Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Genetic Inactivation Of Β-Catenin Is Salubrious, Whereas Its Activation Is Deleterious In Desmoplakin Cardiomyopathy, Melis Olcum, Siyang Fan, Leila Rouhi, Sirisha Cheedipudi, Benjamin Cathcart, Hyun-Hwan Jeong, Zhongming Zhao, Priyatansh Gurha, Ali J Marian

Student and Faculty Publications

AIMS: Mutations in the DSP gene encoding desmoplakin, a constituent of the desmosomes at the intercalated discs (IDs), cause a phenotype that spans arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) and dilated cardiomyopathy. It is typically characterized by biventricular enlargement and dysfunction, myocardial fibrosis, cell death, and arrhythmias. The canonical wingless-related integration (cWNT)/β-catenin pathway is implicated in the pathogenesis of ACM. The β-catenin is an indispensable co-transcriptional regulator of the cWNT pathway and a member of the IDs. We genetically inactivated or activated β-catenin to determine its role in the pathogenesis of desmoplakin cardiomyopathy.

METHODS AND RESULTS: The Dsp gene was conditionally deleted in …

Gpr84-Mediated Signal Transduction Affects Metabolic Function By Promoting Brown Adipocyte Activity, Xue-Nan Sun, Yu A An, Vivian A Paschoal, Camila O De Souza, May-Yun Wang, Lavanya Vishvanath, Lorena Ma Bueno, Ayanna S Cobb, Joseph A Nieto Carrion, Madison E Ibe, Chao Li, Harrison A Kidd, Shiuhwei Chen, Wenhong Li, Rana K Gupta, Da Young Oh

Student and Faculty Publications

The G protein-coupled receptor 84 (GPR84), a medium-chain fatty acid receptor, has garnered attention because of its potential involvement in a range of metabolic conditions. However, the precise mechanisms underlying this effect remain elusive. Our study has shed light on the pivotal role of GPR84, revealing its robust expression and functional significance within brown adipose tissue (BAT). Mice lacking GPR84 exhibited increased lipid accumulation in BAT, rendering them more susceptible to cold exposure and displaying reduced BAT activity compared with their WT counterparts. Our in vitro experiments with primary brown adipocytes from GPR84-KO mice revealed diminished expression of thermogenic genes …

Oncogenic Kras Drives Lipofibrogenesis To Promote Angiogenesis And Colon Cancer Progression, Wen-Hao Hsu, Kyle A Labella, Yiyun Lin, Ping Xu, Rumi Lee, Cheng-En Hsieh, Lei Yang, Ashley Zhou, Jonathan M Blecher, Chang-Jiun Wu, Kangyu Lin, Xiaoying Shang, Shan Jiang, Denise J Spring, Yan Xia, Peiwen Chen, John Paul Shen, Scott Kopetz, Ronald A Depinho

Student and Faculty Publications

Oncogenic KRAS (KRAS*) contributes to many cancer hallmarks. In colorectal cancer, KRAS* suppresses antitumor immunity to promote tumor invasion and metastasis. Here, we uncovered that KRAS* transforms the phenotype of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAF) into lipid-laden CAFs, promoting angiogenesis and tumor progression. Mechanistically, KRAS* activates the transcription factor CP2 (TFCP2) that upregulates the expression of the proadipogenic factors BMP4 and WNT5B, triggering the transformation of CAFs into lipid-rich CAFs. These lipid-rich CAFs, in turn, produce VEGFA to spur angiogenesis. In KRAS*-driven colorectal cancer mouse models, genetic or pharmacologic neutralization of TFCP2 reduced lipid-rich CAFs, lessened tumor angiogenesis, and improved overall survival. …

Hnf4Α Isoforms Regulate The Circadian Balance Between Carbohydrate And Lipid Metabolism In The Liver, Jonathan R Deans, Poonamjot Deol, Nina Titova, Sarah H Radi, Linh M Vuong, Jane R Evans, Songqin Pan, Johannes Fahrmann, Jun Yang, Bruce D Hammock, Oliver Fiehn, Baharan Fekry, Kristin Eckel-Mahan, Frances M Sladek

