Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Effective Implementation Of Agile Project Management In Healthcare It Projects, Chinedu Chigbu

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

This research paper investigates the effective implementation of Agile project management in the healthcare sector, focusing on its role in facilitating digital transformation initiatives. Through a comprehensive literature review, this study examines current practices, challenges, and future trends in healthcare digitalization, emphasizing the pivotal role of IT project management. Key concepts, models, and success metrics are analyzed, with particular attention to the adoption of Agile methodologies and stakeholder collaboration. Challenges such as interoperability, resistance to change, and data security are scrutinized alongside strategic solutions. The paper also outlines future opportunities, including AI integration and blockchain, and offers recommendations for enhancing …

Sirtuins As Key Regulators In Pancreatic Cancer: Insights Into Signaling Mechanisms And Therapeutic Implications, Surbhi Chouhan, Anil Kumar, Naoshad Muhammad, Darksha Usmani, Tabish H Khan

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) stands as one of the most lethal cancers, marked by rapid progression, pronounced chemoresistance, and a complex network of genetic and epigenetic dysregulation. Within this challenging context, sirtuins, NAD

Domain-Specific Representation Of Social Inference By Neurons In The Human Amygdala And Hippocampus, Runnan Cao, Julien Dubois, Adam N Mamelak, Ralph Adolphs, Shuo Wang, Ueli Rutishauser

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Inferring the intentions and emotions of others from behavior is crucial for social cognition. While neuroimaging studies have identified brain regions involved in social inference, it remains unknown whether performing social inference is an abstract computation that generalizes across different stimulus categories or is specific to certain stimulus domain. We recorded single-neuron activity from the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and the medial frontal cortex (MFC) in neurosurgical patients performing different types of inferences from images of faces, hands, and natural scenes. Our findings indicate distinct neuron populations in both regions encoding inference type for social (faces, hands) and nonsocial (scenes) …

Spino-Plastic Surgery: Addressing Spinal Tumors With New Techniques, Casey Martinez, Isra Abdulwadood, Sebastian Winocour, Alexander E Ropper, Marco Innocenti, Michael Bohl, Maziyar Kalani, Edward M Reece

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background/Objectives: Spino-plastic surgery describes a specialized, multidisciplinary approach to addressing various spinal pathologies. The field is the innovative product of a multidisciplinary collaboration between plastic and reconstructive, orthopedic, and neurosurgery. Over the last few decades, this collaboration has borne promising surgical techniques and treatment plans geared toward restoring form, function, and aesthetics in patients with a variety of spinal conditions, including failed fusions, pseudoarthrosis, and the need for oncologic reconstruction. This paper explores the application of spino-plastic surgery in the context of post-sarcoma resection reconstructions, focusing on the efficacy in addressing the unique challenges posed by extensive tissue loss and …

Bio-Interventional Cyclodialysis And Allograft Scleral Reinforcement For Uveoscleral Outflow Enhancement In Open-Angle Glaucoma Patients: One-Year Clinical Outcomes, Tsontcho Ianchulev, Robert N Weinreb, Ernesto A Calvo, James Lewis, Gautam Kamthan, Arsham Sheybani, Douglas J Rhee, Iqbal K Ahmed

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the one-year safety and effectiveness of bio-interventional cyclodialysis and scleral reinforcement in open-angle glaucoma (OAG) patients undergoing cataract surgery.

METHODS: An ab-interno approach was used to create a sectoral cyclodialysis in OAG patients who were prospectively followed in a consecutive case series. Subsequent visco-cycloplasty with scleral reinforcement using homologous minimally modified allograft scaffold was completed to maintain patency of the cyclodialysis reservoir and increase uveoscleral outflow. Outcomes were mean medicated IOP and mean number of IOP-lowering medications. Safety outcomes were adverse events (AEs) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) changes.

RESULTS: Successful cyclodialysis and allograft bio-scaffold reinforcement was …

Garcinia Pedunculata Roxb. Ex Buch.-Ham. Leaf Extract Ameliorates Diabetes In Streptozotocin Induced Diabetes In Rats, Kangkan Kalita, Techi Gello, Nilutpal Sharma Bora, Zothan Puia

Bulletin of Faculty of Pharmacy Cairo University

Although medicinal plants have been historically used for diabetes treatment throughout the world, few of them have been validated by scientific criteria. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder manifests as elevated blood glucose levels when the body cannot create sufficient amounts of insulin or utilize the insulin produced. This may be due to the free radicals present in the body. The antioxidants help to neutralize the free radicals by donating electron and thus protect from various oxidative stress diseases. The aim of this work is to evaluate the preliminary phytochemical screening, in vitro antioxidant study, in vitro and in vivo …

