environment might contribute to endometriosis. Herein, we report that whereas some gut bacteria promote endometriosis, others protect against endometriosis by fermenting fiber to produce short-chain fatty acids. Specifically, we found that altered gut microbiota drives endometriotic lesion growth and feces from mice with endometriosis contained less of short-chain fatty acid and n-butyrate …

The Efficacy Of Insecticide-Treated Window Screens And Eaves Against Anopheles Mosquitoes: A Scoping Review, Beverly Anaele, Karan Varshney, Francis S O Ugwu, Rosemary Frasso

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Background: Female mosquitoes serve as vectors for a host of illnesses, including malaria, spread by the Plasmodium parasite. Despite monumental strides to reduce this disease burden through tools such as bed nets, the rate of these gains is slowing. Ongoing disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic may also negatively impact gains. The following scoping review was conducted to examine novel means of reversing this trend by exploring the efficacy of insecticide-treated window screens or eaves to reduce Anopheles mosquito bites, mosquito house entry, and density.

Methods: Two reviewers independently searched PubMed, Scopus, and ProQuest databases on 10 July, 2020 for …

Management And Outcomes Of Cardiogenic Shock In Cardiac Icus With Versus Without Shock Teams., Alexander I Papolos, Benjamin B Kenigsberg, David D Berg, Carlos L Alviar, Erin Bohula, James A Burke Md, Anthony P Carnicelli, Sunit-Preet Chaudhry, Stavros Drakos, Daniel A Gerber, Jianping Guo, James M Horowitz, Jason N Katz, Ellen C Keeley, Thomas S Metkus, Jose Nativi-Nicolau, Jeffrey R Snell, Shashank S Sinha, Wayne J Tymchak, Sean Van Diepen, David A Morrow, Christopher F Barnett

Cardiology Division

BACKGROUND: Single-center studies suggest that implementation of multidisciplinary cardiogenic shock (CS) teams is associated with improved CS survival.

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to characterize practice patterns and outcomes in the management of CS across multiple centers with versus without shock teams.

METHODS: The Critical Care Cardiology Trials Network is a multicenter network of cardiac intensive care units (CICUs) in North America. All consecutive medical admissions to each CICU (n = 24) were captured during annual 2-month collection periods (2017-2019; n = 6,872). Shock management and CICU mortality among centers with versus without shock teams were compared using inverse probability weighting. …

Determining Effective Drug Concentrations For Selection And Counterselection Genetics In Drosophila Melanogaster, Nick Matinyan, Yezabel Gonzalez, Herman A Dierick, Koen J T Venken

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

We recently integrated into fly genetics a set of four selection and two counterselection markers and their corresponding drugs that can be used individually or in combination. These markers eliminate the need to visually screen progeny. Before using these markers in new genetic backgrounds, effective selection/counterselection concentrations should be established for each marker/drug combination. This protocol describes how to set up, perform, and analyze a drug titration curve to determine the effective selection/counterselection drug concentrations for their corresponding markers. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Matinyan et al., 2021.

Multiplexed Drug-Based Selection And Counterselection Genetic Manipulations In Drosophila, Nick Matinyan, Mansi S Karkhanis, Yezabel Gonzalez, Antrix Jain, Alexander Saltzman, Anna Malovannaya, Alejandro Sarrion-Perdigones, Herman A Dierick, Koen J T Venken

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The power of Drosophila melanogaster as a model system relies on tractable germline genetic manipulations. Despite Drosophila's expansive genetics toolbox, such manipulations are still accomplished one change at a time and depend predominantly on phenotypic screening. We describe a drug-based genetic platform consisting of four selection and two counterselection markers, eliminating the need to screen for modified progeny. These markers work reliably individually or in combination to produce specific genetic outcomes. We demonstrate three example applications of multiplexed drug-based genetics by generating (1) transgenic animals, expressing both components of binary overexpression systems in a single transgenesis step; (2) dual selectable …

