Pediatrics Commons^™

Rapid Evolution Of Mitochondrion-Related Genes In Haplodiploid Arthropods, Yiyuan Li, Gregg W C Thomas, Stephen Richards, Robert M Waterhouse, Xin Zhou, Michael E Pfrender

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Mitochondrial genes and nuclear genes cooperate closely to maintain the functions of mitochondria, especially in the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) pathway. However, mitochondrial genes among arthropod lineages have dramatic evolutionary rate differences. Haplodiploid arthropods often show fast-evolving mitochondrial genes. One hypothesis predicts that the small effective population size of haplodiploid species could enhance the effect of genetic drift leading to higher substitution rates in mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Alternatively, positive selection or compensatory changes in nuclear OXPHOS genes could lead to the fast-evolving mitochondrial genes. However, due to the limited number of arthropod genomes, the rates of evolution for nuclear …

Genomics Of Natural Populations: Gene Conversion Events Reveal Selected Genes Within The Inversions Of Drosophila Pseudoobscura, Stephen W Schaeffer, Stephen Richards, Zachary L Fuller

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

When adaptive phenotypic variation or quantitative trait loci map within an inverted segment of a chromosome, researchers often despair because the suppression of crossing over will prevent the discovery of selective target genes that established the rearrangement. If an inversion polymorphism is old enough, then the accumulation of gene conversion tracts offers the promise that quantitative trait loci or selected loci within inversions can be mapped. The inversion polymorphism of Drosophila pseudoobscura is a model system to show that gene conversion analysis is a useful tool for mapping selected loci within inversions. D. pseudoobscura has over 30 different chromosomal arrangements …

Tau Is Required For Glial Lipid Droplet Formation And Resistance To Neuronal Oxidative Stress, Lindsey D Goodman, Isha Ralhan, Xin Li, Shenzhao Lu, Matthew J Moulton, Ye-Jin Park, Pinghan Zhao, Oguz Kanca, Ziyaneh S Ghaderpour Taleghani, Julie Jacquemyn, Joshua M Shulman, Kanae Ando, Kai Sun, Maria S Ioannou, Hugo J Bellen

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

The accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a common feature of tauopathies, defined by Tau accumulations in neurons and glia. High ROS in neurons causes lipid production and the export of toxic peroxidated lipids (LPOs). Glia uptake these LPOs and incorporate them into lipid droplets (LDs) for storage and catabolism. We found that overexpressing Tau in glia disrupts LDs in flies and rat neuron-astrocyte co-cultures, sensitizing the glia to toxic, neuronal LPOs. Using a new fly tau loss-of-function allele and RNA-mediated interference, we found that endogenous Tau is required for glial LD formation and protection against neuronal LPOs. Similarly, …

What Would Happen In The United States If There Were No Cow Milk-Based Preterm Infant Nutritional Products: Historical Perspective And Evaluation Of Nutrient-Related Challenges, Steven A Abrams, Robert J Shulman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Recent litigation has led to a situation where preterm cow milk-based infant nutritional products (PCMBPs) may soon have limited or no availability in the United States. Given their limited availability, similar products based only on human milk are unlikely to meet the needs of most preterm infants requiring such products, especially those born >1500 g or very preterm infants born at < 1500 g after they reach 34-35 wk postmenstrual age. Alternative nutritional strategies, used before the introduction of specialized preterm products, would require modular nutrient additions to a formula designed for full-term infants and donor or maternal milk. The addition of modular products would require careful calibration to provide needed macro and micronutrients which would expose infants to risks of contamination, poor growth, and limited bioavailability of some of these modulars. Substantial risks of metabolic derangements, and ultimately, poor outcomes would occur. In the long-term greater availability and support for the use of human milk-based products is needed. However, policymakers cannot assume that PCMBPs will not be critically needed and should identify strategies for their continued marketplace availability.

