Medical Specialties Commons^™

Histone Lysine Methyltransferases Mll3 And Mll4 Direct Gene Expression To Produce Platelets Efficiently, Guozhen Gao, Josimar Dornelas Moreira, Prosun Das, Kevin Lin, Kai Ge, Taiping Chen, Yue Lu, Margarida A Santos

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Circulating blood platelets are responsible for maintaining hemostasis. They are released into blood vessels from mature megakaryocytes. Although several transcription factors have been reported to orchestrate the transcriptional programs required for platelet production, how chromatin regulators control these processes is still poorly understood. MLL3 and MLL4 are the main lysine methyltransferases responsible for the deposition of H3K4me1 histone marks at enhancers. MLL3 and MLL4 typically form complexes with other co-factors, such as PTIP. Recently, we showed that loss of PTIP leads to decreased platelet numbers in mice. Here, we find that, although MLL3/4 double deficiency does not alter megakaryopoiesis and …

Heat Shock Induces Alternative Polyadenylation Through Dynamic Dna Methylation And Chromatin Looping, Emily E Fink, Yi Zhang, Briana Santo, Anwita Siddavatam, Rosie Ou, Vishal Nanavaty, Byron H Lee, Angela H Ting

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (APA) is a gene regulatory mechanism used by cells under stress to upregulate proteostasis-promoting transcripts, but how cells achieve this remains poorly understood. Previously, we elucidated a DNA methylation-regulated APA mechanism, in which gene body DNA methylation enhances distal poly(A) isoform expression by blocking CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) binding and chromatin loop formation at APA control regions. We hypothesized that DNA methylation-regulated APA is one mechanism cells employ to induce proteostasis-promoting poly(A) isoforms. At the DNAJB6 cochaperone locus, acute heat shock resulted in binding of stress response transcription factors heat shock factor 1, ATF6, and YY1 at …

Crem Is A Regulatory Checkpoint Of Car And Il-15 Signalling In Nk Cells, Hind Rafei, Rafet Basar, Sunil Acharya, Yu-Sung Hsu, Pinghua Liu, Deqiang Zhang, Toszka Bohn, Qingnan Liang, Vakul Mohanty, Ranjan Upadhyay, Ping Li, Pravin Phadatare, Merve Dede, Donghai Xiong, Huihui Fan, Corry Mathew Jones, Sebastian Kunz, May Daher, Ana Karen Nunez Cortes, Mayra Shanley, Bin Liu, Sadie Mae Moseley, Chenyu Zhang, Dexing Fang, Pinaki Banerjee, Nadima Uprety, Ye Li, Rejeena Shrestha, Xinhai Wan, Hong Shen, Vernikka Woods, April Lamour Gilbert, Seema Rawal, Jinzhuang Dou, Yukun Tan, Jeong-Min Park, Francia Reyes Silva, Alexander Biederstädt, Mecit Kaplan, Xin Ru Jiang, Inci Biederstädt, Bijender Kumar, Silvia Tiberti, Madison Moore, Jingling Jin, Ryan Z Yang, Luis Muniz-Feliciano, Samuel Rosemore, Paul Lin, Gary M Deyter, Natalie Wall Fowlkes, Abhinav K Jain, David Marin, Anirban Maitra, Ken Chen, Tobias Bopp, Elizabeth J Shpall, Katayoun Rezvani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell immunotherapy offers a promising approach against cancer1-3. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate CAR-NK cell activity remain unclear. Here we identify the transcription factor cyclic AMP response element modulator (CREM) as a crucial regulator of NK cell function. Transcriptomic analysis revealed a significant induction of CREM in CAR-NK cells during the peak of effector function after adoptive transfer in a tumour mouse model, and this peak coincided with signatures of both activation and dysfunction. We demonstrate that both CAR activation and interleukin-15 signalling rapidly induce CREM upregulation in NK cells. Functionally, CREM …

