Digital Commons Network^™

Multi-Parametric Quantitative Evaluation Of Murine Cervical Remodeling During Pregnancy And Postpartum, Yan Yan, Jose Galaz, Joshua Marvald, Tanzy Love, Steven Yellon, Nardhy Gomez-Lopez, Mohammad Mehrmohammadi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Cervical remodeling during pregnancy is a critical process that, if untimely, can lead to complications such as preterm birth (PTB). This study introduces a novel multi-parametric approach combining non-invasive imaging modalities to quantify cervical tissue changes during pregnancy and postpartum in a murine model. By integrating ultrasound-based measurements of cervical length, photoacoustic imaging of the collagen-to-water ratio, and elastography for tissue elasticity alongside histological assessments, this method provides a comprehensive evaluation of cervical remodeling. The findings reveal that combining these parameters significantly improves the accuracy of gestational age prediction compared to individual measurements, with a tri-parametric model achieving 85.3% prediction …

Optimizing Peptide Nucleic Acid-Based Pretargeting For Enhanced Targeted Radionuclide Therapy, Mohamed Altai, Ábel Nagy, Pauline Granit, Wahed Zedan, Myriam Cerezo-Magaña, Julie Park, Katharina Lückerath, Susanne Geres, Marie Sydoff, Daniel L J Thorek, Kristina Westerlund, David Ulmert, Amelie Eriksson Karlström

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Radiolabeled targeting agents have emerged as valuable tools for the treatment of disseminated cancer. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are widely employed as carriers for diagnostic and therapeutic radionuclides due to their exceptional specificity and affinity. However, their prolonged circulatory half-life can diminish diagnostic efficacy and increase radiation exposure to non-target tissues in therapeutic applications, resulting in dose-limiting toxicities. To overcome this limitation, pretargeting technologies emerge as promising strategies to enhance tumor-to-background ratio and reduce radiation exposure of healthy tissues. Our previous work introduced a pretargeting concept leveraging the specific interaction between two peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes, HP1 and HP2, as …

Outcomes Of 1,021 Consecutive Cases Utilizing A Triple Tapered Collared Stem And Automated Broaching System, Ravi R Agrawal, Maria T Schwabe, Helena F Barber, Ethan Blum, Joseph T Gibian, Ryan M Nunley, Ilya Bendich

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

The Menstrual Cycle And Exercise Performance: A Literature Review, Reagan E. Burchill

Honors Thesis

This literature review will examine the current research investigating the relationship between the female menstrual cycle, exercise performance, and exercise instruction. The menstrual cycle is a physiological series of events that includes specific hormones at each stage. These hormones may play a role in how females recover from exercise. This is particularly significant when considering the hormonal fluctuations across the female menstrual cycle, which influence recovery, injury risk, and exercise performance. This could indicate that the suggestions doctors and exercise trainers present to females may not be as beneficial for their health because the research is not specifically tailored to …

Intracellular Inclusions Induced By Patient-Derived And Amplified Α-Synuclein Aggregates Are Morphologically Indistinguishable, Rabab Al-Lahham, Mark E Corkins, Mohd Ishtikhar, Prakruti Rabadia, Santiago Ramirez, Victor Banerjee, Mohammad Shahnawaz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Lewy Body Disease (LBD) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) are synucleinopathies with distinct prognoses and neuropathologies, however, with overlapping clinical symptoms. Different disease characteristics are proposed to be determined by distinct conformations of alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) aggregates, which can self-propagate and spread between cells via a prion-like mechanism. The goal of this study is to investigate whether α-syn aggregates amplified from brain and CSF samples of LBD and MSA patients using the Seed Amplification Assay (SAA) maintain α-Syn seeding properties similar to those of α-syn aggregates derived from patients' brains. To address this, SAA-amplified and un-amplified α-Syn aggregates from LBD and …

Covid-19 Infection History As A Risk Factor For Early Pregnancy Loss: Results From The Electronic Health Record-Based Southeast Texas Covid And Pregnancy Cohort Study, Micaela N Sandoval, Michelle R Klawans, Mackinsey A Bach, Jennifer Mikhail, Edward A Graviss, Tru Cao, Jacqueline G Parchem, Junaid Husain, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection before or during pregnancy on pregnancy outcomes are still largely unknown. We hypothesized that COVID-19 in early pregnancy is a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes, particularly miscarriage.

