Medical Genetics Commons^™

Infusion Of Blood From Young And Old Mice Modulates Amyloid Pathology, Matias Pizarro, Ruben Gomez-Gutierrez, Ariel Caviedes, Catalina Valdes, Ute Woehlbier, Cristian Vargas, Mauricio Hernandez, Claudia Duran-Aniotz, Rodrigo Morales

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain. Recently, the impact of blood components in the progression of this disease has come to attention. This study investigates the effects of infusing blood from young and old wild-type mice into transgenic mice that model AD brain amyloidosis. Impaired memory and Aβ accumulation were observed in mice infused with blood from old donors. A proteomic analysis in the brain of these mice identified alterations in components related to synaptogenesis and the endocannabinoid system. The α2δ2 protein, associated with neuronal calcium regulation, was validated …

Ubiquitination-Targeted Therapies Improve Bmd Ipsc Myogenic Cell Engraftment And Dystrophin Expression In Vivo, Muchen Liu, Somik Chatterjee, Jianbo Wu, Zeinab Kashaniasl, Ashok Kumar, Chunru Lin, Radbod Darabi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is caused by in-frame mutations in dystrophin gene, leading to progressive muscle weakness, and cardiac and respiratory complications. Currently, there is no cure. We have recently identified the importance of poly-ubiquitination in regulating dystrophin stability through the binding of lncRNA H19 to the dystrophin C-terminal zinc-finger domain (ZNF), inhibiting TRIM63-mediated poly-ubiquitination. We also demonstrated that BMD mutations lead to conformational changes in ZNF domain, reduced lncRNA H19 binding and increased dystrophin ubiquitination. Here we used BMD iPSCs to investigate the in vitro myogenic potential of BMD myogenic cells, as well as in vitro and in vivo …

Nmr-Based Metabolomic Profiling For Brain Cancer Diagnosis And Treatment Guidance, Julia R Zickus, José S Enriquez, Paytience Smith, Bill T Sun, Muxin Wang, Aldo Morales, Pratip K Bhattacharya, Shivanand Pudakalakatti

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a routinely used analytical tool for studying chemical entities of varying molecular sizes, ranging from approximately 20 Da to ~45 kDa, and in some cases even larger. Over the past two decades, the use of NMR spectroscopy has significantly expanded to the study of metabolomics. In this medium-sized review, the application of NMR-based metabolomics in the diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, and guidance of therapy for various types of brain cancer is discussed.

The Glutaminase Activity Of Asns Fuels Glutamine Metabolism In Leukemia, Wai-Kin Chan, Lin Tan, Sara A Martinez, Di Du, Thomas D Horvath, Michael Pontikos, Leona A Rusling, Yulun Chiu, Bao Q Tran, Susan B Rempe, Sergei Sukharev, John N Weinstein, Philip L Lorenzi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Not available.

Neurotransmitter Signaling In Molecular And Behavioral Immune Responses To Pathogens In C Elegans, Benson Otarigho, Alejandro Aballay

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Neurotransmitter signaling pathways play major roles in both molecular and behavioral defenses against pathogen invasion, shaping the ability of Caenorhabditis elegans to sense and respond to environmental challenges. Given the conservation of neurotransmitter signaling pathways, their understanding may not only provide insights into the neurobiology of C. elegans but also has broader implications for our understanding of neural-immune interactions and host defense mechanisms in higher organisms. In this review, we discussed the literature on various neurotransmitter signaling pathways, including serotonergic, dopaminergic/octopaminergic, GABAergic, and glutamatergic pathways, and how these pathways modulate molecular and behavioral immune defense against pathogens.

Complete Genome Sequence Of Actinomyces Oris Strain Mg-1: An Oral Commensal Critical For Dental Plaque Formation, Bibek G C, Kexin Tan, Chenggang Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Actinomyces oris MG-1 is a key oral commensal involved in dental plaque formation. We report its complete genome sequence, generated using Illumina and Oxford Nanopore sequencing. The genome consists of a single circular chromosome of 3,042,829 bp, providing a resource for future functional studies.