Distinct Basal Forebrain-Originated Neural Circuits Promote Homoeostatic Feeding And Suppress Hedonic Feeding In Male Mice, Hailan Liu, Jonathan C Bean, Yongxiang Li, Meng Yu, Olivia Z Ginnard, Kristine M Conde, Mengjie Wang, Xing Fang, Hesong Liu, Longlong Tu, Na Yin, Junying Han, Yongjie Yang, Qingchun Tong, Benjamin R Arenkiel, Chunmei Wang, Yang He, Yong Xu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Feeding behaviour is influenced by two primary factors: homoeostatic needs driven by hunger and hedonic desires for pleasure even in the absence of hunger. While efficient homoeostatic feeding is vital for survival, excessive hedonic feeding can lead to adverse consequences such as obesity and metabolic dysregulations. However, the neurobiological mechanisms that orchestrate homoeostatic versus hedonic food consumption remain largely unknown. Here we show that GABAergic proenkephalin (Penk) neurons in the diagonal band of Broca (DBB) of male mice respond to food presentation. We further demonstrate that a subset of DBBPenk neurons that project to the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus …

Improved High Quality Sand Fly Assemblies Enabled By Ultra Low Input Long Read Sequencing, Michelle Huang, Sarah Kingan, Douglas Shoue, Oanh Nguyen, Lutz Froenicke, Brendan Galvin, Christine Lambert, Ruqayya Khan, Chirag Maheshwari, David Weisz, Gareth Maslen, Helen Davison, Erez Lieberman Aiden, Jonas Korlach, Olga Dudchenko, Mary Ann Mcdowell, Stephen Richards

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Phlebotomine sand flies are the vectors of leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease. High-quality reference genomes are an important tool for understanding the biology and eco-evolutionary dynamics underpinning disease epidemiology. Previous leishmaniasis vector reference sequences were limited by sequencing technologies available at the time and inadequate for high-resolution genomic inquiry. Here, we present updated reference assemblies of two sand flies, Phlebotomus papatasi and Lutzomyia longipalpis. These chromosome-level assemblies were generated using an ultra-low input library protocol, PacBio HiFi long reads, and Hi-C technology. The new P. papatasi reference has a final assembly span of 351.6 Mb and contig and scaffold N50s …

Intestinal Crypt Apoptosis As An Orchestrator Of Necrotizing Enterocolitis: A New Mechanism?, Wei Yu, Aparna Venkatraman, Venkatesh Sampath

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

No abstract provided.

Potential Targeting Mechanisms For Bone-Directed Therapies, Betul Celik, Andrés Leal, Shunji Tomatsu

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Papers

Bone development is characterized by complex regulation mechanisms, including signal transduction and transcription factor-related pathways, glycobiological processes, cellular interactions, transportation mechanisms, and, importantly, chemical formation resulting from hydroxyapatite. Any abnormal regulation in the bone development processes causes skeletal system-related problems. To some extent, the avascularity of cartilage and bone makes drug delivery more challenging than that of soft tissues. Recent studies have implemented many novel bone-targeting approaches to overcome drawbacks. However, none of these strategies fully corrects skeletal dysfunction, particularly in growth plate-related ones. Although direct recombinant enzymes (e.g., Vimizim for Morquio, Cerezyme for Gaucher, Elaprase for Hunter, Mepsevii for …

Vaccine Value Profile For Hookworm, Karl Philipp Puchner, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Victoria Periago, Martin Grobusch, Rick Maizels, James Mccarthy, Bruce Lee, Erika Gaspari, David Diemert, Peter Hotez

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Hookworm, a parasitic infection, retains a considerable burden of disease, affecting the most underprivileged segments of the general population in endemic countries and remains one of the leading causes of mild to severe anemia in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), particularly in pregnancy and children under 5. Despite repeated large scale Preventive Chemotherapy (PC) interventions since more than 3 decades, there is broad consensus among scholars that elimination targets set in the newly launched NTD roadmap will require additional tools and interventions. Development of a vaccine could constitute a promising expansion of the existing arsenal against hookworm. Therefore, we …

A Light-Responsive Neural Circuit Suppresses Feeding, Hailan Liu, Na Qu, Natalia Valdez Gonzalez, Marco A Palma, Huamin Chen, Jiani Xiong, Abhinav Choubey, Yongxiang Li, Xin Li, Meng Yu, Hesong Liu, Longlong Tu, Nan Zhang, Na Yin, Kristine Marie Conde, Mengjie Wang, Jonathan Carter Bean, Junying Han, Nikolas Anthony Scarcelli, Yongjie Yang, Kenji Saito, Huxing Cui, Qingchun Tong, Zheng Sun, Chunmei Wang, Xing Cai, Li Lu, Yang He, Yong Xu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Light plays an essential role in a variety of physiological processes, including vision, mood, and glucose homeostasis. However, the intricate relationship between light and an animal's feeding behavior has remained elusive. Here, we found that light exposure suppresses food intake, whereas darkness amplifies it in male mice. Interestingly, this phenomenon extends its reach to diurnal male Nile grass rats and healthy humans. We further show that lateral habenula (LHb) neurons in mice respond to light exposure, which in turn activates 5-HT neurons in the dorsal Raphe nucleus (DRN). Activation of the LHb→5-HTDRN circuit in mice blunts darkness-induced hyperphagia, while inhibition …

