Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Altered Dna Methylation Of Cyp2e1 Gene In Schizophrenia Patients With Tardive Dyskinesia, Ping Zhang, Yanli Li, Kesheng Wang, Junchao Huang, Brenda Bin Su, Chun Xu, Zhiren Wang, Shuping Tan, Fude Yang, Yunlong Tan

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

About 20–30% of patients with schizophrenia develop tardive dyskinesia (TD). Oxidative stress is one potential causes of TD. CYP2E1 is considered as an oxidative stress-related gene, however, no study has been reported on the DNA methylation levels of the CYP2E1 in schizophrenia or TD.

Methods

A total of 35 schizophrenia patients with TD, 35 schizophrenia patients without TD (NTD), and 35 health controls (HCs) were collected in Beijing, China. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples. The promoter methylation levels of CYP2E1 were detected using pyrosequencing. The generalized linear model (GLM) was used to examine the methylation levels of …

Maternal Obesity And Gut Microbiota Are Associated With Fetal Brain Development, Sanjay Basak, Ranjit K. Das, Antara Banerjee, Sujay Paul, Surajit Pathak, Asim K. Duttaroy

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Obesity in pregnancy induces metabolic syndrome, low-grade inflammation, altered endocrine factors, placental function, and the maternal gut microbiome. All these factors impact fetal growth and development, including brain development. The lipid metabolic transporters of the maternal-fetal-placental unit are dysregulated in obesity. Consequently, the transport of essential long-chain PUFAs for fetal brain development is disturbed. The mother's gut microbiota is vital in maintaining postnatal energy homeostasis and maternal-fetal immune competence. Obesity during pregnancy changes the gut microbiota, affecting fetal brain development. Obesity in pregnancy can induce placental and intrauterine inflammation and thus influence the neurodevelopmental outcomes of the offspring. Several epidemiological …

Bioactive Food Components And Their Inhibitory Actions In Multiple Platelet Pathways, Diptimayee Das, Shubhamay Adhikary, Ranjit Kumar Das, Antara Banerjee, Arun Kumar Radhakrishnan, Sujay Paul, Surajit Pathak, Asim K. Duttaroy

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

In addition to hemostasis and thrombosis, blood platelets are involved in various processes such as inflammation, infection, immunobiology, cancer metastasis, wound repair and angiogenesis. Platelets' hemostatic and non-hemostatic functions are mediated by the expression of various membrane receptors and the release of proteins, ions and other mediators. Therefore, specific activities of platelets responsible for the non-hemostatic disease are to be inhibited while leaving the platelet's hemostatic function unaffected. Platelets' anti-aggregatory property has been used as a primary criterion for antiplatelet drugs/bioactives; however, their non-hemostatic activities are not well known. This review describes the hemostatic and non-hemostatic function of human blood …

Effect Of Drug-To-Lipid Ratio On Nanodisc-Based Tenofovir Drug Delivery To The Brain For Hiv-1 Infection, Caroline R. Garcia, Armin T. Rad, Farnoosh Saeedinejad, Arvind Manojkumar, Deepa Roy, Hansapani Rodrigo, Sue Anne Chew, Ziyaur Rahman, Mu-Ping Nieh, Upal Roy

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Combination antiretroviral therapy has significantly advanced HIV-1 infection treatment. However, HIV-1 remains persistent in the brain; the inaccessibility of the blood–brain barrier allows for persistent HIV-1 infections and neuroinflammation. Nanotechnology-based drug carriers such as nanodiscoidal bicelles can provide a solution to combat this challenge.

Methods: This study investigated the safety and extended release of a combination antiretroviral therapy drug (tenofovir)-loaded nanodiscs for HIV-1 treatment in the brain both in vitro and in vivo.

Result: The nanodiscs entrapped the drug in their interior hydrophobic core and released the payload at the desired location and in a controlled release pattern. …

Combined Application Of Patient-Derived Cells And Biomaterials As 3d In Vitro Tumor Models, Asbiel Hasbum, Ozan Karabulut, Ruben Edgar Reyes, Claudio Ricci, Alessandro Franchi, Serena Danti, Sue Anne Chew

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although advances have been made in cancer therapy, cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the U.S. and Europe, and thus efforts to continue to study and discover better treatment methods are ongoing. Three-dimensional (3D) tumor models have shown advantages over bi-dimensional (2D) cultures in evaluating the efficacy of chemotherapy. This commentary aims to highlight the potential of combined application of biomaterials with patient-derived cancer cells as a 3D in vitro model for the study and treatment of cancer patients. Five studies were discussed which demonstrate and provided early evidence to create 3D models with accurate microenvironments that …

Ocular Hypertension Results In Hypoxia Within Glia And Neurons Throughout The Visual Projection, Assraa Hassan Jassim, Nana Yaa Nsiah, Denise M. Inman

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The magnitude and duration of hypoxia after ocular hypertension (OHT) has been a matter of debate due to the lack of tools to accurately report hypoxia. In this study, we established a topography of hypoxia in the visual pathway by inducing OHT in mice that express a fusion protein comprised of the oxygen-dependent degradation (ODD) domain of HIF-1a and a tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase (CreERT2) driven by a ubiquitous CAG promoter. After tamoxifen administration, tdTomato expression would be driven in cells that contain stabilized HIF-1α. Intraocular pressure (IOP) and visual evoked potential (VEP) were measured after OHT at 3, 14, and …

The Seventh International Rasopathies Symposium: Pathways To A Cure—Expanding Knowledge, Enhancing Research, And Therapeutic Discovery, Maria I. Kontaridis, Amy E. Roberts, Lisa Schill, Lisa Schoyer, Beth Stronach, Gregor Andelfinger, Yoko Aoki, Marni E. Axelrad, Annette Bakker, Alejandro Lopez-Juarez

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

RASopathies are a group of genetic disorders that are caused by genes that affect the canonical Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Despite tremendous progress in understanding the molecular consequences of these genetic anomalies, little movement has been made in translating these findings to the clinic. This year, the seventh International RASopathies Symposium focused on expanding the research knowledge that we have gained over the years to enhance new discoveries in the field, ones that we hope can lead to effective therapeutic treatments. Indeed, for the first time, research efforts are finally being translated to the clinic, with compassionate use …