Inhibition Of The Ufd-1-Npl-4 Complex Triggers An Aberrant Immune Response In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Rajneesh Rao, Alejandro Aballay, Jogender Singh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The UFD-1 (ubiquitin fusion degradation 1)-NPL-4 (nuclear protein localization homolog 4) heterodimer is involved in extracting ubiquitinated proteins from several plasma membrane locations, including the endoplasmic reticulum. This heterodimer complex helps in the degradation of ubiquitinated proteins via the proteasome with the help of the AAA+ATPase CDC-48. While the ubiquitin-proteasome system is known to have important roles in maintaining innate immune responses, the role of the UFD-1-NPL-4 complex in regulating immunity remains elusive. In this study, we investigate the role of the UFD-1-NPL-4 complex in maintaining

Bypassing Bamd Essentiality By Mutations In A Non-Essential Substrate, Santosh Kumar, Anna Konovalova

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The β-barrel assembly machinery (Bam) is essential for assembling all transmembrane β-barrel outer membrane proteins in gram-negative bacteria. The Bam complex consists of the central β-barrel protein BamA and accessory Bam lipoproteins, including the widely conserved and essential BamD. BamD is assumed to be an essential regulator of OMP assembly, as its absence causes a global defect in OMP biogenesis. Here, we challenge this view by demonstrating that BamD essentiality is both conditional and substrate specific. In Escherichia coli, its function can be bypassed by preventing BamA jamming by a single, non-essential substrate RcsF. Our findings suggest that BamD …

Innate And Adaptive Immune Features Associated With Immune-Related Adverse Events, Shaheen Khan, Venkat S Malladi, Mitchell S Von Itzstein, Hong Mu-Mosley, Farjana J Fattah, Yang Liu, Mary E Gwin, Jason Y Park, Suzanne M Cole, Sheena Bhalla, Jay Lohrey, David Hsiehchen, Angela Moses, Tao Wang, Yaming Xue, Angela B Mobley, J David Farrar, Marjaan Imam, Michelle Wu, Quan-Zhen Li, Edward K Wakeland, Yang Xie, Jeffrey A Sorelle, David E Gerber

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: While highly efficacious for numerous cancers, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can cause unpredictable and potentially severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs), underscoring the need to understand irAE biology.

Methods: We used a multidimensional approach incorporating single-cell RNA sequencing, mass cytometry, multiplex cytokine assay, and antinuclear antibody (ANA) profiling to characterize the peripheral immune landscape of patients receiving ICI therapy according to irAE development.

Results: Analysis of 162 patients revealed that individuals who developed clinically significant irAEs exhibited a baseline proinflammatory, autoimmune-like state characterized by a significantly higher abundance of CD57+ T and natural killer (NK) T cells, plasmablasts, proliferating and …

Infectious Prions In Brains And Muscles Of Domestic Pigs Experimentally Challenged With The Bse, Scrapie, And Cwd Agents, Francisca Bravo-Risi, Fraser Brydon, Angela Chong, Kane Spicker, Justin J Greenlee, Glenn Telling, Claudio Soto, Sandra Pritzkow, Marcelo A Barria, Rodrigo Morales

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Experimental studies suggest that animal species not previously described as naturally infected by prions are susceptible to prion diseases affecting sheep, cattle, and deer. These interspecies transmissions may generate prions with unknown host ranges. Pigs are susceptible to prions from different origins, including deer chronic wasting disease (CWD), sheep scrapie, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Here, we studied prions in brains and muscles from pigs previously infected with these different prion sources. Specifically, we measured the total prion protein (PrP) and PK-resistant PrP by western blot. Seeding activity in these tissues was evaluated using the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) …

The Role Of Ceramides As Biomarkers And Therapeutic Targets For Cardiometabolic Disease And Its Intersection With Cellular Aging, Youssef Moustafa Shalaby

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Ceramides (Cer), a subclass of sphingolipids with potent bioactive properties, have gained recognition as key players in the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic diseases (CMD). They modulate critical cellular functions such as apoptosis, inflammation, insulin signaling, and oxidative stress. This dissertation explores the dual role of Cer as both early diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets, bridging clinical insights with mechanistic understanding through a combination of human and experimental studies.

A highly sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated to quantify intracellular levels of specific Cer species, including CerC16:0, CerC18:0, CerC22:0, CerC24:0, and CerC24:1. This method was translated into …

Computationally Resolved Neuroprogenitor Cell Biomarkers Associate With Human Disorders, Gerarda Cappuccio, William T Choi, Fatih Semerci, Jill A Rosenfeld, Toni Claire Tacorda, Guantong Qi, Anthony W Zoghbi, Yi Zhong, Hu Chen, Pengfei Liu, Zhandong Liu, Mirjana Maletić-Savatić

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis, the process of generating new neurons, relies on a rare population of neural stem and progenitor cells (NPCs) within the dentate gyrus complex microenvironment. Discovering the specific genes that define these cells is vital yet challenging due to overlapping expression patterns, limiting detection of rare cell populations using traditional approaches. By employing the computational digital sorting algorithm (DSA) that deconvolves complex gene expression data based on pattern recognition, we identified 129 genes enriched in murine NPCs. We validated these genes against published single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data and discovered that 25 human orthologs were known to cause …