Reviving Neurodivergent Workplace, Nayeli Gonzalez, Robin Puttock

Symposium of Student Scholars

The post-pandemic era has left the United States with nearly one billion square feet of vacant office space, creating significant economic and social challenges. Alongside this, many employees continue to work from home, often experiencing adverse effects on their physical and mental well-being due to environments that are not conducive to long-term productivity. Addressing these issues, this thesis explores how outdated and underutilized office spaces can be revived, reinvented, and renovated to not only attract employees back to the workplace but also to accommodate the unique needs of neurodivergent individuals. Neurodivergent people, representing millions globally, often encounter sensory overstimulation and …

Machine Learning Approaches For Predicting Dental Caries In Permanent Molars Of Children And Adolescents Using Nhanes 2011-16 Data, Pritam Deb, Christina Scherrer Phd, Lin Li Phd

Symposium of Student Scholars

Dental caries remains a prevalent chronic disease among children, significantly affecting their quality of life, educational outcomes, and school attendance. Between 2011 and 2016, caries affected 17.4% of children aged 6-11 and 56.8% of adolescents aged 12-19, with higher incidences among non-Hispanic Black and Mexican American youth, and those from lower-income families. This study aims to develop a robust machine learning model to predict the presence of decayed, missing, or filled permanent molars (DMFT) in children and adolescents using demographic, dietary, and oral health examination data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the years 2011 to …

Single-Molecule Studies Reveal The Off-Pathway Early Paused State Intermediates As A Target Of Streptolydigin Inhibition Of Rna Polymerase And Its Dramatic Enhancement By Gre Factors, Anatolii Arseniev, Mikhail Panfilov, Georgii Pobegalov, Alina Potyseva, Polina Pavlinova, Maria Yakunina, Jookyung Lee, Sergei Borukhov, Konstantin Severinov, Mikhail Khodorkovskii

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Antibiotic streptolydigin (Stl) inhibits bacterial transcription by blocking the trigger loop folding in the active center of RNA polymerase (RNAP), which is essential for catalysis. We use acoustic force spectroscopy to characterize the dynamics of transcription elongation in ternary elongation complexes (ECs) of RNAP in the presence of Stl at a single-molecule level. We found that Stl induces long-lived stochastic pauses while the instantaneous velocity of transcription between the pauses is unaffected. Stl enhances the short-lived pauses associated with an off-pathway early paused state intermediates of the RNAP nucleotide addition cycle. Unexpectedly, we found that transcript cleavage factors GreA and …

Exploring Hypertension Prevalence Through Perceived Health Beliefs, Sarah E. Wagman

Honors Capstones

Hypertension is a form of heart disease that is extremely prevalent, affecting many Americans. This disease manifests from countless risk factors often modifiable from an individual’s lifestyle behavior. Many health initiatives are understood by the public including healthy eating, exercise, and maintaining adequate health, but incidence continues to rise. To better understand this occurrence, a framework called the Health Belief Model is used to answer why individuals make the health decisions that they do in relation to hypertension. Participants in both individual, small group, and large group settings were invited to attend a Hypertension Awareness Event. Participants were asked to …

Bile Duct Ligation-Induced Cirrhosis Does Not Alter The Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability To Sucrose In Rats, Mohammad K. Miah, Ulrich Bickel, Reza Mehvar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Contradictory results have been reported about the effects of liver diseases on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability to markers. For instance, both an increase and no change in the BBB permeability to BBB markers sodium fluorescein and Evans blue have been reported in experimental cholestasis induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) in rats. These contradictory effects might be due to inherent limitations of these markers and/or methodological issues. Here, we investigated the time course of the impact of BDL in rats on BBB permeability using a recently developed stable isotope labeled marker [¹³C]sucrose, which is expected to be …

Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - December 5, 2024, Lindsay Hughes

Watercooler Newsletter

This is the Thursday, December 5, 2024 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine's newsletter -- Watercooler.

