Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Unveiling The Impact Of Phosphate On Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction In Chronic Kidney Disease, Hiram Garcia, Sowmya Duddu, Erik Hinojosa, Model Zerfu, Nathaniel L. Alvarez, Alex Zuo, Mohammad Razzaque

Research Colloquium

Background: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is characterized by progressive decline in renal function that ultimately culminates in the inability of the kidneys to effectively maintain homeostasis. The kidneys are a key regulator of phosphate, with other organs assisting in regulation including the skeletal system. In CKD, reduced kidney function leads to hyperphosphatemia. While its impact on the skeletal system is moderately studied, its effects on skeletal muscle are less reviewed.In our literature review, we aim to describe the effects of phosphate in the context of patients who have CKD while providing clinical context for this deserving population. We describe …

Management Targeted Genetic Evaluation Of An Idiopathic Neuropathy Cohort Through Attrv Amyloidosis Screening, Kristy A. Fisher, Santiago Diaz, Jeffrey Gelblum, Charles Brock, Niraja Suresh, Meghan Towne

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

While the reported prevalence of polyneuropathies is 1%-3%, the incidence of hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in the United States is estimated to be 1 in 100 000 individuals. Polyneuropathies are known to be difficult to treat and lead to significant morbidity. The aim of pain management is symptomatic treatment, with varying approaches to progression prevention being based on the causative pathophysiology.

We assessed the prevalence of hereditary amyloid transthyretin variant (ATTRv) amyloidosis, a progressive autosomal dominant multisystem disease caused by the abnormal formation and extracellular deposition of transthyretin protein fibrils in various tissues, in an idiopathic polyneuropathy population by using …

Early Cold Stored Platelet Transfusion Following Severe Injury: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Jason L Sperry, Francis X Guyette, Bedda L Rosario-Rivera, Matthew E Kutcher, Lucy Z Kornblith, Bryan A Cotton, Chad T Wilson, Kenji Inaba, Eva V Zadorozny, Laura E Vincent, Ashley M Harner, Emily T Love, Joseph E Doherty, Joseph Cuschieri, Aaron E Kornblith, Erin E Fox, Yu Bai, Marcus K Hoffman, Catherine P Seger, Jay Hudgins, Sheila Mallett-Smith, Matthew D Neal, Christine M Leeper, Philip C Spinella, Mark H Yazer, Stephen R Wisniewski, Cold Stored Platelet For Hemorrhagic Shock (Crisp-Hs) Study Group

Student and Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of early cold stored platelet transfusion compared with standard care resuscitation in patients with hemorrhagic shock.

BACKGROUND: Data demonstrating the safety and efficacy of early cold stored platelet transfusion are lacking following severe injury.

METHODS: A phase 2, multicenter, randomized, open label, clinical trial was performed at 5 US trauma centers. Injured patients at risk of large volume blood transfusion and the need for hemorrhage control procedures were enrolled and randomized. The intervention was the early transfusion of a single apheresis cold stored platelet unit, stored for up to 14 days versus …

Emergent Emm4 Group A Streptococcus Evidences A Survival Strategy During Interaction With Immune Effector Cells, Chioma M Odo, Luis A Vega, Piyali Mukherjee, Sruti Debroy, Anthony R Flores, Samuel A Shelburne

Student and Faculty Publications

The major gram-positive pathogen group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a model organism for studying microbial epidemics as it causes waves of infections. Since 1980, several GAS epidemics have been ascribed to the emergence of clones producing increased amounts of key virulence factors such as streptolysin O (SLO). Herein, we sought to identify mechanisms underlying our recently identified temporal clonal emergence among emm4 GAS, given that emergent strains did not produce augmented levels of virulence factors relative to historic isolates. By creating and analyzing isoallelic strains, we determined that a conserved mutation in a previously undescribed gene encoding a putative carbonic …

Prothrombin Time (Pt), Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (Aptt), Fibrinogen, And D-Dimer In Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outcome, Fredy Wirya Atmaja, Sri Suryo Adiyanti, Diyah Kristanty, Surya Dwira, Kusmardi Kusmardi