A Phase 2 Study Of Obinutuzumab Combined With Lenalidomide In Previously Untreated High Tumor Burden Follicular Lymphoma, Neha Akkad, Lei Feng, Jason R Westin, Fredrick B Hagemeister, Hun Ju Lee, Luis Fayad, Sairah Ahmed, Ranjit Nair, Maria Alma Rodriguez, Paolo Strati, Dai Chihara, Christopher R Flowers, Linda Claret, Karina Ibanez, Michael Wang, Nathan H Fowler, Jared Henderson, R Eric Davis, Sattva S Neelapu, Michael Green, Loretta J Nastoupil

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Follicular lymphoma (FL) has a clinical course that is often characterized by high response rates to first-line therapy, followed by multiple relapses over a prolonged natural history. Currently, there are multiple possible approaches to frontline therapy for untreated advanced-stage FL, but there is an ongoing debate around what is the preferred approach. Based on the benefits seen with combining lenalidomide, an immunomodulatory agent, with rituximab, an anti-CD20 antibody, we aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of lenalidomide in combination with obinuzutumab, an anti-CD20 antibody with enhanced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. The eligibility criteria included a diagnosis of FL, grade 1 …

Fruquintinib In Less Pretreated Patients: Multivariate Profile-Matching Analysis Of Fresco-2 To Fresco, Arvind Dasari, Cathy Eng, Sara Lonardi, Rocio Garcia-Carbonero, Toshiki Masuishi, Chiara Cremolini, François Ghiringhelli, Joleen Hubbard, Tanios Bekaii-Saab, Jeremy Jones, Rui-Hua Xu, Lin Shen, Jianming Xu, Yuxian Bai, Yanhong Deng, Ying Yuan, Wei Wei, Jianchang Lin, Lucy Chen, Zhao Yang, William R Schelman, Shukui Qin, Jin Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: In the phase 3 FRESCO (NCT02314819) and FRESCO-2 (NCT04322539) studies, fruquintinib vs placebo, plus best supportive care, significantly improved overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). These studies were conducted in temporally and geographically diverse populations that received distinct prior therapies; FRESCO patients were less pretreated than FRESCO-2 patients. This analysis assessed the efficacy and safety of fruquintinib in a less pretreated global population than the FRESCO-2 intention-to-treat (ITT) population.

Methods: In FRESCO and FRESCO-2, patients were randomized 2:1 to receive oral fruquintinib 5 mg or matched placebo. Profile matching was undertaken …