Contents include:

• Students, faculty present research at international meeting on tropical medicine
• Medical students present research on peer-to-peer learning at national conference
• USA Health Pediatrics expands with addition of Weidow
• Pierce elected chair of APQI Steering Committee
• Creg named director of Office of Continuing Medical Education
• Dasgupta receives 2024 Mayer Mitchell Award for Excellence in Cancer Research
• Pathology resident presents research on melanoma at national dermapathology conference
• USA Health welcomes Benjamin to infectious disease division

Computational Logp Calculations And Determination Of Lipophilicity Values Of Fluorinated Morphine Derivatives, Mirabella Romano, Allison Vu, Emily Chen

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The addictive effect of opioids impacted 60 million people globally in 2023. This opioid crisis necessitates the development of opioid derivatives that maintain analgesic efficacy while minimizing addictive effects from opioid use. The present work focuses on morphine, a commonly prescribed opioid with high affinity to the mu-opioid receptor (MOR). Morphine binds non-selectively within both healthy and inflamed tissue. By modifying morphine’s structure through fluorination to counteract its non-selective binding, the drug’s pharmacological ability to provide effective pain relief comes with a lower risk of addiction. Specifically, the addition of fluorine to differing beta positions of the main binding site …

Randomized Clinical Trial To Compare Cryopreserved And Lyopreserved Umbilical Cord Tissue To Treat Complex Diabetic Foot Wounds, Lawrence A. Lavery, Mehmet A. Suludere, Matthew J. Johnson, Amanda Killeen, Katherine M. Raspovic, Peter A. Crisologo, Arthur Tarricone

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

To compare the incidence of infection, wound closure and time to wound closure in patients treated with cryopreserved (CPUT) and lyopreserved umbilical tissue (LPUT) in complex diabetic surgical wounds. This single-blinded 12-week randomized clinical trial compared cryopreserved and lyopreserved amniotic cord tissue to treat complex diabetic foot wounds. LPUT or CRAT was applied at baseline and again after four weeks. We enrolled subjects with UT2A-D and 3A-D wounds (depth to tendon, muscle, or bone with infection and/or PAD) and excluded subjects with ABI < 0.5 or TBI < 0.3, untreated osteomyelitis, and autoimmune diseases. We used a 3-D camera to evaluate wound area and volume. The mean baseline wound areas were 12.9 ± 10.7 cm2 for CPUT and 11.7 ± 7.0 cm2 for LPUT. The mean baseline wound volume was 7.5 ± 8.1 for CPUT and 9.2 ± 10.2 cm3 for LPUT. There was no difference between CPUT and LPUT in wound closure (36.8% vs 19.0%, P = .21) or infection (10.5% vs 4.8%, P = .60). There was no difference in mean …

Health Services Monthly Educational Newsletter To Parents/Guardians, Dena L. Hinkle, Jennifer L. Fisher, Emily Garnett, Chelsea K. Mckee

Nursing Department Graduate Presentations/Conferences

This health services newsletter was created as an educational and information tool for parents/guardians of Will County School District 92. The intention of this project was to increase student compliance with health requirements, improve parental/guardian education regarding student health, and provide necessary student health education topics. The project began by completing a literature review which allowed for a thorough survey of existing information. The theoretical framework Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) serves as the foundation for this proposal, along with Pender’s Health Promotion Model and the School Nursing Practice Framework. The three graduate nursing students determined important educational …

Health Education Curriculum Effectiveness And The Role Of The School Nurse, Dena L. Hinkle, Jennifer L. Kilgos-Conwell, Dipika C. Patel, Christina R. Segal

Nursing Department Graduate Presentations/Conferences

Background: The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) identifies the teaching of health promotion, health literacy, and disease prevention as one of the practice principles of school nurses (NASN, 2024). The aim of this project was to examine how health education topics and curriculum in school districts is determined, who is teaching the curriculum, and if there is a role for the school nurse in the development, collaboration or teaching of the curriculum.

Purpose: The project investigated if school nurses are involved in the selection and/or teaching of the curriculum chosen by the district. Input from school nurses and physical …

Predictors Of Longitudinal Symptom Trajectory In Young Adults With Low Back Pain, Abby Borlovan, Julia Leigh, Jo Armour Smith

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Predictors of longitudinal symptom trajectory in young adults with low back pain. Severity and frequency of painful episodes change over time in individuals with chronic low back pain (LBP). Recalling previous episodes’ severity/frequency is often considered inaccurate. This study’s purpose was to determine if recall of LBP history or psychological characteristics are predictors of future symptom trajectories in young adults with LBP. The 57 young adult participants had a year or more history of LBP and were not currently in pain. At baseline, LBP history was characterized by recall of pain severity and frequency during symptomatic episodes. Participants completed measures …