Indonesian Journal of Medical Chemistry and Bioinformatics

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been reported to be associated with coagulopathy and DIC. This study aimed to investigate the profiles and differences of PT, APTT, fibrinogen, and D-dimer in COVID- 19 outcome. This retrospective cohort was conducted at Central Laboratory Clinical Pathology Department of dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital from July – December 2020. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were extracted from EHR and compared between poor and good outcome. Ninety-seven subjects were confirmed positive COVID-19, 45 of whom (46.4%) were in poor outcome group, while 52 subjects (53.6%) were in good outcome group. Median of PT 11.0” (9.7-28.3), APTT …

The Latest Ic3d Classification Of Corneal Dystrophies—Overview And Changes Of The 3rd Edition, Tim Berger, Jayne S. Weiss, Walter Lisch, Berthold Seitz

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

The International Committee on Classification of Corneal Dystrophies (IC3D) was founded in 2005 to address difficulties arising from the outdated nomenclature for corneal dystrophies (CD) and to correct misconceptions in the literature. For each of the 22 CDs, a separate template was created to represent the current clinical, pathological and genetic knowledge of the disease. In addition, each template contains representative clinical photographs as well as light and electron microscopic images and, if available, confocal microscopic and coherence tomographic images of the respective CD. After the first edition was published in 2008, the revised version followed in 2015. The third …

Spatial Distribution Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Mrna And Secreted Antigens In Acid-Fast Negative Human Antemortem And Resected Tissue, Kievershen Nargan, Joel N Glasgow, Sajid Nadeem, Threnesan Naidoo, Gordon Wells, Robert L Hunter, Anneka Hutton, Kapongo Lumamba, Mpumelelo Msimang, Paul V Benson, Adrie J C Steyn

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The ability to detect evidence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection within human tissues is critical to the study of Mtb physiology, tropism, and spatial distribution within TB lesions. The capacity of the widely-used Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) staining method for identifying Mtb acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in tissue is highly variable, which can limit detection of Mtb bacilli for research and diagnostic purposes. Here, we sought to circumvent these limitations via detection of Mtb mRNA and secreted antigens in human tuberculous tissue.

METHODS: We adapted RNAscope, an RNA in situ hybridisation (RISH) technique, to detect Mtb mRNA in ante- and postmortem human …

Protein Nanoparticles As Vaccine Platforms For Human And Zoonotic Viruses, Kush Kumar Pandey, Bikash R. Sahoo, Asit K. Pattnaik

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Vaccines are one of the most effective medical interventions, playing a pivotal role in treating infectious diseases. Although traditional vaccines comprise killed, inactivated, or liveattenuated pathogens that have resulted in protective immune responses, the negative consequences of their administration have been well appreciated. Modern vaccines have evolved to contain purified antigenic subunits, epitopes, or antigen-encoding mRNAs, rendering them relatively safe. However, reduced humoral and cellular responses pose major challenges to these subunit vaccines. Protein nanoparticle (PNP)-based vaccines have garnered substantial interest in recent years for their ability to present a repetitive array of antigens for improving immunogenicity and enhancing protective …

Displacement Of Hospital-Acquired, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Clones By Heterogeneous Community Strains In Kenya Over A 13-Year Period, Justin Nyasinga, Zubair Munshi, Collins Kigen, Andrew Nyerere, Lillian Musila, Andrew Whitelaw, Wilma Ziebuhr, Gunturu Revathi

Pathology, East Africa

We determined antibiotic susceptibility and employed Oxford Nanopore whole-genome sequencing to explore strain diversity, resistance, and virulence gene carriage among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains from different infection sites and timepoints in a tertiary Kenyan hospital. Ninety-six nonduplicate clinical isolates recovered between 2010 and 2023, identified and tested for antibiotic susceptibility on the VITEK ID/AST platform, were sequenced. Molecular typing, antibiotic resistance, and virulence determinant screening were performed using the relevant bioinformatics tools. The strains, alongside those from previous studies, were stratified into two periods covering 2010–2017 and 2018–2023 and comparisons were made. Mirroring phenotypic profiles, aac(6′)-aph(2″) [aminoglycosides]; gyrA (S84L) …

Low-Dose Immune Tolerance Induction For Severe Hemophilia A Inhibitor Patients: Immunosuppressants Are Generally Not Necessary For Inhibitor-Titer Below 200 Bu/Ml, Zhengping Li, Jie Sun, Zekun Li, Zhenping Chen, Guoqing Liu, Wanru Yao, Xiaoling Cheng, Gang Li, Yingzi Zhen, Di Ai, Yaohan Zhou, Qianqian Mao, Man-Chiu Poon, Runhui Wu