Coordinated Regulation By Lncrnas Results In Tight Lncrna-Target Couplings, Hua-Sheng Chiu, Sonal Somvanshi, Chung-Te Chang, Eric James De Bony De Lavergne, Zhaowen Wei, Chih-Hung Hsieh, Wim Trypsteen, Kathleen A Scorsone, Ektaben Patel, Tien T Tang, David B Flint, Mohammad Javad Najaf Panah, Hyunjae Ryan Kim, Purva Rathi, Yan-Hwa Wu Lee, Sarah E Woodfield, Sanjeev A Vasudevan, Andras Attila Heczey, M Waleed Gaber, Gabriel O Sawakuchi, Ting-Wen Chen, Pieter Mestdagh, Xuerui Yang, Pavel Sumazin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The determination of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) function is a major challenge in RNA biology with applications to basic, translational, and medical research. We developed BigHorn to computationally infer lncRNA-DNA interactions that mediate transcription and chromatin-remodeling factor activity. Its accurate inference enabled the identification of lncRNAs that coordinately regulate both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional processing of their targets. These lncRNAs may act as molecular chaperones, regulating the stability and translation of mRNAs they helped transcribe, leading to tightly coupled expression profiles. Our analysis suggests that lncRNAs regulate cancer genes across tumor contexts, thus propagating the effects of non-coding alterations to …

Polaris: Encorafenib Plus Binimetinib For People With Braf V600-Mutant Melanoma With Brain Metastasis, Alexander M Menzies, Michael A Davies

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

POLARIS was a study to evaluate different doses of encorafenib plus binimetinib for people with BRAF V600-mutant melanoma with brain metastasis. The first part, known as the safety lead-in, looked at a high dose of encorafenib (300 mg twice daily) combined with standard binimetinib (45 mg twice daily); in the phase 2 part, patients were given the standard dose of encorafenib (450 mg once daily) plus binimetinib. In the safety lead-in, many patients were unable to tolerate the high dose of encorafenib plus binimetinib. Despite recruitment challenges in POLARIS, in the 13 enrolled patients with unresectable metastatic BRAF V600-mutant melanoma …

Protocol To Detect M22g Modification On Single Trna Iso-Decoders By Immuno-Northern Blotting, Sseu-Pei Hwang, Katherine Barondeau, Catherine Denicourt

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

tRNA modifications are highly dynamic and play crucial roles in regulating gene expression. Here, we present an assay for analyzing N2, N2-dimethylguanosine (m22G) modifications on tRNAs using an antibody-based detection approach. We describe steps for isolating tRNAs from human cells via ion-exchange chromatography, capturing specific tRNA iso-decoders on streptavidin magnetic beads, and detecting modifications through immuno-northern blotting. This approach enables researchers to investigate other tRNA modifications using specific antibodies or downstream approaches such as mass spectrometry.

Bayesian-Weighted Mendelian Randomization Reveals Sleep Apnea Syndrome Mediates The Bmi-Chronic Pain Link, Wenbao Shi, Jing Luo, Liu Yang, Dalin Chen, Yongqin Zhang, Jun Peng, Kurt Ruetzler, Manyun Sun, Hua Jin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Body mass index (BMI) has a complex association with a variety of chronic pain conditions, which may be influenced by sleep apnea syndrome (SAS). However, the role of SAS within the causal pathway linking BMI to chronic pain remains unconfirmed. This study explored whether and to what extent SAS serves as a mediator between BMI and chronic pain using Bayesian-weighted Mendelian randomization (BWMR) techniques.

Methods: This study utilized genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data for BMI (N=461,460) and SAS (N=476,853; based on ICD-10 code diagnostic registries) from the IEU OpenGWAS database, along with chronic pain GWAS data (ICD-10 code-based …

Phase Ii Basket Trial Of Dual Anti-Ctla-4 And Anti-Pd-1 Blockade In Rare Tumors (Dart) Swog S1609: Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasm (Pnen) Cohort, Sandip Pravin Patel, Jillian Fisher, Young Kwang Chae, Luisa Solis Soto, Anup Kasi, Bhavana Konda, Mark Walshauser, Edwin Parra, Jiexin Zhang, Caroline Duault, Edgar Gonzalez-Kozlova, Ganiraju Manyam, Jianhua Zhang, Hong Chen, Dzifa Yawa Duose, Caddie Laberiano Fernandez, Raja Luthra, Gheath Al-Atrash, Seunghee Kim-Schulze, Holden T Maecker, Ignacio I Wistuba, Sacha Gnjatic, J Jack Lee, Jianjun Zhang, Christine M Magner, Helen X Chen, Elad Sharon, Megan Othus, Christopher W Ryan, Charles Blanke, Cara L Haymaker, Razelle Kurzrock

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: SWOG S1609 Dual Anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 blockade in Rare Tumors (DART) studied the efficacy of ipilimumab combined with nivolumab across multiple rare tumor types. We report the results of the pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm (PNEN) cohort.