Student and Faculty Publications

Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4α (HNF4α), a master regulator of hepatocyte differentiation, is regulated by two promoters (P1 and P2) which drive the expression of different isoforms. P1-HNF4α is the major isoform in the adult liver while P2-HNF4α is thought to be expressed only in fetal liver and liver cancer. Here, we show that P2-HNF4α is indeed expressed in the normal adult liver at Zeitgeber time (ZT)9 and ZT21. Using exon swap mice that express only P2-HNF4α we show that this isoform orchestrates a distinct transcriptome and metabolome via unique chromatin and protein-protein interactions, including with different clock proteins at different …

Plasma Exchange Reduces Aβ Levels In Plasma And Decreases Amyloid Plaques In The Brain In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Santiago Ramirez, Suelyn Koerich, Natalia Astudillo, Nicole De Gregorio, Rabab Al-Lahham, Tyler Allison, Natalia Pessoa Rocha, Fei Wang, Claudio Soto

Student and Faculty Publications

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, characterized by the abnormal accumulation of protein aggregates in the brain, known as neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques. It is believed that an imbalance between cerebral and peripheral pools of Aβ may play a relevant role in the deposition of Aβ aggregates. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of the removal of Aβ from blood plasma on the accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain. We performed monthly plasma exchange with a 5% mouse albumin solution in the APP/PS1 mouse model from 3 to 7 …

An Ace2 Decamer Viral Trap As A Durable Intervention Solution For Current And Future Sars-Cov, Hailong Guo, Bomsoo Cho, Paul R Hinton, Sijia He, Yongjun Yu, Ashwin Kumar Ramesh, Jwala Priyadarsini Sivaccumar, Zhiqiang Ku, Kristen Campo, Sarah Holland, Sameer Sachdeva, Christopher Mensch, Mohamed Dawod, Annalis Whitaker, Philip Eisenhauer, Allison Falcone, Rebekah Honce, Jason W Botten, Stephen F Carroll, Bruce A Keyt, Andrew W Womack, William R Strohl, Kai Xu, Ningyan Zhang, Zhiqiang An, Sha Ha, John W Shiver, Tong-Ming Fu

Student and Faculty Publications

The capacity of SARS-CoV-2 to evolve poses challenges to conventional prevention and treatment options such as vaccination and monoclonal antibodies, as they rely on viral receptor binding domain (RBD) sequences from previous strains. Additionally, animal CoVs, especially those of the SARS family, are now appreciated as a constant pandemic threat. We present here a new antiviral approach featuring inhalation delivery of a recombinant viral trap composed of ten copies of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) fused to the IgM Fc. This ACE2 decamer viral trap is designed to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 entry function, regardless of viral RBD sequence variations as shown by …

Cbx4 Promotes Antitumor Immunity By Suppressing Pdcd1 Expression In T Cells, Liwei Ren, Ziyin Li, Yu Zhou, Jun Zhang, Ziheng Zhao, Zhaofei Wu, Ye Zhao, Yurong Ju, Xuewen Pang, Xiuyuan Sun, Wei Wang, Yu Zhang

Student and Faculty Publications

E3 SUMO-protein ligase CBX4 (CBX4), a key component of polycomb-repressive complexes 1 (PRC1), has been reported to regulate a variety of genes implicated in tumor growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis. However, its role in T-cell-mediated antitumor immunity remains elusive. To shed light on this issue, we generated mice with T-cell-specific deletion of Cbx4. Tumor growth was increased in the knockout mice. Additionally, their tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes exhibited impaired tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) production, with an elevated programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) level. In fact, dysregulated Pdcd1 expression was observed in all major subsets of peripheral T cells from …

A Transcriptomic Taxonomy Of Mouse Brain-Wide Spinal Projecting Neurons, Carla C Winter, Anne Jacobi, Junfeng Su, Leeyup Chung, Cindy T J Van Velthoven, Zizhen Yao, Changkyu Lee, Zicong Zhang, Shuguang Yu, Kun Gao, Geraldine Duque Salazar, Evgenii Kegeles, Yu Zhang, Makenzie C Tomihiro, Yiming Zhang, Zhiyun Yang, Junjie Zhu, Jing Tang, Xuan Song, Ryan J Donahue, Qing Wang, Delissa Mcmillen, Michael Kunst, Ning Wang, Kimberly A Smith, Gabriel E Romero, Michelle M Frank, Alexandra Krol, Riki Kawaguchi, Daniel H Geschwind, Guoping Feng, Lisa V Goodrich, Yuanyuan Liu, Bosiljka Tasic, Hongkui Zeng, Zhigang He