27-Hydroxycholesterol Acts On Estrogen Receptor Α Expressed By Pomc Neurons In The Arcuate Nucleus To Modulate Feeding Behavior, Hui Ye, Xiaohua Yang, Bing Feng, Pei Luo, Valeria C Torres Irizarry, Leslie Carrillo-Sáenz, Meng Yu, Yongjie Yang, Benjamin P Eappen, Marcos David Munoz, Nirali Patel, Sarah Schaul, Lucas Ibrahimi, Penghua Lai, Xinyue Qi, Yuliang Zhou, Maya Kota, Devin Dixit, Madeline Mun, Chong Wee Liew, Yuwei Jiang, Chunmei Wang, Yanlin He, Pingwen Xu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Oxysterols are metabolites of cholesterol that regulate cholesterol homeostasis. Among these, the most abundant oxysterol is 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC), which can cross the blood-brain barrier. Because 27HC functions as an endogenous selective estrogen receptor modulator, we hypothesize that 27HC binds to the estrogen receptor α (ERα) in the brain to regulate energy balance. Supporting this view, we found that delivering 27HC to the brain reduced food intake and activated proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (POMCARH) in an ERα-dependent manner. In addition, we observed that inhibiting brain ERα, deleting ERα in POMC neurons, or chemogenetic inhibition of …