Experimental design: Treatment consisted of ipilimumab 1 mg/kg intravenously every 6 weeks with nivolumab 240 mg intravenously every 2 weeks. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR) (Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid TumorsRECIST V.1.1). Secondary endpoints include progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicity. Clinical benefit rate (includes ORR plus stable disease (SD)>6 months was examined. Correlative …

Incidental Findings In Female Pelvis Mri Performed For Gynaecological Malignancies, Silvia Bottazzi, Roberta V Ninkova, Luca Russo, Andrea Ponsiglione, Benedetta Gui, Daniela Demundo, Massimo Imbriaco, Aradhana M Venkatesan, Evis Sala, Stephanie Nougaret, Lucia Manganaro, Stefania Rizzo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Incidental findings on female pelvic MRI present diagnostic challenges and may have significant clinical implications. Defined as abnormalities unrelated to the primary imaging indication, these findings have become increasingly prevalent with the expanded use of MRI in gynaecological practice. Standard gynaecological MRI protocols, incorporating T1- and T2-weighted sequences, diffusion-weighted imaging, and contrast-enhanced sequences, facilitate the characterisation of numerous extra-gynaecological abnormalities, ranging from benign to critical lesions. This review proposes a compartment-based approach for identifying extra-gynaecological findings, discussing their imaging characteristics and differential diagnoses. This approach may help radiologists systematically assess incidental findings, potentially improving the recognition of clinically relevant abnormalities …

Letter Of Concern From The Association Of Academic Chairs Of Emergency Medicine Regarding Acgme Proposed Changes, Richard J Hamilton, Lance B Becker, Richard E Wolfe, D Adam Algren, Thomas Arnold, Michael Baumann, Ross P Berkeley, Terrell S Caffery, Chad M Cannon, Theodore J Corbin, Michael E Chansky, Harinder S Dhindsa, Charles L Emerman, David A Farcy, Chris Fox, Michael A Gibbs, Christopher S Goode, Steven Andy Godwin, Dietrich Jehle, David Johnson, Samuel M Keim, Babak Khazaeni, Barry J Knapp, Clint Hawthorne, John D Hoyle, Michael Christopher Kurz, Evan Leibner, Robert Mcnamara, Robert F Mccormack, Edward A Michelson, Chadwick Miller, Ashley Norse, Andrew Nugent, Brian J O'Neil, David T Overton, Edward A Panacek, William F Paolo, Denis R Pauzé, Amanda L Perez, Ralph J Riviello, Scott W Rodi, Peter S Pang, Juan A Gonzalez Sanchez, David Seaberg, Adam Schwartz, Stephen A Shiver, David P Sklar, Ben C Smith, Jeffrey R Stowell, Marc D Squillante, J Jeremy Thomas, Terry Vanden Hoek, Gregory A Volturo, E Lea Walters, Thomas E Wyatt, Donald M Yealy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This letter, signed by over 50 academic chairs of emergency medicine, urges the ACGME to reconsider a proposed mandate requiring all emergency medicine residency programs to adopt a four-year training model. The authors argue that current three-year programs are supported by data demonstrating equivalent educational and clinical outcomes compared to four-year formats. They criticize the flawed survey methodology underpinning the proposal, note the loss of milestone-based training flexibility, and highlight the lack of added scholarly or clinical value in the fourth year. The letter also outlines negative consequences for fellowship participation, workforce development, trainee debt, and diversity. The signatories advocate …