Invariant Natural Killer T-Cell Subsets Have Diverse Graft-Versus-Host-Disease-Preventing And Antitumor Effects, Kristina Maas-Bauer, Juliane K Lohmeyer, Toshihito Hirai, Teresa Lopes Ramos, Furqan M Fazal, Ulrike M Litzenburger, Kathryn E Yost, Jessica V Ribado, Neeraja Kambham, Arielle S Wenokur, Po-Yu Lin, Maite Alvarez, Melissa Mavers, Jeanette Baker, Ami S Bhatt, Howard Y Chang, Federico Simonetta, Robert S Negrin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are a T-cell subset with potent immunomodulatory properties. Experimental evidence in mice and observational studies in humans indicate that iNKT cells have antitumor potential as well as the ability to suppress acute and chronic graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). Murine iNKT cells differentiate during thymic development into iNKT1, iNKT2, and iNKT17 sublineages, which differ transcriptomically and epigenomically and have subset-specific developmental requirements. Whether distinct iNKT sublineages also differ in their antitumor effect and their ability to suppress GVHD is currently unknown. In this work, we generated highly purified murine iNKT sublineages, characterized their transcriptomic and epigenomic landscape, …

Intermittent Bolus Compared With Continuous Feeding Enhances Insulin And Amino Acid Signaling To Translation Initiation In Skeletal Muscle Of Neonatal Pigs, Agus Suryawan, Samer W El-Kadi, Hanh V Nguyen, Marta L Fiorotto, Teresa A Davis

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Nutrition administered as intermittent bolus feeds rather than continuously promotes greater protein synthesis rates in skeletal muscle and enhances lean growth in a neonatal piglet model. The molecular mechanisms responsible remain unclear.

Objectives: We aimed to identify the insulin- and/or amino acid-signaling components involved in the enhanced stimulation of skeletal muscle by intermittent bolus compared to continuous feeding in neonatal pigs born at term.

Methods: Term piglets (2-3 days old) were fed equal amounts of sow milk replacer [12.8 g protein and 155 kcal/(kg body weight · d)] by orogastric tube as intermittent bolus meals every 4 hours (INT) …

Phagocytes Produce Prostaglandin E2 In Response To Cytosolic Listeria Monocytogenes, Courtney E. Mcdougal, Zachary T. Morrow, Tighe Christopher, Seonyoung Kim, Drake Carter, David M. Stevenson, Daniel Amador-Noguez, Mark J. Miller, John-Demian Sauer

Open Access Publications

Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular bacterium that elicits robust CD8+ T-cell responses. Despite the ongoing development of L. monocytogenes-based platforms as cancer vaccines, our understanding of how L. monocytogenes drives robust CD8+ T-cell responses remains incomplete. One overarching hypothesis is that activation of cytosolic innate pathways is critical for immunity, as strains of L. monocytogenes that are unable to access the cytosol fail to elicit robust CD8+ T-cell responses and in fact inhibit optimal T-cell priming. Counterintuitively, however, activation of known cytosolic pathways, such as the inflammasome and type I IFN, lead to impaired immunity. Conversely, production of prostaglandin E2 …

Endothelial Fgf Signaling Is Protective In Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension, Kel Vin Woo, Isabel Y Shen, Carla J Weinheimer, Attila Kovacs, Jessica Nigro, Chieh-Yu Lin, Murali Chakinala, Derek E Byers, David M Ornitz

Open Access Publications

Hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH) is one of the most common and deadliest forms of PH. Fibroblast growth factor receptors 1 and 2 (FGFR1/2) are elevated in patients with PH and in mice exposed to chronic hypoxia. Endothelial FGFR1/2 signaling is important for the adaptive response to several injury types and we hypothesized that endothelial FGFR1/2 signaling would protect against hypoxia-induced PH. Mice lacking endothelial FGFR1/2, mice with activated endothelial FGFR signaling, and human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (HPAECs) were challenged with hypoxia. We assessed the effect of FGFR activation and inhibition on right ventricular pressure, vascular remodeling, and endothelial-mesenchymal transition …

Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device Support In Patients With Ischemic Versus Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy, Brendan P Chou, Andre Critsinelis, Harveen K Lamba, Gregory Long, Andrew B Civitello, Reynolds M Delgado, Subhasis Chatterjee

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

To determine whether the cause of cardiomyopathy affects outcomes in patients who undergo continuous-flow left ventricular assist device support, we compared postimplant adverse events and survival between patients with ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy. The inclusion criteria for the ischemic group were a history of myocardial infarction or revascularization (coronary artery bypass grafting or percutaneous coronary intervention), ≥75% stenosis of the left main or proximal left anterior descending coronary artery, or ≥75% stenosis of ≥2 epicardial vessels. From November 2003 through March 2016, 526 patients underwent device support: 256 (48.7%) in the ischemic group and 270 (51.3%) in the nonischemic group. …