Methods: We examined the relationship between COVID-19 and adverse pregnancy outcomes, including spontaneous abortion, ectopic pregnancy, and preterm delivery in a large, retrospective, electronic health record (EHR)-based cohort, from 2019 to 2023. Generalized estimating equation modeling was performed to identify risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Study exposures included COVID-19 before pregnancy, COVID-19 during pregnancy, age, race/ethnicity, comorbidity burden, and neighborhood-level social vulnerability.

Results: In the …

Ligand-Activated Egfr/Mapk Signaling But Not Pi3k, Are Key Resistance Mechanisms To Egfr-Therapy In Colorectal Cancer, Xueping Qu, Habib Hamidi, Radia M Johnson, Ethan S Sokol, Eva Lin, Cathy Eng, Tae Won Kim, Johanna Bendell, Smruthy Sivakumar, Benjamin Kaplan, Felipe De Sousa E Melo, Andrew Mancini, Matthew Wongchenko, Yi Shi, David Shames, Yibing Yan, Fortunato Ciardiello, Carlos Bais

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Understanding mechanisms of resistance to active therapies is crucial for developing more effective treatments. Here, we investigate resistance to anti-EGFR and anti-VEGF plus chemotherapy treatment in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients from the IMblaze370 trial (NCT02788279). While anti-VEGF does not select for secondary mutations, anti-EGFR leads to simultaneous mutations in EGFR and MAPK, but not PI3K pathway genes. Notably, we observe frequent acquired mutations in the EGFR extracellular but not intracellular domain and that patients with higher baseline expression of EGFR-ligands are prone to acquire resistant mutations. This data reveals a ligand-activated EGFR/MAPK-signaling dependency in CRC. We also observe enrichment for …

Exploring The International Terminology Associated With Nurses Caring For Neonates, Infants, Children, Young People And Their Families., Matt Carey, Jane Coad, Imelda Coyne, Suja Somanadhan, Sarah Neill

School of Nursing and Midwifery

The terminology used for Registered Nurses specializing in caring for neonates, infants, children, young people (CYP), and their families varies globally. While many countries’ nursing students qualify as “Registered Nurses” upon completion of undergraduate education, specialist titles like “Children’s Nurses” in the United Kingdom or “Pediatric Nurses” in Italy denote expertise in CYP care. In countries like the United States and Canada, neonatal and pediatric nursing specialization typically requires postgraduate study. However, there is limited evidence on the range of international terms for nurses in this field. This expert opinion paper presents the results from a scoping survey designed to …

Sustained Growth-Promoting Effects Of Vosoritide In Children With Achondroplasia From An Ongoing Phase 3 Extension Study, Ravi Savarirayan, Melita Irving, William R Wilcox, Carlos A Bacino, Julie E Hoover-Fong, Paul Harmatz, Lynda E Polgreen, Katja Palm, Carlos E Prada, Takuo Kubota, Paul Arundel, Yumiko Kotani, Antonio Leiva-Gea, Michael B Bober, Jacqueline T Hecht, Janet M Legare, Sue Lawrinson, Andrea Low, Ian Sabir, Alice Huntsman-Labed, Jonathan R S Day

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Vosoritide is a C-type natriuretic peptide analog that addresses an underlying pathway causing reduced bone growth in achondroplasia. Understanding the vosoritide treatment effect requires evaluation over an extended duration and comparison with outcomes in untreated children.

Methods: After completing ≥6 months of a baseline observational growth study and 52 weeks in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03197766), participants were eligible to continue treatment in an open-label extension (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03424018) wherein all received 15 μg/kg vosoritide daily. Data from the CLARITY achondroplasia study provided an external untreated control population and reference data.