Mis-Splicing-Derived Neoantigens And Cognate Tcrs In Splicing Factor Mutant Leukemias, Won Jun Kim, Edie I Crosse, Emma De Neef, Inaki Etxeberria, Erich Y Sabio, Eric Wang, Jan Philipp Bewersdorf, Kuan-Ting Lin, Sydney X Lu, Andrea Belleville, Nina Fox, Cynthia Castro, Pu Zhang, Takeshi Fujino, Jennifer Lewis, Jahan Rahman, Beatrice Zhang, Jacob H Winick, Alexander M Lewis, Robert F Stanley, Susan Dewolf, Brigita Meškauskaitė Urben, Meril Takizawa, Tobias Krause, Henrik Molina, Ronan Chaligne, Priya Koppikar, Jeffrey Molldrem, Mathieu Gigoux, Taha Merghoub, Anthony Daniyan, Smita S Chandran, Benjamin D Greenbaum, Christopher A Klebanoff, Robert K Bradley, Omar Abdel-Wahab

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mutations in RNA splicing factors are prevalent across cancers and generate recurrently mis-spliced mRNA isoforms. Here we identified a series of bona fide neoantigens translated from highly stereotyped splicing alterations promoted by neomorphic, leukemia-associated somatic splicing machinery mutations. We utilized feature-barcoded peptide-MHC dextramers to isolate neoantigen-reactive T cell receptors (TCRs) from healthy donors, patients with active myeloid malignancy, and following curative allogeneic stem cell transplant. Neoantigen-reactive CD8+ T cells were present in the blood of patients with active cancer and had a distinct phenotype from virus-reactive T cells with evidence of impaired cytotoxic function. T cells engineered with TCRs recognizing …

Encorafenib, Cetuximab, And Mfolfox6 In Braf-Mutated Colorectal Cancer, Elena Elez, Takayuki Yoshino, Lin Shen, Sara Lonardi, Eric Van Cutsem, Cathy Eng, Tae Won Kim, Harpreet Singh Wasan, Jayesh Desai, Fortunato Ciardiello, Rona Yaeger, Timothy S Maughan, Van K Morris, Christina Wu, Tiziana Usari, Robert Laliberte, Samuel S Dychter, Xiaosong Zhang, Josep Tabernero, Scott Kopetz, Breakwater Trial Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: First-line treatment with encorafenib plus cetuximab (EC) with or without chemotherapy (oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and fluorouracil [mFOLFOX6]) for BRAF V600E-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer, an aggressive subtype with a poor prognosis, was compared with standard care (chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab) in an open-label, phase 3 trial, which showed significance regarding one of the two primary end points, objective response according to blinded independent central review (odds ratio for EC+mFOLFOX6 vs. standard care, 2.44; one-sided P< 0.001). This result led to accelerated Food and Drug Administration approval of this investigational combination therapy for BRAF V600E-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer, including as first-line therapy. Data on progression-free survival (the second primary end point) and an updated interim analysis of overall …

A Conditional Point Cloud Diffusion Model For Deformable Liver Motion Tracking Via A Single Arbitrarily-Angled X-Ray Projection, Jiacheng Xie, Hua-Chieh Shao, Yunxiang Li, Shunyu Yan, Chenyang Shen, Jing Wang, You Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective. Deformable liver motion tracking using a single x-ray projection enables real-time motion monitoring and treatment intervention. We introduce a conditional point cloud diffusion (PCD) model-based framework for accurate and robust liver motion tracking from arbitrarily angled single x-ray projections. Approach. We propose a conditional PCD model for liver motion tracking (PCD-Liver), which estimates volumetric liver motion by solving deformable vector fields (DVFs) of a prior liver surface point cloud, based on a single x-ray image. It is a patient-specific model of two main components: a rigid alignment model to estimate the liver’s overall shifts, and a conditional PCD …

The Carsr Two-Component System Directly Controls Radd Expression As A Global Regulator That Senses Bacterial Coaggregation In Fusobacterium Nucleatum, Bibek G C, Chenggang Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Two-component systems (TCS) enable bacteria to sense and respond to environmental signals, facilitating rapid adaptation. Fusobacterium nucleatum, a key oral pathobiont, employs the CarSR TCS to modulate coaggregation with various gram-positive partners by regulating the expression of radD, encoding a surface adhesion protein, as revealed by RNA-Seq analysis. However, the direct regulation of the radD-containing operon (radABCD) by the response regulator CarR, the broader CarR regulon, and the signals sensed by this system remain unclear. In this study, chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) identified approximately 161 CarR-enriched loci across the genome and …