Student and Faculty Publications

The brain controls nearly all bodily functions via spinal projecting neurons (SPNs) that carry command signals from the brain to the spinal cord. However, a comprehensive molecular characterization of brain-wide SPNs is still lacking. Here we transcriptionally profiled a total of 65,002 SPNs, identified 76 region-specific SPN types, and mapped these types into a companion atlas of the whole mouse brain1. This taxonomy reveals a three-component organization of SPNs: (1) molecularly homogeneous excitatory SPNs from the cortex, red nucleus and cerebellum with somatotopic spinal terminations suitable for point-to-point communication; (2) heterogeneous populations in the reticular formation with broad …

Single-Cell Analysis Of Chromatin Accessibility In The Adult Mouse Brain., Songpeng Zu, Yang Eric Li, Kangli Wang, Ethan J Armand, Sainath Mamde, Maria Luisa Amaral, Yuelai Wang, Andre Chu, Yang Xie, Michael Miller, Jie Xu, Zhaoning Wang, Kai Zhang, Bojing Jia, Xiaomeng Hou, Lin Lin, Qian Yang, Seoyeon Lee, Bin Li, Samantha Kuan, Hanqing Liu, Jingtian Zhou, Antonio Pinto-Duarte, Jacinta Lucero, Julia Osteen, Michael Nunn, Kimberly A Smith, Bosiljka Tasic, Zizhen Yao, Hongkui Zeng, Zihan Wang, Jingbo Shang, M Margarita Behrens, Joseph R Ecker, Allen Wang, Sebastian Preissl, Bing Ren

Student and Faculty Publications

Recent advances in single-cell technologies have led to the discovery of thousands of brain cell types; however, our understanding of the gene regulatory programs in these cell types is far from complete1-4. Here we report a comprehensive atlas of candidate cis-regulatory DNA elements (cCREs) in the adult mouse brain, generated by analysing chromatin accessibility in 2.3 million individual brain cells from 117 anatomical dissections. The atlas includes approximately 1 million cCREs and their chromatin accessibility across 1,482 distinct brain cell populations, adding over 446,000 cCREs to the most recent such annotation in the mouse genome. The mouse brain cCREs are …

Brain-Wide Correspondence Of Neuronal Epigenomics And Distant Projections, Jingtian Zhou, Zhuzhu Zhang, May Wu, Hanqing Liu, Yan Pang, Anna Bartlett, Zihao Peng, Wubin Ding, Angeline Rivkin, Will N Lagos, Elora Williams, Cheng-Ta Lee, Paula Assakura Miyazaki, Andrew Aldridge, Qiurui Zeng, J L Angelo Salinda, Naomi Claffey, Michelle Liem, Conor Fitzpatrick, Lara Boggeman, Zizhen Yao, Kimberly A Smith, Bosiljka Tasic, Jordan Altshul, Mia A Kenworthy, Cynthia Valadon, Joseph R Nery, Rosa G Castanon, Neelakshi S Patne, Minh Vu, Mohammad Rashid, Matthew Jacobs, Tony Ito, Julia Osteen, Nora Emerson, Jasper Lee, Silvia Cho, Jon Rink, Hsiang-Hsuan Huang, António Pinto-Duartec, Bertha Dominguez, Jared B Smith, Carolyn O'Connor, Hongkui Zeng, Shengbo Chen, Kuo-Fen Lee, Eran A Mukamel, Xin Jin, M Margarita Behrens, Joseph R Ecker, Edward M Callaway

Student and Faculty Publications

Single-cell analyses parse the brain’s billions of neurons into thousands of ‘cell-type’ clusters residing in different brain structures1. Many cell types mediate their functions through targeted long-distance projections allowing interactions between specific cell types. Here we used epi-retro-seq2 to link single-cell epigenomes and cell types to long-distance projections for 33,034 neurons dissected from 32 different regions projecting to 24 different targets (225 source-to-target combinations) across the whole mouse brain. We highlight uses of these data for interrogating principles relating projection types to transcriptomics and epigenomics, and for addressing hypotheses about cell types and connections related to genetics. …

Molecularly Defined And Spatially Resolved Cell Atlas Of The Whole Mouse Brain, Meng Zhang, Xingjie Pan, Won Jung, Aaron R Halpern, Stephen W Eichhorn, Zhiyun Lei, Limor Cohen, Kimberly A Smith, Bosiljka Tasic, Zizhen Yao, Hongkui Zeng, Xiaowei Zhuang