Findings: The population comprised 119 participants. …

Sustained Growth-Promoting Effects Of Vosoritide In Children With Achondroplasia From An Ongoing Phase 3 Extension Study, Ravi Savarirayan, Melita Irving, William R Wilcox, Carlos A Bacino, Julie E Hoover-Fong, Paul Harmatz, Lynda E Polgreen, Katja Palm, Carlos E Prada, Takuo Kubota, Paul Arundel, Yumiko Kotani, Antonio Leiva-Gea, Michael B Bober, Jacqueline T Hecht, Janet M Legare, Sue Lawrinson, Andrea Low, Ian Sabir, Alice Huntsman-Labed, Jonathan R S Day

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Vosoritide is a C-type natriuretic peptide analog that addresses an underlying pathway causing reduced bone growth in achondroplasia. Understanding the vosoritide treatment effect requires evaluation over an extended duration and comparison with outcomes in untreated children.

Methods: After completing ≥6 months of a baseline observational growth study and 52 weeks in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03197766), participants were eligible to continue treatment in an open-label extension (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03424018) wherein all received 15 μg/kg vosoritide daily. Data from the CLARITY achondroplasia study provided an external untreated control population and reference data.

Findings: The population comprised 119 participants. …

Investigating Social Network Peer Effects On Hiv Care Engagement Using A Fuzzy-Like Matching Approach: Cross-Sectional Secondary Analysis Of The N2 Cohort Study, Cho-Hee Shrader, Dustin T Duncan, Redd Driver, Juan G Arroyo-Flores, Makella S Coudray, Raymond Moody, Yen-Tyng Chen, Britt Skaathun, Lindsay Young, Natascha Del Vecchio, Kayo Fujimoto, Justin R Knox, Mariano Kanamori, John A Schneider

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Social network data are essential and informative for public health research and implementation as they provide details on individuals and their social context. For example, health information and behaviors, such as HIV-related prevention and care, may disseminate within a network or across society. By harmonizing egocentric and digital networks, researchers may construct a sociocentric-like "fuzzy" network based on a subgroup of the population.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to generate a more complete sociocentric-like "fuzzy" network by harmonizing alternative sources of egocentric and digital network data to examine relationships between participants in the Neighborhoods and Networks (N2) cohort study. Further, we …

Art In Itself: The Vision Of Three Female Mississippi Artists, Jane E. Thomas

Honors Theses

This thesis is a collection of longform, narrative-style journalistic profiles on artists in Northeast Mississippi. These artists include Carol Roark from Enid and Hannah McCormick and Coulter Fussell from Water Valley. Each profile highlights an individual artist’s work, from her background, inspirations, process and distinctiveness as a creator. These profiles required studio visits and extensive interviews, as well as secondary interviews with clients, gallery owners and art curators. An overarching theme between the three artists is their ability to recognize artistic potential in their immediate surroundings; Roark paints landscapes from her own backyard, McCormick paints scenes from everyday life and …

Cpg Methylation Changes Associated With Hyperglycemia In Type 1 Diabetes Occur At Angiogenic Glomerular And Retinal Gene Loci., Xiaojian Shao, Sophie Le Fur, Warren A. Cheung, Marie-Pierre Belot, Kevin Perge, Natacha Bouhours-Nouet, Candace Bensignor, Lucie Levaillant, Bing Ge, Tony Kwan, Mark Lathrop, Tomi Pastinen, Pierre Bougnères

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Chronic hyperglycemia is a major risk factor for glomerular or retinal microangiopathy and cardiovascular complications of type 1 diabetes (T1D). At the interface of genetics and environment, dynamic epigenetic changes associated with hyperglycemia may unravel some of the mechanisms contributing to these T1D complications. In this study, blood samples were collected from 112 young patients at T1D diagnosis and 3 years later in average. Whole genome-wide bisulfite sequencing was used to measure blood DNA methylation changes of about 28 million CpGs at single base resolution over this time. Chronic hyperglycemia was estimated every 3-4 months by HbA1c measurement. Linear regressions …

Overconfidence And Financial Risk Tolerance In Older Age, Colleen C Frank, Gary R Mottola, Meiru Chen, Lei Yu, Patricia A Boyle, Gregory R Samanez-Larkin, Kendra L Seaman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: Excessive financial risk-taking in older age can have harmful consequences as opportunities to recover lost wealth are limited. Understanding financial risk-taking in older age is important for identifying vulnerabilities and developing interventions to empower aging investors to make wise financial choices. In this paper, we explore how overconfidence in financial knowledge affects financial risk-taking among older adults.