Intratumoral Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio Is Mirrored By Circulating Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Kyle G Mitchell, Younghee Lee, Nathaniel Deboever, Marcelo V Negrao, Hai T Tran, Edwin Parra, Lauren Byers, Alexandre Reuben, Lorenzo Federico, Chantale Bernatchez, Jing Wang, Mara B Antonoff, Ara A Vaporciyan, Stephen G Swisher, Tina Cascone, Ignacio I Wistuba, John V Heymach, Don L Gibbons, Jianjun Zhang, Daniel J Mcgrail, Boris Sepesi, Cara L Haymaker

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Tumor-initiated emergency granulopoiesis results in expansion of the circulating neutrophil compartment and neutrophil recruitment into the tumor microenvironment (TME), which may in turn promote tumor progression. Although an elevated circulating neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (cNLR) has repeatedly been demonstrated to be an adverse prognostic factor in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), whether this neutrophil expansion in circulation reflects a similar relative neutrophil abundance in the TME remains unclear. We sought to characterize the relationships between cNLR and the intratumoral neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (tNLR), between tNLR and proteogenomic and immune features of NSCLC tumors, and between tNLR and prognosis.We analyzed tNLR (transcriptomic …

Cholesterol Metabolism Regulated By Camkk2-Creb Signaling Promotes Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer, Chenchu Lin, Thomas L Pulliam, Jenny J Han, Jiaqian Xu, Carlos Vera Recio, Sandi R Wilkenfeld, Yan Shi, Manoj Kushwaha, Sarah Bench, Eduardo Ruiz, Sanjanaa Senthilkumar, Jayasurya Dileep, Peter D A Shepherd, Nora M Navone, Albert R Klekers, Elizabeth M Whitley, Michael M Ittmann, Livia S Eberlin, Wenyi Wang, Daniel E Frigo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) remains an incurable disease in need of improved treatments. CAMKK2 is an emerging therapeutic target whose oncogenic effects in prostate cancer have, to date, been largely attributed to its activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Here, we demonstrate that CAMKK2 promotes prostate cancer growth through an alternative downstream pathway involving CAMKI and CREB. Unbiased transcriptomics identify CREB-mediated transcription as a CAMKK2-regulated process, findings that we validate using diverse molecular, genetic, and pharmacological approaches in vitro and in vivo. CAMKK2 promotes CREB phosphorylation/activation through CAMKIα independently of AMPK, CAMKIV, or other CAMKI isoforms. Functionally, the CREB family …

Exploring Predictors Of Treatment Response To Glp-1 Receptor Agonists For Smoking Cessation, Luba Yammine, Constanza De Dios, Robert Suchting, Charles E Green, David A Nielsen, Consuelo Walss-Bass, Joy M Schmitz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Understanding predictors of smoking cessation medication efficacy facilitates the ability to enhance treatment effectiveness. In our pilot trial, exenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, adjunct to nicotine patch improved smoking abstinence compared to nicotine patch alone. This secondary analysis explores potential baseline characteristics associated with differential treatment response to exenatide.

Aims and methods: The parent trial randomized (1:1) 84 smokers with prediabetes and/or overweight to once-weekly placebo or exenatide, 2 mg, subcutaneously. All participants received nicotine patch (21 mg) and brief smoking cessation counseling, with biologically confirmed 7-day point prevalence abstinence at week 6 (end-of-treatment) deemed the primary outcome. …

Protocol For Assessing Mobilization Of Peritoneal B Cells To The Pre-Metastatic Omentum In An Orthotopic Mouse Model Of Ovarian Cancer, Wonjae Lee, Hironari Akasaka, Honami Naora

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The omentum is a visceral adipose tissue that undergoes dynamic immunological changes prior to and following metastasis. Here, we present a protocol for assessing the mobilization of peritoneal B cells to the pre-metastatic omentum in a mouse ovarian cancer model. We describe steps for isolation and adoptive transfer of peritoneal donor B cells and their detection in the omentum of recipient mice. This protocol could be utilized to study the mobilization of peritoneal B cells to the omentum in other pathological contexts. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Lee et al.