Student and Faculty Publications

In mammalian brains, millions to billions of cells form complex interaction networks to enable a wide range of functions. The enormous diversity and intricate organization of cells have impeded our understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of brain function. Recent advances in spatially resolved single-cell transcriptomics have enabled systematic mapping of the spatial organization of molecularly defined cell types in complex tissues1-3, including several brain regions (for example, refs. 1-11). However, a comprehensive cell atlas of the whole brain is still missing. Here we imaged a panel of more than 1,100 genes in approximately 10 million cells across the …

Single-Cell Dna Methylome And 3d Multi-Omic Atlas Of The Adult Mouse Brain, Hanqing Liu, Qiurui Zeng, Jingtian Zhou, Anna Bartlett, Bang-An Wang, Peter Berube, Wei Tian, Mia Kenworthy, Jordan Altshul, Joseph R Nery, Huaming Chen, Rosa G Castanon, Songpeng Zu, Yang Eric Li, Jacinta Lucero, Julia K Osteen, Antonio Pinto-Duarte, Jasper Lee, Jon Rink, Silvia Cho, Nora Emerson, Michael Nunn, Carolyn O'Connor, Zhanghao Wu, Ion Stoica, Zizhen Yao, Kimberly A Smith, Bosiljka Tasic, Chongyuan Luo, Jesse R Dixon, Hongkui Zeng, Bing Ren, M Margarita Behrens, Joseph R Ecker

Student and Faculty Publications

Cytosine DNA methylation is essential in brain development and is implicated in various neurological disorders. Understanding DNA methylation diversity across the entire brain in a spatial context is fundamental for a complete molecular atlas of brain cell types and their gene regulatory landscapes. Here we used single-nucleus methylome sequencing (snmC-seq3) and multi-omic sequencing (snm3C-seq)1 technologies to generate 301,626 methylomes and 176,003 chromatin conformation–methylome joint profiles from 117 dissected regions throughout the adult mouse brain. Using iterative clustering and integrating with companion whole-brain transcriptome and chromatin accessibility datasets, we constructed a methylation-based cell taxonomy with 4,673 cell groups and 274 …

Ezh2 Cooperates With Brd4-Nut To Drive Nut Carcinoma Growth By Silencing Key Tumor Suppressor Genes, Yeying Huang, R Taylor Durall, Nhi M Luong, Hans J Hertzler, Julianna Huang, Prafulla C Gokhale, Brittaney A Leeper, Nicole S Persky, David E Root, Praju V Anekal, Paula D L M Montero Llopis, Clement N David, Jeffery L Kutok, Alejandra Raimondi, Karan Saluja, Jia Luo, Cynthia A Zahnow, Biniam Adane, Kimberly Stegmaier, Catherine E Hawkins, Christopher Ponne, Quan Le, Geoffrey I Shapiro, Madeleine E Lemieux, Kyle P Eagen, Christopher A French

Student and Faculty Publications

NUT carcinoma (NC) is an aggressive carcinoma driven by the BRD4-NUT fusion oncoprotein, which activates chromatin to promote expression of pro-growth genes. BET bromodomain inhibitors (BETi) are a promising treatment for NC that can impede BRD4-NUT’s ability to activate genes, but the efficacy of BETi as monotherapy are limited. Here, we demonstrated that EZH2, which silences genes through establishment of repressive chromatin, is a dependency in NC. Inhibition of EZH2 with the clinical compound tazemetostat (taz) potently blocked growth of NC cells. Epigenetic and transcriptomic analysis revealed that taz reversed the EZH2-specific H3K27me3 silencing mark and restored expression of multiple …

Estradiol Mediates Colonic Epithelial Protection In Aged Mice After Stroke And Is Associated With Shifts In The Gut Microbiome, Juneyoung Lee, Pedram Peesh, Victoria Quaicoe, Chunfeng Tan, Anik Banerjee, Patrick Mooz, Bhanu P Ganesh, Joseph Petrosino, Robert M Bryan, Louise D Mccullough, Venugopal Reddy Venna