Author Correction: Functional Mechanisms Underlying Pleiotropic Risk Alleles At The 19p131 Breast-Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility Locus, Kate Lawrenson, Siddhartha Kar, Karen Mccue, Karoline Kuchenbaeker, Kyriaki Michailidou, Jonathan Tyrer, Jonathan Beesley, Susan J Ramus, Qiyuan Li, Melissa K Delgado, Janet M Lee, Kristiina Aittomäki, Irene L Andrulis, Hoda Anton-Culver, Volker Arndt, Banu K Arun, Brita Arver, Elisa V Bandera, Monica Barile, Rosa B Barkardottir, Daniel Barrowdale, Matthias W Beckmann, Javier Benitez, Andrew Berchuck, Maria Bisogna, Line Bjorge, Carl Blomqvist, William Blot, Natalia Bogdanova, Anders Bojesen, Stig E Bojesen, Manjeet K Bolla, Bernardo Bonanni, Anne-Lise Børresen-Dale, Hiltrud Brauch, Paul Brennan, Hermann Brenner, Fiona Bruinsma, Joan Brunet, Shaik Ahmad Buhari, Barbara Burwinkel, Ralf Butzow, Saundra S Buys, Qiuyin Cai, Trinidad Caldes, Ian Campbell, Rikki Cannioto, Jenny Chang-Claude, Jocelyne Chiquette, Ji-Yeob Choi, Kathleen B M Claes, Linda S Cook, Angela Cox, Daniel W Cramer, Simon S Cross, Cezary Cybulski, Kamila Czene, Mary B Daly, Francesca Damiola, Agnieszka Dansonka-Mieszkowska, Hatef Darabi, Joe Dennis, Peter Devilee, Orland Diez, Jennifer A Doherty, Susan M Domchek, Cecilia M Dorfling, Thilo Dörk, Martine Dumont, Hans Ehrencrona, Bent Ejlertsen, Steve Ellis, Christoph Engel, Eunjung Lee, D Gareth Evans, Peter A Fasching, Lidia Feliubadalo, Jonine Figueroa, Dieter Flesch-Janys, Olivia Fletcher, Henrik Flyger, Lenka Foretova, Florentia Fostira, William D Foulkes, Brooke L Fridley, Eitan Friedman, Debra Frost, Gaetana Gambino, Patricia A Ganz, Judy Garber, Montserrat García-Closas, Aleksandra Gentry-Maharaj, Maya Ghoussaini, Graham G Giles, Rosalind Glasspool, Andrew K Godwin, Mark S Goldberg, David E Goldgar, Anna González-Neira, Ellen L Goode, Marc T Goodman, Mark H Greene, Jacek Gronwald, Pascal Guénel, Christopher A Haiman, Per Hall, Emily Hallberg, Ute Hamann, Thomas V O Hansen, Patricia A Harrington, Mikael Hartman, Norhashimah Hassan, Sue Healey, Florian Heitz, Josef Herzog, Estrid Høgdall, Claus K Høgdall, Frans B L Hogervorst, Antoinette Hollestelle, John L Hopper, Peter J Hulick, Tomasz Huzarski, Evgeny N Imyanitov, Kconfab Investigators, Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group, Claudine Isaacs, Hidemi Ito, Anna Jakubowska, Ramunas Janavicius, Allan Jensen, Esther M John, Nichola Johnson, Maria Kabisch, Daehee Kang, Miroslav Kapuscinski, Beth Y Karlan, Sofia Khan, Lambertus A Kiemeney, Susanne Kruger Kjaer, Julia A Knight, Irene Konstantopoulou, Veli-Matti Kosma, Vessela Kristensen, Jolanta Kupryjanczyk, Ava Kwong, Miguel De La Hoya, Yael Laitman, Diether Lambrechts, Nhu Le, Kim De Leeneer, Jenny Lester, Douglas A Levine, Jingmei Li, Annika Lindblom, Jirong Long, Artitaya Lophatananon, Jennifer T Loud, Karen Lu, Jan Lubinski, Arto Mannermaa, Siranoush Manoukian, Loic Le Marchand, Sara Margolin, Frederik Marme, Leon F A G Massuger, Keitaro Matsuo, Sylvie Mazoyer, Lesley Mcguffog, Catriona Mclean, Iain Mcneish, Alfons Meindl, Usha Menon, Arjen R Mensenkamp, Roger L Milne, Marco Montagna, Kirsten B Moysich, Kenneth Muir, Anna Marie Mulligan, Katherine L Nathanson, Roberta B Ness, Susan L Neuhausen, Heli Nevanlinna, Silje Nord, Robert L Nussbaum, Kunle Odunsi, Kenneth Offit, Edith Olah, Olufunmilayo I Olopade, Janet E Olson, Curtis Olswold, David O'Malley, Irene Orlow, Nick Orr, Ana Osorio, Sue Kyung Park, Celeste L Pearce, Tanja Pejovic, Paolo Peterlongo, Georg Pfeiler, Catherine M Phelan, Elizabeth M Poole, Katri Pylkäs, Paolo Radice, Johanna Rantala, Muhammad Usman Rashid, Gad Rennert, Valerie Rhenius, Kerstin Rhiem, Harvey A Risch, Gus Rodriguez, Mary Anne Rossing, Anja Rudolph, Helga B Salvesen, Suleeporn Sangrajrang, Elinor J Sawyer, Joellen M Schildkraut, Marjanka K Schmidt, Rita K Schmutzler, Thomas A Sellers, Caroline Seynaeve, Mitul Shah, Chen-Yang Shen, Xiao-Ou Shu, Weiva Sieh, Christian F Singer, Olga M Sinilnikova, Susan Slager, Honglin Song, Penny Soucy, Melissa C Southey, Marie Stenmark-Askmalm, Dominique Stoppa-Lyonnet, Christian Sutter, Anthony Swerdlow, Sandrine Tchatchou, Manuel R Teixeira, Soo H Teo, Kathryn L Terry, Mary Beth Terry, Mads Thomassen, Maria Grazia Tibiletti, Laima Tihomirova, Silvia Tognazzo, Amanda Ewart Toland, Ian Tomlinson, Diana Torres, Thérèse Truong, Chiu-Chen Tseng, Nadine Tung, Shelley S Tworoger, Celine Vachon, Ans M W Van Den Ouweland, Helena C Van Doorn, Elizabeth J Van Rensburg, Laura J Van't Veer, Adriaan Vanderstichele, Ignace Vergote, Joseph Vijai, Qin Wang, Shan Wang-Gohrke, Jeffrey N Weitzel, Nicolas Wentzensen, Alice S Whittemore, Hans Wildiers, Robert Winqvist, Anna H Wu, Drakoulis Yannoukakos, Sook-Yee Yoon, Jyh-Cherng Yu, Wei Zheng, Ying Zheng, Kum Kum Khanna, Jacques Simard, Alvaro N Monteiro, Juliet D French, Fergus J Couch, Matthew L Freedman, Douglas F Easton, Alison M Dunning, Paul D Pharoah, Stacey L Edwards, Georgia Chenevix-Trench, Antonis C Antoniou, Simon A Gayther