Effects Of Simultaneous Smartphone Texting And Auditory Stimulation On Gait, Sebastian Herrera Vargas

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

More often than not, pedestrians around busy college campuses, business parks, and shopping malls are seen walking while using their phones and listening to music or having earphones in. Activities on pedestrians’ phones that captivate them more and require higher cognitive processing demonstrated a higher detriment to their gait kinematics than less cognitively complicated activities (Brennan and Preloff, 2021). This study aims to establish whether or not gait parameters are affected by walking while engaging in cognitively demanding activities such as texting and listening to green noise. Green noise is a deviation from white noise, which amplifies the mid-range frequencies …

Ai-Enabled Wearable Cameras For Assisting Dietary Assessment In African Populations, Frank P-W Lo, Jianing Qiu, Modou L Jobarteh, Yingnan Sun, Zeyu Wang, Shuo Jiang, Tom Baranowski, Alex K Anderson, Megan A Mccrory, Edward Sazonov, Wenyan Jia, Mingui Sun, Matilda Steiner-Asiedu, Gary Frost, Benny Lo

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

We have developed a population-level method for dietary assessment using low-cost wearable cameras. Our approach, EgoDiet, employs an egocentric vision-based pipeline to learn portion sizes, addressing the shortcomings of traditional self-reported dietary methods. To evaluate the functionality of this method, field studies were conducted in London (Study A) and Ghana (Study B) among populations of Ghanaian and Kenyan origin. In Study A, EgoDiet's estimations were contrasted with dietitians' assessments, revealing a performance with a Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 31.9% for portion size estimation, compared to 40.1% for estimates made by dietitians. We further evaluated our approach in Study …

Composting For Cleaner Air, Simi Benisty, Katie Bui, Narmin Solman, David Woo

Master's Projects and Capstones

The aim of this project was to address food waste at Mary's Kitchen by implementing a composting initiative to divert organic waste from landfills. The project took place in a nonprofit organization that serves food to the homeless, where the target population includes staff, volunteers, and clients of the kitchen. Key interventions involved creating educational materials on composting, recycling, and waste management, including flyers in both English and Spanish, as well as a QR code for easy access. Additionally, smaller, color-coded buckets were introduced to replace the 33-gallon bins, making waste sorting more manageable. Measures included staff and volunteer compliance …

Liar-Dependent Gene Expression Contributes To Antimicrobial Responses In Group A, Luis Alberto Vega, Misú Sanson-Iglesias, Piyali Mukherjee, Kyle D Buchan, Gretchen Morrison, Anne E Hohlt, Anthony R Flores

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The ability to sense and respond to host defenses is essential for pathogen survival. Some mechanisms involve two-component systems (TCSs) that respond to host molecules, such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), and activate specific gene regulatory pathways to aid in survival. Alongside TCSs, bacteria coordinate cell division proteins, chaperones, cell wall sortases, and secretory translocons at discrete locations within the cytoplasmic membrane, referred to as functional membrane microdomains (FMMs). In group A Streptococcus (GAS), the FMM or “ExPortal” coordinates protein secretion, cell wall synthesis, and sensing of AMP-mediated cell envelope stress via the LiaFSR three-component system. Previously, we showed that GAS …

Clonal Landscape And Clinical Outcomes Of Telomere Biology Disorders: Somatic Rescue And Cancer Mutations, Fernanda Gutierrez-Rodrigues, Emma M Groarke, Natthakan Thongon, Juan Jose Rodriguez-Sevilla, Luiz Fernando B Catto, Marena R Niewisch, Ruba Shalhoub, Lisa J Mcreynolds, Diego V Clé, Bhavisha A Patel, Xiaoyang Ma, Dalton Hironaka, Flávia S Donaires, Nina Spitofsky, Barbara A Santana, Tsung-Po Lai, Lemlem Alemu, Sachiko Kajigaya, Ivana Darden, Weiyin Zhou, Paul V Browne, Subrata Paul, Justin Lack, David J Young, Courtney D Dinardo, Abraham Aviv, Feiyang Ma, Michel Michels De Oliveira, Ana Paula De Azambuja, Cynthia E Dunbar, Malgorzata Olszewska, Emmanuel Olivier, Eirini P Papapetrou, Neelam Giri, Blanche P Alter, Carmem Bonfim, Colin O Wu, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Sharon A Savage, Neal S Young, Simona Colla, Rodrigo T Calado