Student and Faculty Publications

The gut is a major source of bacteria and antigens that contribute to neuroinflammation after brain injury. Colonic epithelial cells (ECs) are responsible for secreting major cellular components of the innate defense system, including antimicrobial proteins (AMP) and mucins. These cells serve as a critical regulator of gut barrier function and maintain host-microbe homeostasis. In this study, we determined post-stroke host defense responses at the colonic epithelial surface in mice. We then tested if the enhancement of these epithelial protective mechanisms is beneficial in young and aged mice after stroke. AMPs were significantly increased in the colonic ECs of young …

Loss Of The Methylarginine Reader Function Of Snd1 Confers Resistance To Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Tanner Wright, Yalong Wang, Sabrina A Stratton, Manu Sebastian, Bin Liu, David G Johnson, Mark T Bedford

Student and Faculty Publications

Staphylococcal nuclease Tudor domain containing 1 (SND1) protein is an oncogene that 'reads' methylarginine marks through its Tudor domain. Specifically, it recognizes methylation marks deposited by protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5), which is also known to promote tumorigenesis. Although SND1 can drive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), it is unclear whether the SND1 Tudor domain is needed to promote HCC. We sought to identify the biological role of the SND1 Tudor domain in normal and tumorigenic settings by developing two genetically engineered SND1 mouse models, an Snd1 knockout (Snd1 KO) and an Snd1 Tudor domain-mutated (Snd1 KI) mouse, whose mutant SND1 can …

Loss Of The Methylarginine Reader Function Of Snd1 Confers Resistance To Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Tanner Wright, Yalong Wang, Sabrina A Stratton, Manu Sebastian, Bin Liu, David G Johnson, Mark T Bedford

Student and Faculty Publications

Staphylococcal nuclease Tudor domain containing 1 (SND1) protein is an oncogene that 'reads' methylarginine marks through its Tudor domain. Specifically, it recognizes methylation marks deposited by protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5), which is also known to promote tumorigenesis. Although SND1 can drive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), it is unclear whether the SND1 Tudor domain is needed to promote HCC. We sought to identify the biological role of the SND1 Tudor domain in normal and tumorigenic settings by developing two genetically engineered SND1 mouse models, an Snd1 knockout (Snd1 KO) and an Snd1 Tudor domain-mutated (Snd1 KI) mouse, whose mutant SND1 can …

Blood-Based Proteomic Signatures Associated With Men1-Related Duodenopancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Progression, Johannes F Fahrmann, Amanda R Wasylishen, Carolina R C Pieterman, Ehsan Irajizad, Jody Vykoukal, Ranran Wu, Jennifer B Dennison, Christine B Peterson, Hua Zhao, Kim-Anh Do, Daniel M Halperin, Sunita K Agarwal, Jenny E Blau, Smita Jha, Jaydira Del Rivero, Naris Nilubol, Mary F Walter, James M Welch, Lee S Weinstein, Menno R Vriens, Rachel S Van Leeuwaarde, Mark J C Van Treijen, Gerlof D Valk, Nancy D Perrier, Samir M Hanash, Hiroyuki Katayama

Student and Faculty Publications

PURPOSE: Patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) are predisposed to develop duodenopancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (dpNETs), and metastatic dpNET is the primary cause of disease-related mortality. Presently, there is a paucity of prognostic factors that can reliably identify patients with MEN1-related dpNETS who are at high risk of distant metastasis. In the current study, we aimed to establish novel circulating molecular protein signatures associated with disease progression.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Mass spectrometry-based proteomic profiling was conducted on plasmas procured through an international collaboration between MD Anderson Cancer Center, the National Institutes of Health, and the University Medical Center Utrecht from …

Galectin-3 Cooperates With Cd47 To Suppress Phagocytosis And T-Cell Immunity In Gastric Cancer Peritoneal Metastases, Yibo Fan, Shumei Song, Yuan Li, Shilpa S Dhar, Jiankang Jin, Katsuhiro Yoshimura, Xiaodan Yao, Ruiping Wang, Ailing W Scott, Melissa Pool Pizzi, Jingjing Wu, Lang Ma, George A Calin, Samir Hanash, Linghua Wang, Michael Curran, Jaffer A Ajani

Student and Faculty Publications

UNLABELLED: The peritoneal cavity is a common site of gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) metastasis. Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) is resistant to current therapies and confers poor prognosis, highlighting the need to identify new therapeutic targets. CD47 conveys a "don't eat me" signal to myeloid cells upon binding its receptor signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα), which helps tumor cells circumvent macrophage phagocytosis and evade innate immune responses. Previous studies demonstrated that the blockade of CD47 alone results in limited clinical benefits, suggesting that other target(s) might need to be inhibited simultaneously with CD47 to elicit a strong antitumor response. Here, we found that …