Understanding The Genetic Complexity Of Puberty Timing Across The Allele Frequency Spectrum, Katherine A Kentistou, Lena R Kaisinger, Stasa Stankovic, Marc Vaudel, Edson Mendes De Oliveira, Andrea Messina, Robin G Walters, Xiaoxi Liu, Alexander S Busch, Hannes Helgason, Deborah J Thompson, Federico Santoni, Konstantin M Petricek, Yassine Zouaghi, Isabel Huang-Doran, Daniel F Gudbjartsson, Eirik Bratland, Kuang Lin, Eugene J Gardner, Yajie Zhao, Raina Y Jia, Chikashi Terao, Marjorie J Riggan, Manjeet K Bolla, Mojgan Yazdanpanah, Nahid Yazdanpanah, Jonathan P Bradfield, Linda Broer, Archie Campbell, Daniel I Chasman, Diana L Cousminer, Nora Franceschini, Lude H Franke, Giorgia Girotto, Chunyan He, Marjo-Riitta Järvelin, Peter K Joshi, Yoichiro Kamatani, Robert Karlsson, Jian'an Luan, Kathryn L Lunetta, Reedik Mägi, Massimo Mangino, Sarah E Medland, Christa Meisinger, Raymond Noordam, Teresa Nutile, Maria Pina Concas, Ozren Polašek, Eleonora Porcu, Susan M Ring, Cinzia Sala, Albert V Smith, Toshiko Tanaka, Peter J Van Der Most, Veronique Vitart, Carol A Wang, Gonneke Willemsen, Marek Zygmunt, Thomas U Ahearn, Irene L Andrulis, Hoda Anton-Culver, Antonis C Antoniou, Paul L Auer, Catriona L K Barnes, Matthias W Beckmann, Amy Berrington De Gonzalez, Natalia V Bogdanova, Stig E Bojesen, Hermann Brenner, Julie E Buring, Federico Canzian, Jenny Chang-Claude, Fergus J Couch, Angela Cox, Laura Crisponi, Kamila Czene, Mary B Daly, Ellen W Demerath, Joe Dennis, Peter Devilee, Immaculata De Vivo, Thilo Dörk, Alison M Dunning, Miriam Dwek, Johan G Eriksson, Peter A Fasching, Lindsay Fernandez-Rhodes, Liana Ferreli, Olivia Fletcher, Manuela Gago-Dominguez, Montserrat García-Closas, José A García-Sáenz, Anna González-Neira, Harald Grallert, Pascal Guénel, Christopher A Haiman, Per Hall, Ute Hamann, Hakon Hakonarson, Roger J Hart, Martha Hickey, Maartje J Hooning, Reiner Hoppe, John L Hopper, Jouke-Jan Hottenga, Frank B Hu, Hanna Huebner, David J Hunter, Helena Jernström, Esther M John, David Karasik, Elza K Khusnutdinova, Vessela N Kristensen, James V Lacey, Diether Lambrechts, Lenore J Launer, Penelope A Lind, Annika Lindblom, Patrik K E Magnusson, Arto Mannermaa, Mark I Mccarthy, Thomas Meitinger, Cristina Menni, Kyriaki Michailidou, Iona Y Millwood, Roger L Milne, Grant W Montgomery, Heli Nevanlinna, Ilja M Nolte, Dale R Nyholt, Nadia Obi, Katie M O'Brien, Kenneth Offit, Albertine J Oldehinkel, Sisse R Ostrowski, Aarno Palotie, Ole B Pedersen, Annette Peters, Giulia Pianigiani, Dijana Plaseska-Karanfilska, Anneli Pouta, Alfred Pozarickij, Paolo Radice, Gad Rennert, Frits R Rosendaal, Daniela Ruggiero, Emmanouil Saloustros, Dale P Sandler, Sabine Schipf, Carsten O Schmidt, Marjanka K Schmidt, Kerrin Small, Beatrice Spedicati, Meir Stampfer, Jennifer Stone, Rulla M Tamimi, Lauren R Teras, Emmi Tikkanen, Constance Turman, Celine M Vachon, Qin Wang, Robert Winqvist, Alicja Wolk, Babette S Zemel, Wei Zheng, Ko W Van Dijk, Behrooz Z Alizadeh, Stefania Bandinelli, Eric Boerwinkle, Dorret I Boomsma, Marina Ciullo, Georgia Chenevix-Trench, Francesco Cucca, Tõnu Esko, Christian Gieger, Struan F A Grant, Vilmundur Gudnason, Caroline Hayward, Ivana Kolčić, Peter Kraft, Deborah A Lawlor, Nicholas G Martin, Ellen A Nøhr, Nancy L Pedersen, Craig E Pennell, Paul M Ridker, Antonietta Robino, Harold Snieder, Ulla Sovio, Tim D Spector, Doris Stöckl, Cathie Sudlow, Nic J Timpson, Daniela Toniolo, André Uitterlinden, Sheila Ulivi, Henry Völzke, Nicholas J Wareham, Elisabeth Widen, James F Wilson, Lifelines Cohort Study, Danish Blood Donor Study, Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium, Breast Cancer Association Consortium, Biobank Japan Project, China Kadoorie Biobank Collaborative Group, Paul D P Pharoah, Liming Li, Douglas F Easton, Pål R Njølstad, Patrick Sulem, Joanne M Murabito, Anna Murray, Despoina Manousaki, Anders Juul, Christian Erikstrup, Kari Stefansson, Momoko Horikoshi, Zhengming Chen, I Sadaf Farooqi, Nelly Pitteloud, Stefan Johansson, Felix R Day, John R B Perry, Ken K Ong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pubertal timing varies considerably and is associated with later health outcomes. We performed multi-ancestry genetic analyses on ~800,000 women, identifying 1,080 signals for age at menarche. Collectively, these explained 11% of trait variance in an independent sample. Women at the top and bottom 1% of polygenic risk exhibited ~11 and ~14-fold higher risks of delayed and precocious puberty, respectively. We identified several genes harboring rare loss-of-function variants in ~200,000 women, including variants in ZNF483, which abolished the impact of polygenic risk. Variant-to-gene mapping approaches and mouse gonadotropin-releasing hormone neuron RNA sequencing implicated 665 genes, including an uncharacterized G-protein-coupled receptor, GPR83, …

The Kat Module Of The Saga Complex Maintains The Oncogenic Gene Expression Program In Mycn- Amplified Neuroblastoma, Clare F Malone, Nathaniel W Mabe, Alexandra B Forman, Gabriela Alexe, Kathleen L Engel, Ying-Jiun C Chen, Melinda Soeung, Silvi Salhotra, Allen Basanthakumar, Bin Liu, Sharon Y R Dent, Kimberly Stegmaier

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pediatric cancers are frequently driven by genomic alterations that result in aberrant transcription factor activity. Here, we used functional genomic screens to identify multiple genes within the transcriptional coactivator Spt-Ada-Gcn5-acetyltransferase (SAGA) complex as selective dependencies for MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma, a disease of dysregulated development driven by an aberrant oncogenic transcriptional program. We characterized the DNA recruitment sites of the SAGA complex in neuroblastoma and the consequences of loss of SAGA complex lysine acetyltransferase (KAT) activity on histone acetylation and gene expression. We demonstrate that loss of SAGA complex KAT activity is associated with reduced MYCN binding on chromatin, suppression of …