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Regulation Of Food Intake By Connexin43 Via Adipocyte-Sensory Neuron Electrical Synapses, Xi Chen, Xing Fang, Hong Zhou, Jieyi Meng, Yang He, Leon G Straub, Andrew Lemoff, Clair Crewe, Shangang Zhao, Yong Xu, Yi Zhu

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Background and objective: Connexin43 (Cx43), encoded by Gja1, forms gap junctions between adjacent cells. In adipose tissue, it is upregulated during adipose beiging while downregulated by high-fat-diet (HFD) feeding. Adipocyte-specific Gja1 overexpression enhances adipose tissue beiging in response to mild cold stress of room temperature. Moreover, those mice display a surprising decrease in food intake, but the mechanism remains unclear. This study investigates how adipocyte Cx43 influences feeding behavior.

Methods: Mice with adipose tissue-specific Gja1 overexpression (Adipoq-Cx43) were fed with HFD. Food intake, weight gain, substrate utilization, and serum lipolysis were assessed. RNA-seq, proteomics, and cytokine measurements were employed to …

Association Between Body Mass Index And Uterotonic Use In Postpartum Hemorrhage: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Cece Cheng, Bryce T Munter, Michaela Y Lee, Claire D Sundjaja, Natasha D Paul, Margaret M Klausmeyer, Nastassia A Yammine, Patrick S Ramsey, John J Byrne

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/Objectives: Our primary objective was to determine whether patients with a higher body mass index (BMI) who experienced postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) required ≥2 uterotonics more often than those with lower BMI.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study that included all patients who experienced a PPH between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2022. Extracted data included patient demographics, PPH risk factors, details regarding the labor course and hemorrhage management, and maternal and neonatal outcomes, such as mode of delivery, etiology of hemorrhage, need for nonpharmacological management, neonatal Apgar scores, requirement for phototherapy, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, and …

Identifying Bio-Behavioural Signatures Of Persistent Opioid Use Risk In Trauma Injury Patients: A Protocol For A Prospective Cohort Study, Joy M Schmitz, Jin Ho Yoon, Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon, John A Harvin, Preethi H Gunaratne, Darrion Mouton, Kandice Motley, Erin E Fox, Jessica Vincent, Megan Tarbet, Consuelo Walss-Bass

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Exposure to prescription opioids following traumatic injury can increase the risk of developing tolerance, persistent opioid use and opioid use disorder. The mechanisms underlying opioid tolerance or dependence are not well understood, and no biomarkers predict risk. Opioid exposure causes epigenetic modifications, including alterations in microRNA (miRNA) expression. Several miRNAs, which regulate synaptic plasticity, are hypothesised to underlie substance use disorders and influence µ-opioid receptor levels, modulating opioid tolerance. This project aims to develop a bio-behavioural signature to predict persistent opioid use and chronic pain up to 6 months post-discharge.

Methods and analysis: The study will use a prospective …

Implementing A Training Resource For Large-Scale Genomic Data Analysis In The All Of Us Researcher Workbench, Jasmine Baker, Erik Stricker, Julie Coleman, Shamika Ketkar, Taotao Tan, Ashley M Butler, Laterrica Williams, Latanya Hammonds-Odie, Debra Murray, Brendan Lee, Kim C Worley, Elizabeth G Atkinson

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

A lack of representation in genomic research and limited access to computational training create barriers for many researchers seeking to analyze large-scale genetic datasets. The All of Us Research Program provides an unprecedented opportunity to address these gaps by offering genomic data from a broad range of participants, but its impact depends on equipping researchers with the necessary skills to use it effectively. The All of Us Biomedical Researcher (BR) Scholars Program at Baylor College of Medicine aims to break down these barriers by providing early-career researchers with hands-on training in computational genomics through the All of Us Evenings with …

Detection Of Cancers Three Years Prior To Diagnosis Using Plasma Cell-Free Dna, Yuxuan Wang, Corinne E Joshu, Samuel D Curtis, Christopher Douville, Vernon A Burk, Meng Ru, Maria Popoli, Janine Ptak, Lisa Dobbyn, Natalie Silliman, Josef Coresh, Eric Boerwinkle, Anna Prizment, Chetan Bettegowda, Kenneth W Kinzler, Nickolas Papadopoulos, Elizabeth A Platz, Bert Vogelstein