Protocol For Establishing Genetically Engineered Murine Lung Organoids Mimicking Cell Plasticity And Regeneration, Bongjun Kim, Jae-Il Park

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Lung endothelial cells (LuECs) play crucial roles in lung regeneration and support lung organoids (LOs). However, detailed guidelines for LO culture using LuECs have not been reported yet. Here, we present an efficient protocol for generating and culturing murine LOs that mimic regeneration. We describe steps for the isolation of LuECs and lung epithelial cells, followed by LO culture. We also describe how to establish genetically engineered LOs using viral transduction. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Kim et al.

Characterization And Clinical Implications Of P53 Dysfunction In Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Matteo Zampini, Elena Riva, Luca Lanino, Elisabetta Sauta, Rita Antunes Dos Reis, Rosa Maria Andres Ejarque, Giulia Maggioni, Alberto Termanini, Alessandra Merlotti, Alessia Campagna, Lorenzo Dall'olio, Austin Kulasekararaj, Michela Calvi, Clara Di Vito, Arturo Bonometti, Daoud Rahal, Giorgio Croci, Emanuela Boveri, Umberto Gianelli, Maurilio Ponzoni, Rossella Caselli, Serena Albertazzi, Gabriele Todisco, Marta Ubezio, Laura Crisafulli, Alessandro Frigo, Enrico Lugli, Ettore Mosca, Pamela Acha, Serena Ghisletti, Francesco Nicassio, Armando Santoro, Maria Diez-Campelo, Francesc Solé, Lionel Ades, Uwe Platzbecker, Valeria Santini, Pierre Fenaux, Torsten Haferlach, David Sallman, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Domenico Mavilio, Daniel Remondini, Gastone Castellani, Saverio D'Amico, Amer M Zeidan, Rami Komrokji, Shahram Kordasti, Francesca Ficara, Matteo Giovanni Della Porta, Calr Consortium

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Tumor Protein 53 (p53) expressed from gene TP53 is a seminal tumor suppressor. We aimed to characterize mutational and nonmutational mechanisms of p53 dysfunction in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and to investigate their clinical effect.

Patients and methods: We analyzed a cohort of 6,204 patients with MDS and subsets of patients with available information on RNA sequencing of tumor cells (n = 109), high-dimensional phenotype of immune cells (n = 77), and multiomics analysis (RNA sequencing and proteomics) on single cells (n = 15). An independent validation was performed on 914 patients.

Results: Biallelic TP53 inactivation was a powerful driver …

Usp37 Counteracts Hltf To Protect Damaged Replication Forks And Promote Survival Of Brca1-Deficient Cells And Parp Inhibitor Resistance, Mengfan Tang, Siting Li, Ziqiang Zhu, Chao Wang, Shuai Ding, Huimin Zhang, Min Huang, Sarah Keast, Zhen Chen, Ling Yin, Litong Nie, Dan Su, Xu Feng, Junjie Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) have greatly improved survival of cancer patients harboring BRCA1 mutations. However, therapy resistance develops via either restoration of homologous recombination or replication fork stabilization. Therapeutic targets to overcome PARPi resistance are critically needed. We identified the deubiquitinase USP37 as a key determinant of PARPi toxicity in BRCA1-deficient cells via whole-genome CRISPR screens. USP37 ablation enhanced PARPi sensitivity in BRCA1-deficient cells and also overcame PARPi resistance due to 53BP1 loss. USP37 interacts with and deubiquitinates replication protein A (RPA) at stalled replication forks to limit excessive RPA accumulation, progressive RPA exhaustion, and the conversion of RPA-coated single-stranded …

Protocol To Analyze Trna And Rrna Processing Using Biotin-Labeled Probes, Sseu-Pei Hwang, Katherine Barondeau, Catherine Denicourt

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mature tRNAs and rRNAs are derived from larger precursor transcripts through intricate endo- and exonuclease processing steps. Here, we present a protocol to analyze rRNA and tRNA processing using total RNA extracted from human cells. We describe steps for separating RNA by denaturing electrophoresis, followed by northern blotting. We detail procedures for detecting pre-rRNA intermediates or specific tRNA species using biotin-labeled probes imaged via fluorescence or chemiluminescence. This non-radioactive, high-sensitivity assay enables the investigation of rRNA and tRNA expression dynamics. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Hwang et al.