Student and Faculty Publications

Importance

It remained unclear that the efficacy comparison between low‐dose immune tolerance induction (LD‐ITI) incorporating immunosuppressants (IS) when severe hemophilia A (SHA) patients had inhibitor‐titer ≥200 Bethesda Units (BU)/mL (LD‐ITI‐IS200 regimen) and LD‐ITI combining with IS when SHA patients had inhibitor‐titer ≥40 BU/mL (LD‐ITI‐IS40 regimen).

Objective

To compare the efficacy of the LD‐ITI‐IS200 regimen with that of the LD‐ITI‐IS40 regimen for SHA patients with high‐titer inhibitors.

Methods

A prospective cohort study on patients receiving LD‐ITI‐IS200 compared to those receiving LD‐ITI‐IS40 from January 2021 to December 2023. Both received LD‐ITI [FVIII 50 IU/kg every other day]. IS (rituximab + prednisone) was …

Loss Of Ovol2 In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Promotes Fatty Acid Oxidation Fueling Stemness Characteristics, Ruipeng Lu, Jingjing Hong, Tong Fu, Yu Zhu, Ruiqi Tong, Di Ai, Shuai Wang, Qingsong Huang, Ceshi Chen, Zhiming Zhang, Rui Zhang, Huiling Guo, Boan Li

Student and Faculty Publications

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer, has a poor prognosis and lacks effective treatment strategies. Here, the study discovered that TNBC shows a decreased expression of epithelial transcription factor ovo-like 2 (OVOL2). The loss of OVOL2 promotes fatty acid oxidation (FAO), providing additional energy and NADPH to sustain stemness characteristics, including sphere-forming capacity and tumor initiation. Mechanistically, OVOL2 not only suppressed STAT3 phosphorylation by directly inhibiting JAK transcription but also recruited histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) to STAT3, thereby reducing the transcriptional activation of downstream genes carnitine palmitoyltransferase1 (CPT1A and CPT1B). PyVT-Ovol2 knockout mice develop a …

A Bioinformatic Analysis Of T-Cell Epitope Diversity In Sars-Cov-2 Variants: Association With Covid-19 Clinical Severity In The United States Population, Grace J. Kim, Jacob H. Elnaggar, Mallory Varnado, Amy K. Feehan, Darlene Tauzier, Rebecca Rose, Susanna L. Lamers, Maya Sevalia, Najah Nicholas, Elizabeth Gravois, Daniel Fort, Judy S. Crabtree, Lucio Miele

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Long-term immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) requires the identification of T-cell epitopes affecting host immunogenicity. In this computational study, we explored the CD8+ epitope diversity estimated in 27 of the most common HLA-A and HLA-B alleles, representing most of the United States population. Analysis of 16 SARS-CoV-2 variants [B.1, Alpha (B.1.1.7), five Delta (AY.100, AY.25, AY.3, AY.3.1, AY.44), and nine Omicron (BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2, BA.4, BA.5, BQ.1, BQ.1.1, XBB.1, XBB.1.5)] in analyzed MHC class I alleles revealed that SARS-CoV-2 CD8+ epitope conservation was estimated at 87.6%–96.5% in spike (S), 92.5%–99.6% in membrane (M), and 94.6%–99% in …

Researching Covid To Enhance Recovery (Recover) Pediatric Study Protocol: Rationale, Objectives And Design, Rachel S. Gross, Tanayott Thaweethai, Erika B. Rosenzweig, James Chan, Lori B. Chibnik, Mine S. Cicek, Amy J. Elliott, Valerie J. Flaherman, Andrea S. Foulkes, Margot Gage Witvliet, Richard Gallagher, Maria Laura Gennaro, Terry L. Jernigan, Elizabeth W. Karlson, Stuart D. Katz, Patricia A. Kinser, Lawrence C. Kleinman, Michelle F. Lamendola-Essel, Joshua D. Milner, Sindhu Mohandas, Praveen C. Mudumbi, Jane W. Newburger, Kyung E. Rhee, Amy L. Salisbury, Jessica N. Snowden, Cheryl R. Stein, Melissa S. Stockwell, Kelan G. Tantisira, Tamara Bradford, Et Al