Risk Of Meningomyelocele Mediated By The Common 22q112 Deletion, Keng Ioi Vong, Sangmoon Lee, Kit Sing Au, T Blaine Crowley, Valeria Capra, Jeremiah Martino, Meade Haller, Camila Araújo, Hélio R Machado, Renee George, Bryn Gerding, Kiely N James, Valentina Stanley, Nan Jiang, Kameron Alu, Naomi Meave, Anna S Nidhiry, Fiza Jiwani, Isaac Tang, Ashna Nisal, Ishani Jhamb, Arzoo Patel, Aakash Patel, Jennifer Mcevoy-Venneri, Chelsea Barrows, Celina Shen, Yoo-Jin Ha, Robyn Howarth, Madison Strain, Allison Elizabeth Ashley-Koch, Matloob Azam, Sara Mumtaz, Gyang Markus Bot, Richard H Finnell, Zoha Kibar, Ahmed I Marwan, Gia Melikishvili, Hal S Meltzer, Osvaldo M Mutchinick, David A Stevenson, Henry J Mroczkowski, Betsy Ostrander, Erica Schindewolf, Julie Moldenhauer, Elaine H Zackai, Beverly S Emanuel, Sixto Garcia-Minaur, Beata A Nowakowska, Roger E Stevenson, Maha S Zaki, Hope Northrup, Hanna K Mcnamara, Kimberly A Aldinger, Ian G Phelps, Mei Deng, Ian A Glass, Bernice Morrow, Donna M Mcdonald-Mcginn, Simone Sanna-Cherchi, Dolores J Lamb, Joseph G Gleeson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Meningomyelocele is one of the most severe forms of neural tube defects (NTDs) and the most frequent structural birth defect of the central nervous system. We assembled the Spina Bifida Sequencing Consortium to identify causes. Exome and genome sequencing of 715 parent-offspring trios identified six patients with chromosomal 22q11.2 deletions, suggesting a 23-fold increased risk compared with the general population. Furthermore, analysis of a separate 22q11.2 deletion cohort suggested a 12- to 15-fold increased NTD risk of meningomyelocele. The loss of

Gut Development Following Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Supplementation To Preterm Pigs, Martin Bo Rasmussen, Kristine Holgersen, Stanislava Pankratova, Ole Bæk, Douglas G Burrin, Thomas Thymann, Per Torp Sangild

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Reduced insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels may contribute to impaired organ development in preterm infants. Using preterm pigs as a model, we hypothesized that IGF-1 supplementation improves health and gut development during the first three weeks of life.

METHODS: First, clinical and organ endpoints were compared between artificially-reared, cesarean-delivered preterm pigs and vaginally-delivered, sow-reared term pigs at 5, 9 and 19 days. Next, preterm pigs were treated with recombinant human IGF-1 for 19 days (2.25 mg/kg/day, systemically).

RESULTS: Relative to term pigs, preterm pigs had lower body weight, fat, bone contents, relative weights of liver and spleen and a …

Dissection, Histological Processing, And Gene Expression Analysis Of Murine Supraclavicular Brown Adipose Tissuejove: Peer Reviewed Scientific Video Journal Article Protocols, Mark G Waterstraat, Ziyi Wang, Mari Kogiso, Rommel Caballero-Juarez, Miao-Hsueh Chen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Brown adipose tissue (BAT)-mediated thermogenesis plays an important role in the regulation of metabolism, and its morphology and function can be greatly impacted by environmental stimuli in mice and humans. Currently, murine interscapular BAT (iBAT), which is located between two scapulae in the upper dorsal flank of mice, is the main BAT depot used by research laboratories to study BAT function. Recently, a few previously unknown BAT depots were identified in mice, including one analogous to human supraclavicular brown adipose tissue. Unlike iBAT, murine supraclavicular brown adipose tissue (scBAT) is situated in the intermediate layer of the neck and thus …

Childhood Cancer Mutagenesis Caused By Transposase-Derived Pgbd5, Makiko Yamada, Ross R Keller, Rodrigo Lopez Gutierrez, Daniel Cameron, Hiromichi Suzuki, Reeti Sanghrajka, Jake Vaynshteyn, Jeffrey Gerwin, Francesco Maura, William Hooper, Minita Shah, Nicolas Robine, Phillip Demarest, N Sumru Bayin, Luz Jubierre Zapater, Casie Reed, Steven Hébert, Ignas Masilionis, Ronan Chaligne, Nicholas D Socci, Michael D Taylor, Claudia L Kleinman, Alexandra L Joyner, G Praveen Raju, Alex Kentsis