Blood-Based Proteomic Profiling Identifies Osmr As A Novel Biomarker Of Aml Outcomes, Patrick K Reville, Bofei Wang, Jennifer Marvin-Peek, Bin Yuan, Yu-An Kuo, Araceli Garza, Jessica Root, Wei Qiao, Andrea Arruda, Ivo Veletic, Yiwei Liu, Nicholas J Short, Courtney D Dinardo, Tapan M Kadia, Naval G Daver, Philip L Lorenzi, Koji Sasaki, Steven Kornblau, Mark D Minden, Farhad Ravandi, Hagop M Kantarjian, Hussein A Abbas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Inflammation is increasingly recognized as a critical factor in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) pathogenesis. We performed blood-based proteomic profiling of 251 inflammatory proteins in 543 patients with newly diagnosed AML. Using a machine learning model, we derived an 8-protein prognostic score termed the leukemia inflammatory risk score (LIRS). Individual proteins were evaluated in multivariable Cox models, and model performance was assessed by cumulative concordance index. Findings were validated in internal and external cohorts across 2 institutions. Blood-based LIRS significantly outperformed the European LeukemiaNet 2022 risk model and was independently prognostic of overall survival after accounting for known clinical and molecular …

Therapy, Safety, And Logistics Of Preoperative Vs Postoperative Stereotactic Radiation Therapy: A Preliminary Analysis Of A Randomized Clinical Trial, Debra Nana Yeboa, Jing Li, Ruitao Lin, Sujit S Prabhu, Thomas H Beckham, Kristina Woodhouse, Todd Allen Swanson, Jeffrey S Weinberg, Xuemei Wang, Xiaohan Chi, Chinenye Lynette Ejezie, Dima Suki, Chenyang Wang, Chibawanye Ene, Ian E Mccutcheon, Susan Mcgovern, Mary Frances Mcaleer, Martin Tom, Amol Ghia, Subha Perni, Wen Jiang, Brian De, Caroline Chung, Betty Y S Kim, Barbara J O'Brien, Jason T Huse, Jeffrey S Wefel, Laurence Court, Hussein Tawbi, Filip Janku, Nandita Guha-Thakurta, J Matthew Debnam, Jason Johnson, Ceylan Altintas Taslicay, Christopher Alvarez-Breckenridge, Shaan M Raza, Amy B Heimberger, Franco Demonte, Robert North, Tina M Briere, John F De Groot, Raymond Sawaya, David Grosshans, Frederick F Lang, Ganesh Rao, Sherise D Ferguson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Importance: Preoperative stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT) vs postoperative SRT logistics and toxic effects provides clinically significant data on management outcomes.

Objective: To determine preoperative SRT logistics and safety profile compared with postoperative in patients with brain metastases.

Design, setting, and participants: This single-institution phase 3 randomized clinical trial included patients 18 years and older and undergoing a planned surgical resection. Patients were required to have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status score of 2 or greater and be candidates for SRT within 30 days of surgical resection. Patients with radiosensitive histologies (eg, small cell lung cancer and lymphoma), brain …

The Multilayered Control Of Acetylation During Adenovirus-Based Immunotherapy Of Cancer, Akhila Parthasarathy, Maria Frost, Andrew G Gillard, Marta M Alonso, Candelaria Gomez-Manzano, Juan Fueyo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Adenoviruses are highly immunogenic agents that have shown promise first as gene delivery vectors and later as oncolytic viruses. Currently, oncolytic adenoviruses are featured in over 30% of cancer virotherapy clinical trials. Due to their effective cellular uptake and hijack of cellular machinery, replication-competent adenoviruses are promising therapeutic agents for treating a wide range of tumors. Adenoviral influence on host cell acetylome regulation has regained attention, as these viruses redirect or suppress acetylation during replication, making them potentially desirable therapeutic agents for cancers driven by epigenetic modifications. In this review, we aim to cover the viral processes influencing the acetylome …

Perceived Neighborhood Crime And Gun Carrying Behavior: Examining The Role Of A History Of Traumatic Brain Injury, Eric J Connolly, Anne C Wingert, Dennis E Reidy, Jarrad D Hodge, Jeff R Temple

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Individuals living in high crime neighborhoods are more likely to carry a firearm. Members of these communities are also more likely to experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in their lifetime, which is a common correlate of hypervigilance and aggression. The current study evaluates the independent and interactive effects of TBI on perceived levels of neighborhood crime and gun carrying.