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Importance The prevalence, pathophysiology, and long-term outcomes of COVID-19 (post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 [PASC] or “Long COVID”) in children and young adults remain unknown. Studies must address the urgent need to define PASC, its mechanisms, and potential treatment targets in children and young adults. Observations We describe the protocol for the Pediatric Observational Cohort Study of the NIH’s REsearching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative. RECOVER-Pediatrics is an observational meta-cohort study of caregiver-child pairs (birth through 17 years) and young adults (18 through 25 years), recruited from more than 100 sites across the US. This report focuses on two of …

Immune Checkpoint Therapy-Induced Lupus Nephritis, Imran Humza Hanif, Saifudeen Abdelrahim, Majd Al Shaarani, Huifang Lu, Raisa Ahmad, Sangeeta Goswami, Ala Abudayyeh

Student and Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Intrabiliary Metastasis Of Colorectal Mucinous Adenocarcinoma Mimicking Choledocholithiasis 18 Years After The Primary Tumor, Sumaya Abdul Ghaffar, David Pfau, Nikhil Madhuripan, Robert Christopher Harmon, Antonio Galvao Neto, Ana Luiza Gleisner

Student and Faculty Publications

This case report presents a 62-year-old male who had previously undergone curative colectomy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 2005 for colorectal cancer. He presented with jaundice, which was initially attributed to choledocholithiasis. After cholecystectomy and repeat ERCPs, hyperbilirubinemia persisted. There was persistent dilation of the right posterior duct on imaging, concerning for biliary stricture, possibly due to cholangiocarcinoma or intraductal papillary neoplasm. During a right posterior hepatectomy, a peripheral liver lesion was found in association with the dilated bile duct. On frozen evaluation, the lesion was found to be invasive adenocarcinoma. The final pathology was compatible with a metastatic mucinous adenocarcinoma …

Tofacitinib For The Treatment Of Refractory Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Associated Immune Nephritis, Kiran Shivaraj, Amanda Tchakarov, Yanlan Dong, Jamie S Lin

Student and Faculty Publications

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-associated immune nephritis or acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) is one of the rare but known complication of ICI therapy. Guidelines recommend treatment of ICI-associated AIN with steroids, then TNF-alpha inhibitor infliximab. However, some cases are refractory to these therapies, potentially due to insufficient cytokine blockade. This is the first case where a 65-year-old female with metastatic lung adenocarcinoma, requiring high maintenance doses of steroids for immune nephritis was treated with tofacitinib, an oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor. Tofacitinib enabled successful steroid tapering and might be a therapy option for refractory immune nephritis.

Pulmonary Endobronchial Hamartoma Presenting With Post-Obstructive Pneumonia, Diane S Habib, Pushan Jani, Bihong Zhao, Elakiya Anjali Jayaraman, Ramesh Kesavan

Student and Faculty Publications

Pulmonary hamartomas (PH) are rare but are the most common benign tumors found in the lungs. They are slow-growing and are usually found incidentally on chest imaging during the sixth decade of life. Approximately 10% of pulmonary hamartomas are endobronchial. Rarely, pulmonary hamartomas can cause a spectrum of pulmonary symptoms depending on their size and location. We present a case of endobronchial hamartoma causing airway obstruction and recurrent post-obstructive pneumonia.

Dercum’S Disease: The Clinical Presentation, Diagnosis, Radiological Findings, And Treatment Of A Rare, Debilitating Inflammatory Disorder, Obyda Al-Housni, Constantinos Boufeas, Valori Slane

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Introduction

Dercum’s disease, also known as adiposis dolorosa, is a rare syndrome characterized by the growth of multiple, and painful, subcutaneous adipose tissues that commonly present in the abdomen and extremities. The scientific community hypothesizes that Dercum’s disease is a combination of neurologic and endocrine disorders. Patients commonly describe it as chronic adipose pain, which manifests as sporadic painful flares throughout their history with the disease.