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To explore how early can cancers be detected prior to clinical signs or symptoms, we assessed prospectively collected serial plasma samples from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, including 26 participants diagnosed with cancer and 26 matched controls. At the index time point, eight of these 52 participants scored positively with a multicancer early detection (MCED) test. All eight participants were diagnosed with cancer within 4 months after blood collection. In six of these 8 participants, we were able to assess an earlier plasma sample collected 3.1 to 3.5 years prior to clinical diagnosis. In four of these six …

Lewy Body Dementia Promotion By Air Pollutants, Xiaodi Zhang, Haiqing Liu, Xiao Wu, Longgang Jia, Kundlik Gadhave, Lena Wang, Kevin Zhang, Hanyu Li, Rong Chen, Ramhari Kumbhar, Ning Wang, Chantelle E Terrillion, Bong Gu Kang, Bin Bai, Minhan Park, Ma Cristine Faye Denna, Shu Zhang, Wenqiang Zheng, Denghui Ye, Xiaoli Rong, Liu Yang, Lili Niu, Han Seok Ko, Weiyi Peng, Lingtao Jin, Mingyao Ying, Liana S Rosenthal, David W Nauen, Alex Pantelyat, Mahima Kaur, Kezia Irene, Liuhua Shi, Rahel Feleke, Sonia García-Ruiz, Mina Ryten, Valina L Dawson, Francesca Dominici, Rodney J Weber, Xuan Zhang, Pengfei Liu, Ted M Dawson, Shizhong Han, Xiaobo Mao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Evidence links air pollution to dementia, yet its role in Lewy body dementia (LBD) remains unclear. Here we showed in a cohort of 56.5 million individuals across the U.S. that PM2.5 exposure raises LBD risk. Mechanistically, we found PM2.5 exposure led to brain atrophy in wild-type mice, an effect not seen in α-synuclein (αSyn)-deficient mice. PM2.5 exposure generated a highly pathogenic αSyn strain, PM-PFF, with enhanced proteinase K-resistance and neurotoxicity, resembling αSyn LBD strains. PM2.5 samples from China, the U.S., and Europe consistently induced proteinase-resistant αSyn strains and in vivo pathology. Transcriptomic analyses revealed shared responses between PM2.5-exposed mice and …

Human Papillomavirus Integration Induces Oncogenic Host Gene Fusions In Oropharyngeal Cancers, Nusrat Khan, Keiko Akagi, Shiming Jiang, Joe Dan Dunn, Bo Jiang, Weihong Xiao, Madison P O'Hara, Li Shen, Qi Wang, Vakul Mohanty, Jing Wang, Sara Goodwin, Jamie L Hutchins, Kevin R Coombes, Jagannadha K Sastry, David E Symer, Maura L Gillison

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

HPV integration disrupts host genomic structure and expression, but whether these alterations promote cancer development remains unclear. Multiple genomic analyses of oropharyngeal cancers identified several host fusion genes, including recurrent FGFR3-TACC3 fusions, expressed from rearranged genomic loci adjacent to HPV integration sites. Evolutionary modeling implicated integration of virus concatemers into the host genome as a common initiating event in fusion formation. Co-expression of HPV16 E6/E7 and FGFR3-TACC3, but neither alone, was sufficient for tumor development in both xenograft and syngeneic mouse models and led to unique transcriptional programs implicated in carcinogenesis. FGFR3-TACC3 expression decreased the ubiquitination and degradation of …

Dissecting Microbial Communities With Single-Cell Transcriptome Analysis, Andrew W Pountain, Itai Yanai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Revealing insights into the function of microbial communities requires moving beyond measuring bulk taxonomic composition to detecting interactions between subpopulations. Following the transformative impact of single-cell gene expression profiling techniques on numerous fields of human biology, recent years have seen increased application to microbes. We review progress in the development of these techniques and discuss challenges in applying them to microbial communities. We highlight applications for dissecting the microbiome in human health and disease that reveal functional heterogeneity within gut communities, antibiotic responses, and the dynamics of mobile genetic elements. As single-cell gene expression technologies continue to develop, they are …