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Genomic rearrangements are a hallmark of most childhood tumors, including medulloblastoma, one of the most common brain tumors in children, but their causes remain largely unknown. Here, we show that PiggyBac transposable element derived 5 (Pgbd5) promotes tumor development in multiple developmentally accurate mouse models of Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) medulloblastoma. Most Pgbd5-deficient mice do not develop tumors, while maintaining normal cerebellar development. Ectopic activation of SHH signaling is sufficient to enforce cerebellar granule cell progenitor-like cell states, which exhibit Pgbd5-dependent expression of distinct DNA repair and neurodevelopmental factors. Mouse medulloblastomas expressing Pgbd5 have increased numbers of somatic structural DNA rearrangements, …

Mapping Sca1 Regional Vulnerabilities Reveals Neural And Skeletal Muscle Contributions To Disease, Lisa Duvick, W Michael Southern, Kellie A Benzow, Zoe N Burch, Hillary P Handler, Jason S Mitchell, Hannah Kuivinen, Udaya Gadiparthi, Praseuth Yang, Alyssa Soles, Carrie A Sheeler, Orion Rainwater, Shannah Serres, Erin B Lind, Tessa Nichols-Meade, Yun You, Brennon O'Callaghan, Huda Y Zoghbi, Marija Cvetanovic, Vanessa C Wheeler, James M Ervasti, Michael D Koob, Harry T Orr

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by an expanded polyglutamine tract in the widely expressed ataxin-1 (ATXN1) protein. To elucidate anatomical regions and cell types that underlie mutant ATXN1-induced disease phenotypes, we developed a floxed conditional knockin mouse (f-ATXN1146Q/2Q) with mouse Atxn1 coding exons replaced by human ATXN1 exons encoding 146 glutamines. f-ATXN1146Q/2Q mice manifested SCA1-like phenotypes including motor and cognitive deficits, wasting, and decreased survival. Central nervous system (CNS) contributions to disease were revealed using f-ATXN1146Q/2Q;Nestin-Cre mice, which showed improved rotarod, open field, and Barnes maze performance by 6-12 weeks of age. In contrast, …

Craniofacial Bone Anomalies Related To Cholesterol Synthesis Defects, Chihiro Iwaya, Akiko Suzuki, Junbo Shim, Aemin Kim, Junichi Iwata

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

DHCR7 and SC5D are enzymes crucial for cholesterol biosynthesis, and mutations in their genes are associated with developmental disorders, which are characterized by craniofacial deformities. We have recently reported that a loss of either Dhcr7 or Sc5d results in a failure in osteoblast differentiation. However, it remains unclear to what extent a loss of function in either DHCR7 or SC5D affects craniofacial skeletal formation. Here, using micro computed tomography (μCT), we found that the bone phenotype differs in Dhcr7

Targeting Glutamine Dependence With Drp-104 Inhibits Proliferation And Tumor Growth Of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer, David Moon, J Spencer Hauck, Xue Jiang, Holly Quang, Lingfan Xu, Fan Zhang, Xia Gao, Robert Wild, Jeffrey I Everitt, Everardo Macias, Yiping He, Jiaoti Huang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PCa) continues to be one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in men. While androgen deprivation therapy is initially effective, castration-resistant PCa (CRPC) often recurs and has limited treatment options. Our previous study identified glutamine metabolism to be critical for CRPC growth. The glutamine antagonist 6-diazo-5-oxo-l-norleucine (DON) blocks both carbon and nitrogen pathways but has dose-limiting toxicity. The prodrug DRP-104 is expected to be preferentially converted to DON in tumor cells to inhibit glutamine utilization with minimal toxicity. However, CRPC cells' susceptibility to DRP-104 remains unclear.

METHODS: Human PCa cell lines (LNCaP, LAPC4, C4-2/MDVR, PC-3, 22RV1, …

Advances In Pediatric Acute Kidney Injury Pathobiology: A Report From The 26th Acute Disease Quality Initiative (Adqi) Conference, Michelle C Starr, Erin Barreto, Jennifer Charlton, Molly Vega, Patrick D Brophy, O N Ray Bignall, Scott M Sutherland, Shina Menon, Prasad Devarajan, Ayse Akcan Arikan, Rajit Basu, Stuart Goldstein, Danielle E Soranno

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: In the past decade, there have been substantial advances in our understanding of the pathobiology of pediatric acute kidney injury (AKI). In particular, animal models and studies focused on the relationship between kidney development, nephron number, and kidney health have identified a number of heterogeneous pathophysiologies underlying AKI. Despite this progress, gaps remain in our understanding of the pathobiology of pediatric AKI.