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Telomere biology disorders (TBDs), caused by pathogenic germ line variants in telomere-related genes, present with multiorgan disease and a predisposition to cancer. Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) as a marker of cancer development and survival in TBDs is poorly understood. Here, we characterized the clonal landscape of a large cohort of 207 patients with TBD with a broad range of age and phenotype. CH occurred predominantly in symptomatic patients and in signature genes typically associated with cancers: PPM1D, POT1, TERT promoter (TERTp), U2AF1S34, and/or TP53. Chromosome 1q gain (Chr1q+) was the commonest karyotypic abnormality. Clinically, multiorgan involvement and CH in TERTp, TP53, …

A Heuristic Evaluation Of A Pharmacy Surveillance Information System, Reza Abbasi, Mehrdad Farzandipour, Habiballah Rahimi, Yang Gong, Ehsan Nabovati

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: The pharmacy surveillance information system (PSIS) is intended to manage the dispensing practice of under-controlled drugs and substances. We designed and developed a PSIS for the first time in a developing country. This study aimed to evaluate the usability of this system using a heuristic evaluation method before the pilot implementation in outpatient pharmacies.

Materials and methods: The study was conducted in 2022 during the development of a pharmacy surveillance information system. Five evaluators examined the system using Nielson's heuristic evaluation method. The detected usability problems were categorized into 10 Nielson's usability principles, and their severity was calculated.

Results: …

Integrative Multi-Omics Analysis Uncovers Tumor-Immune-Gut Axis Influencing Immunotherapy Outcomes In Ovarian Cancer, Spencer R Rosario, Mark D Long, Shanmuga Chilakapati, Eduardo Cortes Gomez, Sebastiano Battaglia, Prashant K Singh, Jianmin Wang, Katy Wang, Kristopher Attwood, Suzanne M Hess, A J Robert Mcgray, Kunle Odunsi, Brahm H Segal, Gyorgy Paragh, Song Liu, Jennifer A Wargo, Emese Zsiros

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Recurrent ovarian cancer patients, especially those resistant to platinum, lack effective curative treatments. To address this, we conducted a phase 2 clinical trial (NCT02853318) combining pembrolizumab with bevacizumab, to increase T cell infiltration into the tumor, and oral cyclophosphamide, to reduce the number of regulatory T cells. The trial accrued 40 heavily pretreated recurrent ovarian cancer patients. The primary endpoint, progression free survival, was extended to a median of 10.2 months. The secondary endpoints demonstrated an objective response rate of 47.5%, and disease control in 30% of patients for over a year while maintaining a good quality of life. We …

Natural Medicine Use In Costa Rica, Elizabeth Krol

Honors Theses

This study explores the role of natural medicine in Costa Rican culture, while focusing on its historical, cultural, and clinical significance. With a literature review, ethnobotanical research, and a study abroad experience, this paper highlights the integration of natural, herbal medicine into modern healthcare. Costa Rica’s rich biodiversity, with its varied microclimates and abundant medicinal plants, forms a strong foundation for traditional herbal medicine. Indigenous groups such as the BriBri and Cabécar contributed significantly to this legacy, which has evolved through interactions with European and Afro-Caribbean populations.

Research emphasizes the cultural importance of herbal medicine within the “Pura Vida” lifestyle, …

Spatial Dynamics Of Culex Quinquefasciatus Abundance: Geostatistical Insights From Harris County, Texas, Morgan Jibowu, Melissa S Nolan, Ryan Ramphul, Heather T Essigmann, Abiodun O Oluyomi, Eric L Brown, Maximea Vigilant, Sarah M Gunter

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Mosquito-borne diseases pose a significant public health threat, prompting the need to pinpoint high-risk areas for targeted interventions and environmental control measures. Culex quinquefasciatus is the primary vector for several mosquito-borne pathogens, including West Nile virus. Using spatial analysis and modeling techniques, we investigated the geospatial distribution of Culex quinquefasciatus abundance in the large metropolis of Harris County, Texas, from 2020 to 2022. Our geospatial analysis revealed clusters of high mosquito abundance, predominantly located in central Houston and the north-northwestern regions of Harris County, with lower mosquito abundance observed in the western and southeastern areas. We identified persistent high mosquito …

Rna Splicing As A Biomarker And Phenotypic Driver Of Meningioma Dna-Methylation Groups, Nathan K Leclair, Abrar Choudury, William C Chen, Stephen T Magill, Kathleen Mccortney, Craig M Horbinski, Zhenhong Chen, Ezequiel Goldschmidt, Charlotte D Eaton, Ketan R Bulsara, Wenya Linda Bi, Akash J Patel, Felix Sahm, David Raleigh, Olga Anczukow

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Advances in our understanding of the molecular biology of meningiomas have led to significant gains in the ability to predict patient prognosis and tumor recurrence and to identify novel targets for therapeutic design. Specifically, classification of meningiomas based on DNA methylation has greatly improved our ability to risk stratify patients, however new questions have arisen in terms of the underlying impact these DNA-methylation signatures have on meningioma biology.