Methods: We examine this research question in older adults aged 58-101 (N = 1,242) using data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP).

Results: After controlling for demographics, overconfidence was associated with self-reported financial risk tolerance such that those who were …

Metabolic Reprogramming Driven By Ant2 Deficiency Augments T Cell Function And Anti-Tumor Immunity In Mice, Omri Yosef, Leonor Cohen-Daniel, Oded Shamriz, Zahala Bar-On, Wajeeh Salaymeh, Amijai Saragovi, Ifat Abramovich, Bella Agranovich, Veronika Lutz, Joseph Tam, Anna Permyakova, Eyal Gottlieb, Magdalena Huber, Michael Berger

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

T cell activation requires a substantial increase in NAD+ production, often exceeding the capacity of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). To investigate how T cells adapt to this metabolic challenge, we generate T cell-specific ADP/ATP translocase-2 knockout (Ant2-/-) mice. Loss of Ant2, a crucial protein mediating ADP/ATP exchange between mitochondria and cytoplasm, induces OXPHOS restriction by limiting ATP synthase activity, thereby impeding NAD+ regeneration. Interestingly, Ant2-/- naïve T cells exhibit enhanced activation, proliferation and effector functions compared to wild-type controls. Metabolic profiling reveals that these T cells adopt an activated-like metabolic program with increased mitobiogenesis and anabolism. Lastly, pharmacological inhibition of ANT …

Discovery Of Novel, Potent, And Orally Bioavailable Smarca2 Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras With Synergistic Antitumor Activity In Combination With Kirsten Rat Sarcoma Viral Oncogene Homologue G12c Inhibitors, Sasikumar Kotagiri, Yawen Wang, Yanyan Han, Xiaobing Liang, Nicholas Blazanin, Hira Mazhar, Manu Sebastian, Phuong Kieu Nguyen, Yongying Jiang, Yonathan Lissanu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cancer genomic studies have identified frequent mutations in subunits of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, including SMARCA4 in nonsmall cell lung cancer with a frequency of up to 33% in advanced-stage disease, making it the most frequently mutated complex. We and others have identified SMARCA2 to be synthetic lethal to SMARCA4, indicating that SMARCA2 is a high-value therapeutic target. Here, we disclose the discovery and characterization of potent, selective, and orally bioavailable cereblon-based SMARCA2 PROTACs. Biochemically, we showed that YDR1 and YD54 are potent SMARCA2 degraders. Further, we showed the antitumor growth inhibitory activity of YDR1 and YD54 in SMARCA4 …

Zanidatamab Monotherapy Or Combined With Chemotherapy In Her2-Expressing Gastroesophageal Adenocarcinoma: A Phase 1 Trial, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Sun Young Rha, Erika Hamilton, Yoon-Koo Kang, Diana L Hanna, Syma Iqbal, Keun-Wook Lee, Jeeyun Lee, Muralidhar Beeram, Do-Youn Oh, Jorge Chaves, Rachel A Goodwin, Jaffer A Ajani, Lin Yang, Rajen Oza, Elena Elimova

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

There is a need for novel therapies for patients with previously treated HER2-positive gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEA). This phase 1 (NCT02892123) dose-escalation and expansion trial evaluated zanidatamab (a dual HER2-targeted bispecific antibody) ± chemotherapy in previously treated patients with HER2-expressing, locally advanced/metastatic cancers. Here, we report the outcomes for GEA cohorts receiving zanidatamab monotherapy or with chemotherapy (paclitaxel or capecitabine). The primary endpoint was safety and tolerability. Secondary endpoints were objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate, progression-free survival, pharmacokinetics, and immunogenicity. Seventy patients were enrolled (n = 29 monotherapy; n = 41 combination therapy); most received prior HER2-targeted agents (monotherapy, …

Human Genetic Variation Determines 24-Hour Rhythmic Gene Expression And Disease Risk, Ying Chen, Panpan Liu, Aniko Sabo, Dongyin Guan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