Methods: During the 26th Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) Consensus conference, a multidisciplinary group of experts discussed the evidence and used a modified Delphi process to achieve consensus on recommendations for opportunities to advance translational research in …

Estrogen Signaling In The Dorsal Raphe Regulates Binge-Like Drinking In Mice, Valeria C Torres Irizarry, Bing Feng, Xiaohua Yang, Nirali Patel, Sarah Schaul, Lucas Ibrahimi, Hui Ye, Pei Luo, Leslie Carrillo-Sáenz, Penghua Lai, Maya Kota, Devin Dixit, Chunmei Wang, Amy W Lasek, Yanlin He, Pingwen Xu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Estrogens promote binge alcohol drinking and contribute to sex differences in alcohol use disorder. However, the mechanisms are largely unknown. This study aims to test if estrogens act on 5-hydroxytryptamine neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (5-HTDRN) to promote binge drinking. We found that female mice drank more alcohol than male mice in chronic drinking in the dark (DID) tests. This sex difference was associated with distinct alterations in mRNA expression of estrogen receptor α (ERα) and 5-HT-related genes in the DRN, suggesting a potential role of estrogen/ERs/5-HT signaling. In supporting this view, 5-HTDRN neurons from naïve male mice had …

Current Strategies For Increasing Knock-In Efficiency In Crispr/Cas9-Based Approaches, Andrés Felipe Leal, Angelica María Herreno-Pachón, Eliana Benincore-Flórez, Amali Karunathilaka, Shunji Tomatsu

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Papers

Since its discovery in 2012, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system has supposed a promising panorama for developing novel and highly precise genome editing-based gene therapy (GT) alternatives, leading to overcoming the challenges associated with classical GT. Classical GT aims to deliver transgenes to the cells via their random integration in the genome or episomal persistence into the nucleus through lentivirus (LV) or adeno-associated virus (AAV), respectively. Although high transgene expression efficiency is achieved by using either LV or AAV, their nature can result in severe side effects in humans. For instance, …

Recombinant Rod Domain Of Vimentin Reduces Sars-Cov-2 Viral Replication By Blocking Spike Protein-Ace2 Interactions, Fong Wilson Lam, Cameron August Brown, Shannon Elizabeth Ronca

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Although the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is the primary preventive intervention, there are still few antiviral therapies available, with current drugs decreasing viral replication once the virus is intracellular. Adding novel drugs to target additional points in the viral life cycle is paramount in preventing future pandemics. The purpose of this study was to create and test a novel protein to decrease SARS-CoV-2 replication. We created the recombinant rod domain of vimentin (rhRod) in E. coli and used biolayer interferometry to measure its affinity to the SARS-CoV-2 S1S2 spike protein and the ability to block the SARS-CoV-2–ACE2 interaction. We performed plaque assays …

An Excitatory Projection From The Basal Forebrain To The Ventral Tegmental Area That Underlies Anorexia-Like Phenotypes, Jing Cai, Yanyan Jiang, Yuanzhong Xu, Zhiying Jiang, Claire Young, Hongli Li, Joshua Ortiz-Guzman, Yizhou Zhuo, Yulong Li, Yong Xu, Benjamin R Arenkiel, Qingchun Tong

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Maladaptation in balancing internal energy needs and external threat cues may result in eating disorders. However, brain mechanisms underlying such maladaptations remain elusive. Here, we identified that the basal forebrain (BF) sends glutamatergic projections to glutamatergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in mice. Glutamatergic neurons in both regions displayed correlated responses to various stressors. Notably, in vivo manipulation of BF terminals in the VTA revealed that the glutamatergic BF → VTA circuit reduces appetite, increases locomotion, and elicits avoidance. Consistently, activation of VTA glutamatergic neurons reduced body weight, blunted food motivation, and caused hyperactivity with behavioral signs of …

Pulsatile Leucine Administration During Continuous Enteral Feeding Enhances Skeletal Muscle Mechanistic Target Of Rapamycin Complex 1 Signaling And Protein Synthesis In A Preterm Piglet Model, Marko Rudar, Agus Suryawan, Hanh V Nguyen, Shaji K Chacko, Caitlin Vonderohe, Barbara Stoll, Douglas G Burrin, Marta L Fiorotto, Teresa A Davis

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Continuous feeding does not elicit an optimal anabolic response in skeletal muscle but is required for some preterm infants. We reported previously that intermittent intravenous pulses of leucine (Leu; 800 μmol Leu·kg–1·h–1 every 4 h) to continuously fed pigs born at term promoted mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) activation and protein synthesis in skeletal muscle.