METHODS: This study utilizes RNA-sequencing data from 486 meningioma samples corresponding to 3 meningioma DNA-methylation groups (merlin-intact, immune-enriched, and hypermitotic), followed by in vitro experiments utilizing human meningioma cell lines.

RESULTS: …

Immune Landscape Of Isocitrate Dehydrogenase-Stratified Primary And Recurrent Human Gliomas, Pravesh Gupta, Minghao Dang, Shivangi Oberai, Simona Migliozzi, Rakesh Trivedi, Gayatri Kumar, Mekenzie Peshoff, Nancy Milam, Aml Ahmed, Krishna Bojja, Tuan M Tran, Joy Gumin, Carlos Kamiya-Matsuoka, Jason Huse, Kathryn Cox, Jianzhuo Li, Huma Shehwana, Sameer A Sheth, Rodriguez Saxon, Sun Baohua, Brittany Parker Kerrigan, Atul Maheshwari, Edwin Roger Parra Cuentas, Nicholas E Navin, Amy B Heimberger, Frederick F Lang, Antonio Iavarone, Karen Clise-Dwyer, Linghua Wang, Krishna P Bhat

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Human gliomas are classified using isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) status as a prognosticator; however, the influence of genetic differences and treatment effects on ensuing immunity remains unclear.

Methods: In this study, we used sequential single-cell transcriptomics on 144 678 and spectral cytometry on over 2 million immune cells encompassing 48 human gliomas to decipher their immune landscape.

Results: We identified 22 distinct immune cell types that contribute to glioma immunity. Specifically, brain-resident microglia (MG) were reduced with a concomitant increase in CD8+ T lymphocytes during glioma recurrence independent of IDH status. In contrast, IDH-wild type-associated patterns, such as an abundance …

Amniotic Fluid-Derived Stem Cells: Potential Factories Of Natural And Mimetic Strategies For Congenital Malformations, Cristiane S R Fonteles, Julia Enterria-Rosales, Ying Lin, John W Steele, Ramiro A Villarreal-Leal, Jing Xiao, Daniel I Idowu, Beck Burgelin, Bogdan J Wlodarczyk, Richard H Finnell, Bruna Corradetti

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from gestational tissues offer a promising avenue for prenatal intervention in congenital malformations although their application is hampered by concerns related to cellular plasticity and the need for invasive, high-risk surgical procedures. Here, we present naturally occurring exosomes (EXOs) isolated from amniotic fluid-derived MSCs (AF-MSCs) and their mimetic analogs (MIMs) as viable, reproducible, and stable alternatives. These nanovesicles present a minimally invasive therapeutic option, addressing the limitations of MSC-based treatments while retaining therapeutic efficacy.

METHODS: MIMs were generated from AF-MSCs by combining sequential filtration steps through filter membranes with different porosity and size exclusion …

Exploration Of The Tunability Of Brd4 Degradation By Dcaf16 Trans-Labelling Covalent Glues, Muhammad Murtaza Hassan, Yen-Der Li, Michelle W Ma, Mingxing Teng, Woong Sub Byun, Kedar Puvar, Ryan Lumpkin, Brittany Sandoval, Justine C Rutter, Cyrus Y Jin, Michelle Y Wang, Shawn Xu, Anna M Schmoker, Hakyung Cheong, Brian J Groendyke, Jun Qi, Eric S Fischer, Benjamin L Ebert, Nathanael S Gray

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Chemically induced proximity modalities such as targeted protein degradation (TPD) hold promise for expanding the number of proteins that can be manipulated pharmacologically. However, current TPD strategies are often limited to proteins with preexisting ligands. Molecular glues (e.g. glutarimide ligands for CUL4CRBN), offer the potential to target undruggable proteins. Yet, their rational design is largely unattainable due to the unpredictability of the ‘gain-of-function’ nature of the glue interaction upon chemical modification of ligands. We recently reported a covalent trans-labelling glue mechanism which we named ‘Template-assisted covalent modification’, where an electrophile decorated BRD4 inhibitor was effectively delivered to …