24-hour biological rhythms are essential to maintain physiological homeostasis. Disruption of these rhythms increases the risks of multiple diseases. Biological rhythms are known to have a genetic basis formed by core clock genes, but how individual genetic variation shapes the oscillating transcriptome and contributes to human chronophysiology and disease risk is largely unknown. Here, we mapped interactions between temporal gene expression and genotype to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) contributing to rhythmic gene expression. These newly identified QTLs were termed as rhythmic QTLs (rhyQTLs), which determine previously unappreciated rhythmic genes in human subpopulations with specific genotypes. Functionally, rhyQTLs and their …

Development Of A Risk Score To Aid With The Diagnosis Of Infections After Spinal Cord Injury: Protocol For A Retrospective Cohort Study, Felicia Skelton, Larissa Grigoryan, Joann Pan, Ashley Collazo, Barbara Trautner

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) who develop urinary tract infection (UTI) present differently than the non-SCI population. UTIs can cause loss of quality of life and even lead to life-threatening complications including urosepsis. Challenges in SCI management include distinguishing symptomatic UTI from asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB), which occurs often in patients with SCI, and the lack of standardization in UTI diagnosis in SCI.

Objective: This study aims to set the foundation for the development of a risk score to improve diagnostic accuracy of UTI after SCI.

Methods: This study will use data from the Veterans Health Administration Corporate Data …

The Association Of Resistin With Metabolic Health And Obesity In A Mexican-American Population, Reem Al-Dallal, Keziah Thomas, Minjae Lee, Aysha Chaudhri, Eleanor Davis, Priyanka Vaidya, Miryoung Lee, Joseph B Mccormick, Susan P Fisher-Hoch, Absalon D Gutierrez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Research on the relationship between resistin levels, metabolic health, and obesity has produced inconsistent findings across different ethnic groups, making it unclear whether lower resistin levels are associated with these conditions in Mexican-Americans. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between resistin, metabolic health, and obesity in an adult Mexican-American cohort (n = 1511) using multivariable linear regression analysis. Related adipokines (leptin and adiponectin) were measured simultaneously. Participants were categorized into four groups by metabolic health (healthy/unhealthy) and obesity (obese/non-obese) status. “Metabolically unhealthy” was defined as ≥2 cardiometabolic abnormalities. Obesity was defined as a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2. We also …

Residential Proximity, Duration, And Health-Related Quality Of Life: Insights From The Fernald Cohort, Sara Burcham, Wei-Wen Hsu, Sharon L. Larson, Phd, Jack Rubinstein, Susan M. Pinney

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

The impact of living near environmental contamination on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is not well understood. This study examined the impacts of the residential proximity (RP) and time spent near a former Department of Energy uranium processing facility (located in Fernald, Ohio) on the surrounding community’s HRQoL outcomes. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using the data collected from participants using the Short Form-36 survey at the time of the enrollment in the Fernald Medical Monitoring Program (n = 7957). Mental and physical component summary scores (MCS and PCS, respectively) were computed for each participant. The scores were compared …

Characterising Acute And Chronic Care Needs: Insights From The Global Burden Of Disease Study 2019, A. A. Asadi-Pooya

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care addresses short-term conditions. Chronic conditions increasingly strain health systems, which are often unprepared for these demands. This study examines the burden of conditions requiring acute versus chronic care, including sequelae. Conditions and sequelae from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019 were classified into acute or chronic care categories. Data were analysed by age, sex, and socio-demographic index, presenting total numbers and contributions to burden metrics such as Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), Years Lived with Disability (YLD), and Years of Life Lost (YLL). Approximately 68% of DALYs were attributed to chronic …

Genomic Landscape Of Diffuse Glioma Revealed By Whole Genome Sequencing., B Kinnersley, J Jung, Cornish Aj, D Chubb, R Laxton, A Frangou, Gruber Aj, A Sud, G Caravagna, A Sottoriva, Wedge Dc, T Booth, S Al-Sarraj, K Ashkan, Ellie Edlmann