Differential Effects Of The Novel Neurosteroid Hypnotic (3Β,5Β,17Β)-3-Hydroxyandrostane-17-Carbonitrile On Electroencephalogram Activity In Male And Female Rats, Srdjan M Joksimovic, Dayalan Sampath, Kathiresan Krishnan, Douglas F Covey, Vesna Jevtovic-Todorovic, Yogendra H Raol, Slobodan M Todorovic

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: We recently showed that a neurosteroid analogue, (3β,5β,17β)-3-hydroxyandrostane-17-carbonitrile (3β-OH), induced hypnosis in rats. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the hypnotic and anaesthetic potential of 3β-OH further using electroencephalography.

METHODS: We used behavioural assessment and cortical electroencephalogram (EEG) spectral power analysis to examine hypnotic and anaesthetic effects of 3β-OH (30 and 60 mg kg

RESULTS: We found dose-dependent sex differences in 3β-OH-induced hypnosis and EEG changes. Both male and female rats responded similarly to i.p. 3β-OH 30 mg kg

CONCLUSIONS: Based on its behavioural effects and EEG signature, 3β-OH is a potent hypnotic in rats, with …

Hiv-1 Viral Protein R Couples Metabolic Inflexibility With White Adipose Tissue Thermogenesis, Neeti Agarwal, Dinakar Iyer, Pradip Saha, Aaron R Cox, Yan Xia, Netanya S Utay, Anoma Somasundaram, Ulrich Schubert, Jordan E Lake, Sean M Hartig, Ashok Balasubramanyam

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Persons living with HIV (PLWH) manifest chronic disorders of brown and white adipose tissues that lead to diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The mechanisms that link viral factors to defective adipose tissue function and abnormal energy balance in PLWH remain incompletely understood. Here, we explored how the HIV accessory protein viral protein R (Vpr) contributes to adaptive thermogenesis in two mouse models and human adipose tissues. Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) gene expression was strongly increased in subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) biopsy specimens from PLWH and in subcutaneous WAT of the Vpr mice, with nearly equivalent mRNA copy number. Histology and …

Exogenous Inter-Α Inhibitor Proteins Prevent Cell Death And Improve Ischemic Stroke Outcomes In Mice, Louise D Mccullough, Meaghan Roy-O'Reilly, Yun-Ju Lai, Anthony Patrizz, Yan Xu, Juneyoung Lee, Aleah Holmes, Daniel C Kraushaar, Anjali Chauhan, Lauren H Sansing, Barbara S Stonestreet, Liang Zhu, Julia Kofler, Yow-Pin Lim, Venugopal Reddy Venna

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Inter-α inhibitor proteins (IAIPs) are a family of endogenous plasma and extracellular matrix molecules. IAIPs suppress proinflammatory cytokines, limit excess complement activation, and bind extracellular histones to form IAIP-histone complexes, leading to neutralization of histone-associated cytotoxicity in models of sepsis. Many of these detrimental processes also play critical roles in the pathophysiology of ischemic stroke. In this study, we first assessed the clinical relevance of IAIPs in stroke and then tested the therapeutic efficacy of exogenous IAIPs in several experimental stroke models. IAIP levels were reduced in both ischemic stroke patients and in mice subjected to experimental ischemic stroke when …

Alzheimer's Disease Alters Oligodendrocytic Glycolytic And Ketolytic Gene Expression, Erin R Saito, Justin B Miller, Oscar Harari, Carlos Cruchaga, Kathie A Mihindukulasuriya, John S K Kauwe, Benjamin T Bikman

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) is strongly correlated with impaired brain glucose metabolism, which may affect AD onset and progression. Ketolysis has been suggested as an alternative pathway to fuel the brain.

METHODS: RNA-seq profiles of post mortem AD brains were used to determine whether dysfunctional AD brain metabolism can be determined by impairments in glycolytic and ketolytic gene expression. Data were obtained from the Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (62 cases; 13 controls), Mount Sinai Brain Bank (110 cases; 44 controls), and the Mayo Clinic Brain Bank (80 cases; 76 controls), and were normalized to cell type: astrocytes, microglia, …