Methods: Data from 2015 to 2017 from a longitudinal ethnically diverse sample of adolescents and young adults are analyzed (Ns = 600-734). Multivariate logistic regression models are estimated to evaluate associations between perceived levels of neighborhood crime, TBI, gun …

Dosimetric Advantage Of Scanning Beam Proton Therapy In Gynecologic Patients Receiving Adjuvant Radiotherapy, Rachel B Ger, Jarrod M Lentz, Joshua S Niedzielski, Sujay A Vora, Martin Bues, Danairis Hernandez Morales, Justin D Anderson, Christopher J Kutyreff, Christie A Schulz, Pedro R Lara, Ana K Ridgway, Pamela R Lemish, Justin D Gagneur, Aman Anand

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/Objectives: Adjuvant radiation for gynecologic malignancies often exposes organs at risk (OARs), such as the bone marrow, bowel, rectum, and bladder, to radiation, leading to toxicities that impact treatment tolerance and patient quality of life. Scanning proton beam therapy, particularly with Individual Field Simultaneous Optimization (IFSO), may offer dosimetric and biological advantages over volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). This study evaluates the clinical impact of IFSO-based proton planning in post-operative gynecologic cancer patients.

Materials and Methods: Fourteen patients receiving adjuvant proton therapy to 45 Gy in 25 fractions were retrospectively analyzed. Comparison VMAT plans were generated on the same datasets. …

Education Improves Perceived Control But Not Risk Identification In Adolescents Regarding Fentanyl, Christine Bakos-Block, Francine R Vega, Marylou Cardenas-Turanzas, Bhanumathi Gopal, Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/objectives: In 2022, 2.2 million adolescents were diagnosed with substance use disorders, including 265,000 with opioid use disorder. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed that 130,000 adolescents misused prescription pain medications, often obtaining them from friends or relatives. This age group perceives weekly heroin use as less risky than those younger or older.

Methods: A questionnaire was developed for 7th to 12th graders in a rural Texas school district as part of a fentanyl awareness curriculum. The questionnaire included Likert scale, multiple choice, and yes/no questions. The participants were categorized into younger (grades 7th and 8th) and …

Aso Visual Abstract: Characterization Of The Germline Pathogenic Mutational Landscape And Oncologic Outcomes Among 877 Patients With Invasive Lobular Carcinoma, Victoria D Huynh, Jason Mouabbi, Henry M Kuerer, Kerollos Nashat Wanis, Hiam M Abdel-Salam, Angelica M Gutierrez, Helen M Johnson, Anthony Lucci, Kelly K Hunt, Banu K Arun

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Technical And Clinical Validity Of Assessing Measurable Residual Disease By Multicolor Flow Cytometry In An Unselected Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patient Cohort, Sa A Wang, Shaoying Li, Wei Wang, Jie Xu, Beenu Thakral, Shimin Hu, Chi Young Ok, Fuli Jia, Jeffrey L Jorgensen, L Jeffrey Medeiros, Farhad Ravandi, Nicholas J Short, Sanam Loghavi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Context.—: Following the validation of a multicolor flow cytometry (MFC) assay for measurable residual disease (MRD) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), this study examines its clinical applicability.

Objective.—: To evaluate the practicality and performance of MFC-based MRD detection in AML.

Design.—: Prospectively assessed AML MRD MFC in unselected AML patients achieving morphologic remission with follow-up studies, molecular genetics, and survival data.

Results.—: Among 379 patient bone marrow samples in this cohort, an interpretable result was obtained in 359 (95%). A total of 57 of the 359 cases (16%) were positive for MRD, and the most frequently observed immunophenotype was CD34+CD117+ …