Intronic Fgf14 Gaa Repeat Expansions Impact Progression And Survival In Multiple System Atrophy., Viorica Chelban, David Pellerin, Nirosen Vijiaratnam, Hamin Lee, Yen Yee Goh, Lauren Brown, Sara Sambin, Danielle Seilhean, Stephane Lehericy, Pablo Iruzubieta, Rahema Mohammad, Eleanor Self, Annarita Scardamaglia, Cameron Lee, Miriama Ostrozovicova, Marie-Josée Dicaire, Christine Girges, Emil K. Gustavsson, David Murphy, Toby Curless, Joshua Laß, Joanne Trinh, Timothy Rittman, James B. Rowe, Marios Hadjivassiliou, Neil Archibald, Matt C. Danzi, Catherine Ashton, Virginie Roth, Marion Wandzel, Warren A. Cheung, Djordje O. Gveric, Bart De Vil, Jordan Follett, P Nigel Leigh, Lukas Beichert, Tomi Pastinen, Céline Bonnet, Mathilde Renaud, Wassilios G. Meissner, Anne Sieben, David Crosiers, Patrick Cras, Stephan Zuchner, Jean-Christophe Corvol, Matthew J. Farrer, Matthis Synofzik, Bernard Brais, Tom Warner, Huw R. Morris, Zane Jaunmuktane, Tom Foltynie, Henry Houlden

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Partial phenotypic overlap has been suggested between multiple system atrophy and spinocerebellar ataxia 27B, the autosomal dominant ataxia caused by an intronic GAA•TTC repeat expansion in FGF14. In this study, we investigated the frequency of FGF14 GAA•TTC repeat expansion in clinically diagnosed and pathologically confirmed multiple system atrophy cases. We screened 657 multiple system atrophy cases (193 clinically diagnosed and 464 pathologically confirmed) and 1003 controls. The FGF14 repeat locus was genotyped using long-range PCR and bidirectional repeat-primed PCRs, and expansions were confirmed with targeted long-read Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing. We identified 19 multiple system atrophy cases carrying an FGF14 …

Persistent Na+ Current Couples Spreading Depolarization To Seizures In Scn8a Gain-Of-Function Mice, Isamu Aiba, Yao Ning, Jeffrey L Noebels

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Spreading depolarization (SD) is a slowly propagating wave of massive cellular depolarization that transiently impairs the function of affected brain regions. Although SD typically arises as an isolated hemispheric event, we previously reported that reducing M-type potassium current (IKM) by ablation of Kcnq2 in forebrain excitatory neurons results in tightly coupled spontaneous bilateral seizure–SD complexes in the awake mouse cortex.

Here we find that enhanced persistent Na+ current attributable to gain-of-function mutations in Scn8a (N1768D/+, hereafter D/+) produces a similar compound cortical excitability phenotype. Chronic direct-current (DC)-band EEG recording detected spontaneous bilateral seizure–SD complexes accompanied by seizures with …

An Allele-Agnostic Mutant-Kras Inhibitor Suppresses Tumor Maintenance Signals And Reprograms Tumor Immunity In Pancreatic Cancer, Kathleen M Mcandrews, Francesca Paradiso, Clint A Stalnecker, Benson S Chellakkan, Fredrik I Thege, David H Peng, Barbara A Moreno Diaz, Hikaru Sugimoto, Sarah I Patel, Krishnan K Mahadevan, Michelle L Kirtley, Danielle Wills, Amari M Sockwell, Andre Luis F Fonseca, Yunhe Liu, Kimal I Rajapakshe, Nathaniel G Yee, Phuong Thao Tran, Huda Alchikh Omar, Antonio Tedeschi, Fiorella Schischlik-Siegl, Andrew S Boghossian, Matthew G Rees, Melissa M Ronan, Jennifer A Roth, Dorothea Rudolph, Martin Aichinger, Florian Ebner, Artem V Artemov, Jesse Lipp, Laura Pisarsky, Valerie Laura Herrmann, John Park, Jörg F Rippmann, Otmar Schaaf, Vanessa Chandler, Mariah Williams, Charles E Deckard, Linghua Wang, Channing J Der, Christopher Vellano, Paola A Guerrero, Timothy P Heffernan, Raghu Kalluri, Anirban Maitra

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

KRAS is among the most frequently mutated oncogenes in cancer, and for decades, efforts at pharmacological blockade of its function in solid cancers have been unsuccessful. A notable advance in this endeavor is the recent development of small molecule KRAS inhibitors, which enable direct targeting of the mutant oncoprotein. Here, we comprehensively evaluate the pre-clinical efficacy of BI-2493 a panKRASi, a first-in-class allele agnostic mutant KRAS inhibitor, in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We report effective tumor growth suppression across a broad range of models, including cell lines, patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), syngeneic orthotopic models, and prolonged survival in genetically engineered mouse …