Dhodh: A Promising Target In The Treatment Of T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Amy N Sexauer, Gabriela Alexe, Karin Gustafsson, Elizabeth Zanetakos, Jelena Milosevic, Mary Ayres, Varsha Gandhi, Yana Pikman, Kimberly Stegmaier, David B Sykes

Student and Faculty Publications

Patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) have a poor prognosis with few therapeutic options. With the goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets, we used data from the Dependency Map project to identify dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) as one of the top metabolic dependencies in T-ALL. DHODH catalyzes the fourth step of de novo pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis. Small molecule inhibition of DHODH rapidly leads to the depletion of intracellular pyrimidine pools and forces cells to rely on extracellular salvage. In the absence of sufficient salvage, this intracellular nucleotide starvation results in the inhibition of DNA and RNA synthesis, …

Usp38 Exacerbates Atrial Inflammation, Fibrosis, And Susceptibility To Atrial Fibrillation After Myocardial Infarction In Mice, Yang Gong, Tingting Yu, Wei Shuai, Tao Chen, Jingjing Zhang, He Huang

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF) after myocardial infarction (MI). The role of USP38, a member of the ubiquitin-specific protease family, on MI-induced atrial inflammation, fibrosis, and associated AF is unclear.

METHODS: In this study, we surgically constructed a mouse MI model using USP38 cardiac conditional knockout (USP38-CKO) and cardiac-specific overexpression (USP38-TG) mice and applied biochemical, histological, electrophysiological characterization and molecular biology to investigate the effects of USP38 on atrial inflammation, fibrosis, and AF and its mechanisms.

RESULTS: Our results revealed that USP38-CKO attenuates atrial inflammation, thereby ameliorating fibrosis, and abnormal electrophysiologic properties, …

Mechanopathology Of Biofilm-Like Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Cords, Richa Mishra, Melanie Hannebelle, Vishal P Patil, Anaëlle Dubois, Cristina Garcia-Mouton, Gabriela M Kirsch, Maxime Jan, Kunal Sharma, Nicolas Guex, Jessica Sordet-Dessimoz, Jesus Perez-Gil, Manu Prakash, Graham W Knott, Neeraj Dhar, John D Mckinney, Vivek V Thacker

Student and Faculty Publications

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) cultured axenically without detergent forms biofilm-like cords, a clinical identifier of virulence. In lung-on-chip (LoC) and mouse models, cords in alveolar cells contribute to suppression of innate immune signaling via nuclear compression. Thereafter, extracellular cords cause contact-dependent phagocyte death but grow intercellularly between epithelial cells. The absence of these mechanopathological mechanisms explains the greater proportion of alveolar lesions with increased immune infiltration and dissemination defects in cording-deficient Mtb infections. Compression of Mtb lipid monolayers induces a phase transition that enables mechanical energy storage. Agent-based simulations demonstrate that the increased energy storage capacity is sufficient for the formation …

Pericentrin Deficiency In Smooth Muscle Cells Augments Atherosclerosis Through Hsf1-Driven Cholesterol Biosynthesis And Perk Activation, Suravi Majumder, Abhijnan Chattopadhyay, Jamie M Wright, Pujun Guan, L Maximilian Buja, Callie S Kwartler, Dianna M Milewicz

Student and Faculty Publications

Microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II (MOPDII) is caused by biallelic loss-of-function variants in pericentrin (PCNT), and premature coronary artery disease (CAD) is a complication of the syndrome. Histopathology of coronary arteries from patients with MOPDII who died of CAD in their 20s showed extensive atherosclerosis. Hyperlipidemic mice with smooth muscle cell-specific (SMC-specific) Pcnt deficiency (PcntSMC-/-) exhibited significantly greater atherosclerotic plaque burden compared with similarly treated littermate controls despite similar serum lipid levels. Loss of PCNT in SMCs induced activation of heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) and consequently upregulated the expression and activity of HMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR), the rate-limiting enzyme …