Case Presentation

We share the case of a 32-year-old woman who presented to the emergency department for an acute episode of left lower extremity pain and swelling associated with a previously diagnosed history of …

Actinic Granuloma Complicated By Secondary Syphilis: A Case Report, Kevin H. Nguyen, Christopher M. Wong, Ethan Q. Nguyen

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Introduction

Actinic granuloma (AG) is a rare skin eruption thought to result from a sun-induced inflammatory response attracting giant cells, which are large, multinucleated, and inflammatory, to form granulomas and degrade surrounding elastic material. Clinically, lesions begin on sun-exposed skin as pink papules and nodules that coalesce into demarcated annular plaques with a hypopigmented center. Histologically, actinic elastosis surrounds the outer annulus ring, with histiocytes and giant cells within the raised border, and the innermost central zone is filled with minimal to absent elastic fibers.

Case Presentation

We present a middle-aged female with a pruritic eruption of diffuse erythematous macules …

Unconventional Activation Of Prkdc By Tnf-Α: Deciphering Its Crucial Role In Th1-Mediated Inflammation Beyond Dna Repair As Part Of The Dna-Pk Complex, Mohamed A. Ghonim, Jihang Ju, Kusma Pyakurel, Salome V. Ibba, Mai M. Abouzeid, Hamada F. Rady, Shigemi Matsuyama, Luis Del Valle, A. Hamid Boulares

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background: The DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) complex comprises a catalytic (PRKDC) and two requisite DNA-binding (Ku70/Ku80) subunits. The role of the complex in repairing double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) is established, but its role in inflammation, as a complex or individual subunits, remains elusive. While only ~ 1% of PRKDC is necessary for DNA repair, we reported that partial inhibition blocks asthma in mice without causing SCID. Methods: We investigated the central role of PRKDC in inflammation and its potential association with DNA repair. We also elucidated the relationship between inflammatory cytokines (e.g., TNF-α) and PRKDC by analyzing its connections to …

Headache And Vision Loss As Initial Symptoms For An Acute Invasive Rhino-Orbital-Cerebral Mucormycosis, Thanh Le Od, Gregg Wentworth Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Background: Acute invasive rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) is a rare fungal infection commonly caused by Rhizopus species. It occurs in immune- compromised individuals who have acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), leukemia, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, or organ transplant patients who are on immunosuppressive therapy. Diagnosing invasive ROCM is challenging because its clinical presentation can be nonspecific, and it is not frequently observed in ophthalmic practices. Case Report: A 66-year-old Hispanic male with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus presented with the complaint of severe headache and retrobulbar pain in the right eye. An ophthalmic examination revealed normal ocular health in both eyes. Computerized tomography …

Typhlitis In A Neutropenic Patient, Alice He Bs, Wern Lynn Ng Md, Lay She Ng Md, Si Yuan Khor Md, Chandi Garg Md

Tower Health Research Day

No abstract provided.

Li-Fraumeni Syndrome And The Benefits Of Annual Comprehensive Screening: A Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Case, Alice He Bs, Wern Lynn Ng Md, Faith Seltun Do, Lay She Ng Md, Si Yuan Khor Md, Elham Nasrollahi Md, Chandi Garg Md, Rong Rong Ge Md

Tower Health Research Day

No abstract provided.

Swine Influenza A Virus: Challenges And Novel Vaccine Strategies, Erika Petro-Turnquist, Matthew J. Pekarek, Eric A. Weaver

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Swine Influenza A Virus (IAV-S) imposes a significant impact on the pork industry and has been deemed a significant threat to global public health due to its zoonotic potential. The most effective method of preventing IAV-S is vaccination. While there are tremendous efforts to control and prevent IAV-S in vulnerable swine populations, there are considerable challenges in developing a broadly protective vaccine against IAV-S. These challenges include the consistent diversification of IAV-S, increasing the strength and breadth of adaptive immune responses elicited by vaccination, interfering maternal antibody responses, and the induction of vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease after vaccination. Current vaccination …

Diffuse Alveolar Haemorrhage Due To Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (Ahus) Associated With Covid-19, Atif Siddiqui, Amanda Tchakarov

Student and Faculty Publications

Delayed presentation of atypical HUS after COVID‐19 with diffuse alveolar haemorrhage is uncommon and can be life threatening.