An Isoform-Specific Runx1c-Btg2 Axis Governs Aml Quiescence And Chemoresistance, Cuijuan Han, Zhiping Zhang, Edie I Crosse, Sogand Sajedi, Bin Lu, Xiyue Wang, Sadik Karma, Mitch Kostich, Sakthi Harini Rajendran, Dylan B Udy, Steven Chen, Alexander Arnuk, Abimbola Eunice Lawal, Kayla R Koenig, Meryl Mckenna, Patrick K Reville, Hussein A Abbas, Omar Abdel-Wahab, Pedro Miura, Robert K Bradley, Eric Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Aberrant levels or structures of RNA isoforms are a hallmark of many cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), yet their role in AML chemoresistance remains unclear. We conducted a paired analysis of RNA isoform changes in patients with AML before therapy and at relapse after chemotherapy and identified intragenic DNA methylation at the proximal promoter of the transcription factor RUNX1, which resulted in elevated expression of the long-isoform RUNX1C through its alternative distal promoter. The unique N-terminal region of RUNX1C orchestrated an isoform-specific transcriptional program that promoted chemoresistance, with its direct target BTG2 playing a role in chemotherapy resistance. …

Deep Learning-Driven Proteomics Analysis For Gene Annotation In The Renin-Angiotensin System, Mortaza Eivazi, Kamran Hosseini, Shahin Alipanahi, Huijing Xia, Luke Restivo, Ayushi Patel, Mahdieh Gozali, Tahereh Ebrahimi, Amy Scarborough, Vahideh Tarhriz, Eric Lazartigues

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is central to cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and cardiomyopathy, yet the functions of many RAS genes remain unclear. This study developed a multi-label deep learning model to systematically annotate RAS gene functions and elucidate their roles in biological pathways. A total of 39,463 RAS-related publications from PubMed and PMC were processed into text format. Feature matrices were generated using TF-IDF and token processing, followed by dimensionality reduction via Principal Component Analysis (PCA). A Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) was applied for multi-label classification, with performance evaluated using Precision, F1-Score, Ranking Loss, and ROC-AUC metrics. The model outperformed …

Efficacy Of Atr Kinase Inhibitor Elimusertib Monotherapy Or Combination In Tumors With Dna Damage Response Pathway And Other Genomic Alterations, Kaushik Varadarajan, Christian X Cruz Pico, Kurt W Evans, Maria Gabriela Raso, Yasmeen Qamar Rizvi, Xiaofeng Zheng, Dhruv Chachad, Timothy P Diperi, Bailiang Wang, Stephen M Scott, Ming Zhao, Argun Akcakanat, Antje M Wengner, Timothy A Yap, Funda Meric-Bernstam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The ataxia telangiectasia and RAD3-related (ATR) kinase functions with ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) kinase as a modulator of DNA damage response (DDR). We assessed the antitumor effects of the ATR inhibitor elimusertib (BAY-1895344) in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models with DDR alterations. Antitumor activity was assessed by change in tumor volume (TV) from baseline. Responses were categorized as follows: partial response (PR), ≥30% decrease in TV; ≥20% increase in TV, progressive disease; and non-PR/progressive disease, stable disease (SD). Event-free survival was defined as time for tumor doubling (EFS-2). Of 21 PDX models tested, 11 had significant prolongation of EFS-2 with elimusertib monotherapy. …

Inhibition Of Mcl-1 And Mek Overcomes Mek Inhibitor Resistance In Triple-Negative And Inflammatory Breast Cancers, Mohd Mughees, Moises Tacam, Alex W Tan, Mary Kathryn Pitner, Lakesla R Iles, Xiaoding Hu, Emilly S Villodre, Bisrat G Debeb, Takahiro Kogawa, Bora Lim, Rachel M Layman, Wendy A Woodward, Naoto T Ueno, Debu Tripathy, Savitri Krishnamurthy, Yuan Qi, Lajos Pusztai, Jian Wang, Varsha Gandhi, Geoffrey Bartholomeusz, Chandra Bartholomeusz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The MAPK pathway can drive resistance in highly aggressive breast cancers. Our previous work showed that the MEK inhibitor (MEKi) AZD6244 (selumetinib) prevented lung metastasis in a breast cancer xenograft model. In clinical studies, MEKis as single agents have had only modest activity against solid tumors due to the onset of resistance. Using synthetic lethality siRNA screening, we identified myeloid cell leukemia-1 (MCL-1) as a potential contributor to AZD6244 resistance. We hypothesized that MCL-1 promotes MEKi resistance in highly aggressive breast cancers and that MCL-1 inhibition overcomes AZD6244 resistance. We established two AZD6244-resistant cell lines: MDA-MB-231-R (triple-negative breast cancer) and …