Iron Overload Induces Cerebral Endothelial Senescence In Aged Mice And In Primary Culture In A Sex-Dependent Manner, Brian Noh, Maria Pilar Blasco-Conesa, Syed Mushfiqur Rahman, Sheelu Monga, Rodney Ritzel, Gary Guzman, Yun-Ju Lai, Bhanu Priya Ganesh, Akihiko Urayama, Louise D Mccullough, Jose Felix Moruno-Manchon

Student and Faculty Publications

Iron imbalance in the brain negatively affects brain function. With aging, iron levels increase in the brain and contribute to brain damage and neurological disorders. Changes in the cerebral vasculature with aging may enhance iron entry into the brain parenchyma, leading to iron overload and its deleterious consequences. Endothelial senescence has emerged as an important contributor to age-related changes in the cerebral vasculature. Evidence indicates that iron overload may induce senescence in cultured cell lines. Importantly, cells derived from female human and mice generally show enhanced senescence-associated phenotype, compared with males. Thus, we hypothesize that cerebral endothelial cells (CEC) derived …

Cardiac Muscle-Restricted Partial Loss Of Nos1ap Expression Has Limited But Significant Impact On Electrocardiographic Features, Alexa Smith, Dallas Auer, Morgan Johnson, Ernesto Sanchez, Holly Ross, Christopher Ward, Aravinda Chakravarti, Ashish Kapoor

Student and Faculty Publications

Genome-wide association studies have identified sequence polymorphisms in a functional enhancer of the NOS1AP gene as the most common genetic regulator of QT interval and human cardiac NOS1AP gene expression in the general population. Functional studies based on in vitro overexpression in murine cardiomyocytes and ex vivo knockdown in zebrafish embryonic hearts, by us and others, have also demonstrated that NOS1AP expression levels can alter cellular electrophysiology. Here, to explore the role of NOS1AP in cardiac electrophysiology at an organismal level, we generated and characterized constitutive and heart muscle-restricted Nos1ap knockout mice to assess whether NOS1AP disruption alters the QT …

Adavosertib Enhances Antitumor Activity Of Trastuzumab Deruxtecan In Her2-Expressing Cancers, Timothy P Diperi, Kurt W Evans, Maria Gabriela Raso, Ming Zhao, Yasmeen Q Rizvi, Xiaofeng Zheng, Bailiang Wang, Bryce P Kirby, Kathleen Kong, Michael Kahle, Timothy A Yap, Ecaterina E Dumbrava, Jaffer A Ajani, Siqing Fu, Khandan Keyomarsi, Funda Meric-Bernstam

Student and Faculty Publications

PURPOSE: Cyclin E (CCNE1) has been proposed as a biomarker of sensitivity to adavosertib, a Wee1 kinase inhibitor, and a mechanism of resistance to HER2-targeted therapy.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Copy number and genomic sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and MD Anderson Cancer Center databases were analyzed to assess ERBB2 and CCNE1 expression. Molecular characteristics of tumors and patient-derived xenografts (PDX) were assessed by next-generation sequencing, whole-exome sequencing, fluorescent in situ hybridization, and IHC. In vitro, CCNE1 was overexpressed or knocked down in HER2+ cell lines to evaluate drug combination efficacy. In vivo, NSG mice bearing PDXs were subjected to …

Early Skeletal Muscle Loss In Adolescent And Young Adult Cancer Patients Treated With Anthracycline Chemotherapy, Savannah V Wooten, Fei Wang, Michael E Roth, Guanshu Liu, J Andrew Livingston, Behrang Amini, Susan C Gilchrist, Michelle Hildebrandt, Eugenie S Kleinerman

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Early skeletal muscle loss has been observed in adolescent and young adult (AYA) sarcoma patients undergoing treatment. Identification of individuals within the AYA populace that are at greatest risk of anthracycline-induced skeletal muscle loss is unknown. Moreover, investigations which seek out underlying causes of skeletal muscle degradation during chemotherapy are critical for understanding, preventing, and reducing chronic health conditions associated with poor skeletal muscle status.