Peninsula Medical School

Diffuse gliomas are the commonest malignant primary brain tumour in adults. Herein, we present analysis of the genomic landscape of adult glioma, by whole genome sequencing of 403 tumours (256 glioblastoma, 89 astrocytoma, 58 oligodendroglioma; 338 primary, 65 recurrence). We identify an extended catalogue of recurrent coding and non-coding genetic mutations that represents a source for future studies and provides a high-resolution map of structural variants, copy number changes and global genome features including telomere length, mutational signatures and extrachromosomal DNA. Finally, we relate these to clinical outcome. As well as identifying drug targets for treatment of glioma our findings …

A Honduran Prevalence Study On Soil-Transmitted Helminths Highlights Serological Antibodies To Tm-Wap49 As A Diagnostic Marker For Exposure To Human Trichuriasis, Neima Briggs, Leroy Versteeg, Rojelio Mejia, Jeroen Pollet, Maria Jose Villar, Bin Zhan, Graeme Segal, Stephanie Novak, Patricia Lenihan, Paul Musgrave, Viviana Ellis, Carol Florencia Coello, K Jagannadha Sastry, Joe Craft, Peter J Hotez, Maria Elena Bottazzi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections rank among the most prevalent communicable diseases of humans, yet detection of these parasites is mostly restricted to identifying active infection through fecal examinations. Currently, there are no commercial diagnostic tools to identify a prior whipworm or hookworm exposure, and the few serological assays for roundworm infection have not been well validated for crossreactivity or infections in humans. Such diagnostic restrictions limit the range of scientific and clinical questions that surround STH exposures and their implicated relationship to chronic diseases, such as autoimmunity, allergy, and cancer. The goal of this investigation was to evaluate the diagnostic …

The Seroprevalence And Risk Factors For Spotted Fever Group And Typhus Group Rickettsia Along The Texas-Mexico Border, Frederick M Cramer, Lauren M Leining, Timothy A Erickson, Josephine Tolan, Craig L Hanis, Eric L Brown, Sarah M Gunter

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Rickettsial pathogens are an endemic and emergent source of disease in Texas, with a historically high rate of transmission along the United States-Mexico border. To better understand the prevalence and risk factors for spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR) and typhus group Rickettsia (TGR) along the Texas-Mexico border, we conducted a seroprevalence study of adults residing in Starr County, Texas (N = 616). Plasma samples were screened for IgG reactivity to SFGR and TGR using commercially available ELISA. ELISA-positive samples were confirmed using a dual spot IgG indirect immunofluorescent assay. Seropositivity was defined as having a ≥1:128 titer. Analysis was conducted …

Estradiol Protects Against Pain-Facilitated Fentanyl Use Via Suppression Of Opioid-Evoked Dopamine Activity In Males, Jessica A Higginbotham, Julian G Abt, Rachel H Teich, Joanna J Dearman, Tania Lintz, Jose A Morón

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Pain relief is the most frequently reported motivation for opioid misuse, but it remains unclear how pain alters reward pathway function contributing to maladaptive opioid use and whether these neuroadaptations occur in a sex-specific manner. Here, we show that persistent inflammatory pain leads to augmented fentanyl self-administration in male, not female, rats. Wireless in vivo fiber photometry recordings and chemogenetic manipulations indicate that pain-facilitated fentanyl use is mediated by enhanced ventral tegmental area dopamine (VTA

Multilevel Factors Influencing Perceived Barriers To Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy Among Breast Cancer Patients At Medication Onset, Timothy Cocozza, Rita Smith, Ana Maria Lopez, Shari Rudoler, Rachel Slamon, Tingting Zhan, Jazmarie L. Vega, Minal Dhamankar, Aruna Padmanabhan, Suzanne M. Miller, Kuang-Yi Wen

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Purpose: Adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) significantly diminishes recurrence and mortality risks in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (BCa) patients. Nonetheless, suboptimal adherence and premature discontinuation during the initial year of treatment undermine these positive outcomes. This study aims to understand the potential diverse factors associated with perceived barriers to AET compliance at the onset of medication. Methods: We assessed perceived barriers to AET using the ASK-20 instrument for BCa patients initiating AET within 3 months. Our survey also included demographic variables (e.g., musculoskeletal symptoms) and clinical traits (e.g., medication type). Stepwise regression analyses were employed to elucidate the links between multilevel …

Axl Promotes Inflammatory Breast Cancer Progression By Regulating Immunosuppressive Macrophage Polarization, Lan T H Phi, Yating Cheng, Yohei Funakoshi, Francois Bertucci, Pascal Finetti, Steven J Van Laere, Fang Zou, James P Long, Suguru Ogata, Savitri Krishnamurthy, James M Reuben, Jason M Foulks, Steven L Warner, Jennifer M Rosenbluth, Anil K Sood, Debu Tripathy, Naoto T Ueno, Xiaoping Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are key promoters of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), the most aggressive form of breast cancer. The receptor tyrosine kinase AXL is highly expressed in various cancer types, including IBC, but its role in TAMs remains unexplored.

