Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Investigating The Role Of Il-10 Producing Nkt Cells In Prevention Of Graft Versus Host Disease, Drew Boagni Aug 2023

Investigating The Role Of Il-10 Producing Nkt Cells In Prevention Of Graft Versus Host Disease, Drew Boagni

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

The standard curative treatment for hematologic malignancies is allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT), in which the patient’s immune system is replaced with that of a healthy donor. This can lead to cure through the graft versus leukemia (GVL) effect but can also cause graft versus host disease (GVHD), which is characterized by systemic inflammation and organ damage mediated by dysregulated donor T cells. Preclinical studies have shown invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT) cells can prevent GVHD while preserving GVL. iNKT cells are unconventional T cells which recognize glycolipid antigens presented in the context of CD1d. Upon activation, they secrete …


Targeting Metabolic Alterations Associated With Smooth Muscle Α-Actin Pathogenic Variant Attenuates Moyamoya-Like Cerebrovascular Disease, Anita Kaw May 2023

Targeting Metabolic Alterations Associated With Smooth Muscle Α-Actin Pathogenic Variant Attenuates Moyamoya-Like Cerebrovascular Disease, Anita Kaw

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Heterozygous pathogenic variants in ACTA2, encoding smooth muscle α-actin (α-SMA), predispose to thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections. De novo missense variants disrupting ACTA2 arginine 179 (p.Arg179) cause a multisystemic disease termed smooth muscle dysfunction syndrome (SMDS), which is characterized by early onset thoracic aortic disease and moyamoya disease-like (MMD) cerebrovascular disease. The MMD-like cerebrovascular disease in SMDS patients is marked by bilateral steno-occlusive lesions in the distal internal carotid arteries (ICAs) and their branches. To study the molecular mechanisms that underlie the ACTA2 p.Arg179 variants, a smooth muscle-specific Cre-lox knock-in mouse model of the heterozygous Acta2 R179C variant, termed …


Adipocytes And Innate Immunity In Systemic Sclerosis, Nancy Wareing May 2023

Adipocytes And Innate Immunity In Systemic Sclerosis, Nancy Wareing

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma) is a chronic systemic autoimmune and connective tissue disorder characterized by vasculopathy, autoimmune phenomena, and widespread fibrosis. Skin thickening and tightening is the cardinal feature of SSc and is responsible, in part, for the considerable morbidity of this disease. There are currently no targeted treatments for skin manifestations in SSc, primarily due to our fragmented understanding of its pathophysiologic mechanisms. In PART I, we report a previously unappreciated link between aberrant expression of the developmental gene sine oculis homeobox homolog 1 (SIX1) in skin-associated adipocytes in SSc skin and the early loss of dermal white adipose …