METHODS: Computed tomography (CT) scans were used to investigate changes in skeletal muscle of 153 AYA sarcoma and Hodgkin lymphoma patients at thoracic vertebra 4 after anthracycline treatment. Images were examined at three time …

Iron Overload Induces Cerebral Endothelial Senescence In Aged Mice And In Primary Culture In A Sex-Dependent Manner, Brian Noh, Maria Pilar Blasco-Conesa, Syed Mushfiqur Rahman, Sheelu Monga, Rodney Ritzel, Gary Guzman, Yun-Ju Lai, Bhanu Priya Ganesh, Akihiko Urayama, Louise D Mccullough, Jose Felix Moruno-Manchon

Student and Faculty Publications

Iron imbalance in the brain negatively affects brain function. With aging, iron levels increase in the brain and contribute to brain damage and neurological disorders. Changes in the cerebral vasculature with aging may enhance iron entry into the brain parenchyma, leading to iron overload and its deleterious consequences. Endothelial senescence has emerged as an important contributor to age-related changes in the cerebral vasculature. Evidence indicates that iron overload may induce senescence in cultured cell lines. Importantly, cells derived from female human and mice generally show enhanced senescence-associated phenotype, compared with males. Thus, we hypothesize that cerebral endothelial cells (CEC) derived …

The Alzheimer’S Disease Risk Factor Inpp5d Restricts Neuroprotective Microglial Responses In Amyloid Beta-Mediated Pathology, Joshua D Samuels, Katelyn A Moore, Hannah E Ennerfelt, Alexis M Johnson, Adeline E Walsh, Richard J Price, John R Lukens

Student and Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: Mutations in INPP5D, which encodes for the SH2-domain-containing inositol phosphatase SHIP-1, have recently been linked to an increased risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease. While INPP5D expression is almost exclusively restricted to microglia in the brain, little is known regarding how SHIP-1 affects neurobiology or neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis.

METHODS: We generated and investigated 5xFAD Inpp5d

RESULTS: SHIP-1 deletion in microglia led to substantially enhanced recruitment of microglia to Aβ plaques, altered microglial gene expression, and marked improvements in neuronal health. Further, SHIP-1 loss enhanced microglial plaque containment and Aβ engulfment when compared to microglia from Cre-negative 5xFAD Inpp5d

DISCUSSION: …

Dual Targeted Extracellular Vesicles Regulate Oncogenic Genes In Advanced Pancreatic Cancer, Chi-Ling Chiang, Yifan Ma, Ya-Chin Hou, Junjie Pan, Sin-Yu Chen, Ming-Hsien Chien, Zhi-Xuan Zhang, Wei-Hsiang Hsu, Xinyu Wang, Jingjing Zhang, Hong Li, Lili Sun, Shannon Fallen, Inyoul Lee, Xing-Yu Chen, Yeh-Shiu Chu, Chi Zhang, Tai-Shan Cheng, Wen Jiang, Betty Y S Kim, Eduardo Reategui, Robert Lee, Yuan Yuan, Hsiao-Chun Liu, Kai Wang, Michael Hsiao, Chi-Ying F Huang, Yan-Shen Shan, Andrew S Lee, L James Lee

Student and Faculty Publications

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumours carry multiple gene mutations and respond poorly to treatments. There is currently an unmet need for drug carriers that can deliver multiple gene cargoes to target high solid tumour burden like PDAC. Here, we report a dual targeted extracellular vesicle (dtEV) carrying high loads of therapeutic RNA that effectively suppresses large PDAC tumours in mice. The EV surface contains a CD64 protein that has a tissue targeting peptide and a humanized monoclonal antibody. Cells sequentially transfected with plasmid DNAs encoding for the RNA and protein of interest by Transwell®-based asymmetric cell electroporation release abundant targeted …

Early Resveratrol Treatment Mitigates Joint Degeneration And Dampens Pain In A Mouse Model Of Pseudoachondroplasia (Psach), Jacqueline T Hecht, Alka C Veerisetty, Debabrata Patra, Mohammad G Hossain, Frankie Chiu, Claire Mobed, Francis H Gannon, Karen L Posey

Student and Faculty Publications

Pseudoachondroplasia (PSACH), a severe dwarfing condition associated with early-onset joint degeneration and lifelong joint pain, is caused by mutations in cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP). The mechanisms underlying the mutant-COMP pathology have been defined using the MT-COMP mouse model of PSACH that has the common D469del mutation. Mutant-COMP protein does not fold properly, and it is retained in the rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER) of chondrocytes rather than being exported to the extracellular matrix (ECM), driving ER stress that stimulates oxidative stress and inflammation, driving a self-perpetuating cycle. CHOP (ER stress signaling protein) and TNFα inflammation drive high levels of mTORC1 …