Spontaneous Tumor Lysis Syndrome In A Patient With Recent Diagnosis Of Multiple Myeloma — An Unusual Presentation, Taha Al Hassan, Olga G. Cantu-Rodriguez, Eunbee Cho, Edgar G. Dorsey Trevino

Research Symposium

Background: Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is an oncologic emergency that surfaces as a constellation of metabolic imbalances due to the rapid destruction of cancer cells and subsequent dissemination of their contents. However, a markedly rare subtype of TLS, known as spontaneous TLS (STLS), occurs without an evident trigger, such as cytotoxic therapy, and carries a similar mortality risk. It is paramount to recognize high-risk cases early and implement therapeutic measures to prevent complications of STLS.

Case Presentation: We present the case of a 74-year-old gentleman with a recent diagnosis of Kappa-restricted multiple myeloma who presented with worsening weakness, tremors, ataxia, …

Pilot Study For Use Of An Arthrometer To Assess Joint Laxity In People With Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Dawn T. Gulick, Valerie Iovine, Kerstin Palombaro

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Joint hypermobility is a condition in which synovial joints move beyond normal limits. Approximately 10-25% of children and 5-25% of adults experience hypermobility syndrome. One such hypermobility syndrome is an inherited connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Typically, a score of 4-5 out of 9 on the Beighton scale is indicative of hypermobility in adults. Whereas 6 out of 9 is the criteria for children. No significant correlations were found between the systemic features of EDS and the Beighton score. The purpose of this pilot study was to see if an arthrometer could be used …

Ensuring Successful Biomarker Studies In Bladder Preservation Clinical Trials For Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer, David J. Mcconkey, Brian C. Baumann, Stephanie Cooper Greenberg, David J. Degraff, Scott E. Delacroix, Jason A. Efstathiou, Jared Foster, Susan Groshen, Edward E. Kadel, Francesca Khani, William Y. Kim, Seth P. Lerner, Trevor Levin, Joseph C. Liao, Matthew I. Milowsky, Joshua J. Meeks, David T. Miyamoto, Kent W. Mouw, Eugene J. Pietzak, David B. Solit, Debasish Sundi, Abdul Tawab-Amiri, Pamela J. West, Sara E. Wobker, Alexander W. Wyatt, Andrea B. Apolo, Peter C. Black

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Recent technological advances have created new opportunities for performing biomarker studies within the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) clinical trials. These new platforms yield more robust measurements when tissue and blood handling is optimized. At the same time, there is a strong interest in banking tissue and derivatives, such as DNA and RNA, for future biomarker studies using novel platforms that may emerge during the intervening time to trial completion. The NCI recently hosted a Clinical Trials Planning Meeting focused on two trial concepts for bladder preservation in patients with high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) …

Hif Expression In Clear-Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (Ccrcc) Tumors Of Adults With And Without Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Osa), Olivia Heppell, Carlos Guerra Londono, Nilesh Gupta

Medical Student Research Symposium

Introduction: Upregulation of hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF) is an important pathological feature shared by clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, it is unclear whether OSA alters the pathogenesis of ccRCC via HIF expression.

Methods: A retrospective cohort of adults undergoing nephrectomy for ccRCC was identified electronically (IRB#16040-1). The diagnosis of OSA was established with preoperative STOP-BANG scores or polysomnography. A consecutive sample of 20 individuals with and 20 without OSA was selected. Clinical characteristics and pathology results were reviewed. Resected tumor sections were immunohistochemically stained for HIF-1& HIF-2 at antibody dilutions of 1:150. Intensity and …

Tailoring T Fh Profiles Enhances Antibody Persistence To A Clade C Hiv-1 Vaccine In Rhesus Macaques, Anil Verma, Chase E. Hawes, Sonny R. Elizaldi, Justin C. Smith, Dhivyaa Rajasundaram, Gabriel Kristian Pedersen, Xiaoying Shen, La Tonya D. Williams, Georgia D. Tomaras, Pamela A. Kozlowski, Rama R. Amara, Smita S. Iyer

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

CD4 T follicular helper cells (Tfh) are essential for establishing serological memory and have distinct helper attributes that impact both the quantity and quality of the antibody response. Insights into Tfh subsets that promote antibody persistence and functional capacity can critically inform vaccine design. Based on the Tfh profiles evoked by the live attenuated measles virus vaccine, renowned for its ability to establish durable humoral immunity, we investigated the potential of a Tfh1/17 recall response during the boost phase to enhance persistence of HIV-1 Envelope (Env) antibodies in rhesus macaques. Using a DNA-prime encoding gp160 antigen and Tfh polarizing cytokines …