Methods: We examined the effects of AXL inhibitor TP-0903 on tumor growth and tumor microenvironment (TME) component M2 macrophages (CD206+) in IBC and triple-negative breast cancer mouse models using flow cytometry and immunohistochemical staining. Additionally, we knocked out AXL expression in human THP-1 monocytes and evaluated the effect of AXL signaling on immunosuppressive M2 macrophage polarization and IBC cell growth …

Genomic, Transcriptomic, And Immunogenomic Landscape Of Over 1300 Sarcomas Of Diverse Histology Subtypes., Alex Soupir, Oscar E. Ospina, Oliver Hampton, Michelle Churchman, Michael Radmacher, Dale Hedges, David Mckean, Phaedra Agius, Saman Zeeshan, Nathan D. Seligson, Raphael Pollock, David Liebner, James L. Chen, Gabriel Tinoco, Bodour Salhia, Martin Mccarter, Breelyn A. Wilky, Benjamin J. Miller, Michael J. Cavnar, John S. Groundland, Bryan P. Schneider, Gregory Riedlinger, Stephen B. Edge, Christopher A. Moskaluk, Kenneth Cardona, Abdul Rafeh Naqash, Ricardo J. Gonzalez, John E. Mullinax, David M. Joyce, Odion Binitie, G Douglas Letson, Arash O. Naghavi, Mihaela Druta, Damon R. Reed, Erin M. Siegel, Jamie K. Teer, Brooke L. Fridley, Andrew S. Brohl

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Given their rarity and diversity, a fundamental understanding of the genomic underpinnings for many sarcoma subtypes is still lacking. To better define the molecular landscape of this group of diseases, we perform matched whole exome sequencing and RNA sequencing on a cohort of 1340 sarcoma tumor specimens. We identify recurrent somatic mutations and observe an increased mutational burden in metastatic vs. primary samples (p <  0.001). We observe frequent copy number alterations including whole genome doubling, with this feature being more common in metastatic tumors (p = 0.026). Estimation of immune cell abundances followed by hierarchical clustering identifies five immune subtypes ranging from low to high and we observe inferior overall survival in immune deplete clusters compared to immune enriched (p <  0.01). Interestingly, GIST predominantly form a distinct "immune intermediate" cluster that is marked by a specific enrichment for NK cells (FDR <  0.01).

Spectrum Of Coronary Artery Involvement With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children Versus Kawasaki Disease., Simon Lee, Ashraf S. Harahsheh, Geetha Raghuveer, Michael A. Portman, Arash A. Sabati, Michael Khoury, Nagib Dahdah, Marianna Fabi, Supriya S. Jain, Audrey Dionne, Kyle Runeckles, Frederic Dallaire, Nadine F. Choueiter, Tyler H. Harris, Matthew D. Elias, Anji T. Yetman, Balasubramanian Sundaram, Luis M. Garrido-Garcia, Nilanjana Misra, Cedric Manlhiot, Pedrom Farid, Brian W. Mccrindle

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: There is significant overlap in clinical features between multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and Kawasaki disease (KD). We sought to compare the prevalence, severity, and associated factors for coronary artery (CA) involvement.

METHODS AND RESULTS: From January 1, 2020 through January 31, 2023, 1191 patients with MIS-C and 554 patients contemporaneously diagnosed with KD were enrolled into the International Kawasaki Disease Registry. Demographic and clinical features, laboratory values, maximum Z score in any CA branch +2.5 or greater) were determined separately for each diagnosis using multivariable logistic regression analyses. The prevalence of CA aneurysms was lower for MIS-C …