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to determine the extent to which intravenous Leu pulses activate mTORC1 and enhance protein synthesis in the skeletal muscle of continuously fed pigs born preterm.

METHODS: Pigs delivered 10 d preterm was advanced to full oral feeding >4 …

Adverse Metabolic Phenotypes In Parenterally Fed Neonatal Pigs Do Not Persist Into Adolescence, Sarah K Elefson, Barbara Stoll, Teresa A Davis, Marta L Fiorotto, Samer W El-Kadi, Kenneth Genovese, Thomas Thymann, Per T Sangild, Douglas G Burrin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Nutrition during fetal and neonatal life is an important determinant for the risk of adult-onset diseases, especially type 2 diabetes and obesity.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine whether total parenteral nutrition (TPN) compared with enteral formula feeding [enteral nutrition (EN)] in term piglets during the first 2 wk after birth would increase the long-term (5-mo) development of metabolic syndrome phenotypes with adverse glucose homeostasis, fatty liver disease, and obesity.

METHODS: Neonatal female pigs were administered TPN (n = 12) or fed enterally with a liquid enteral milk-replacer formula (EN, n = 12) for 14 d. After transitioning TPN pigs …

Circadian Dysfunction Induces Nafld-Related Human Liver Cancer In A Mouse Model, Jennifer Padilla, Noha M Osman, Beatrice Bissig-Choisat, Sandra L Grimm, Xuan Qin, Angela M Major, Li Yang, Dolores Lopez-Terrada, Cristian Coarfa, Feng Li, Karl-Dimiter Bissig, David D Moore, Loning Fu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Chronic circadian dysfunction increases the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the underlying mechanisms and direct relevance to human HCC have not been established. In this study, we aimed to determine whether chronic circadian dysregulation can drive NAFLD-related carcinogenesis from human hepatocytes and human HCC progression.

METHODS: Chronic jet lag of mice with humanized livers induces spontaneous NAFLD-related HCCs from human hepatocytes. The clinical relevance of this model was analysed by biomarker, pathological/histological, genetic, RNA sequencing, metabolomic, and integrated bioinformatic analyses.

RESULTS: Circadian dysfunction induces glucose intolerance, NAFLD-associated human HCCs, and human …

Intramuscular But Not Nebulized Administration Of A Mrna Vaccine Against Rhodococcus Equi Stimulated Humoral Immune Responses In Neonatal Foals, Rebecca M Legere, Cristina Poveda, Jeannine A Ott, Jocelyne M Bray, Emma G Villafone, Bibiana Petri Da Silveira, Susanne K Kahn, Cameron L Martin, Chiara Mancino, Francesca Taraballi, Michael F Criscitiello, Luc Berghman, Angela I Bordin, Jeroen Pollet, Noah D Cohen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: Design and evaluate immune responses of neonatal foals to a mRNA vaccine expressing the virulence-associated protein A (VapA) of Rhodococcus equi.

Animals: Cultured primary equine respiratory tract cells; Serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 30 healthy Quarter Horse foals.

Methods: VapA expression was evaluated by western immunoblot in cultured equine bronchial cells transfected with 4 mRNA constructs encoding VapA. The mRNA construct with greatest expression was used to immunize foals at ages 2 and 21 days in 5 groups: (1) 300 μg nebulized mRNA (n = 6); (2) 600 μg nebulized mRNA (n …

In Vivo Cardiac Electrophysiology In Mice: Determination Of Atrial And Ventricular Arrhythmic Substrates, Jose Alberto Navarro-Garcia, Florian Bruns, Oliver M Moore, Marcel A Tekook, Dobromir Dobrev, Christina Y Miyake, Xander H T Wehrens

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Cardiac arrhythmias are a common cardiac condition that might lead to fatal outcomes. A better understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of arrhythmia mechanisms is necessary for the development of better treatment modalities. To aid these efforts, various mouse models have been developed for studying cardiac arrhythmias. Both genetic and surgical mouse models are commonly used to assess the incidence and mechanisms of arrhythmias. Since spontaneous arrhythmias are uncommon in healthy young mice, intracardiac programmed electrical stimulation (PES) can be performed to assess the susceptibility to pacing-induced arrhythmias and uncover the possible presence of a proarrhythmogenic substrate. This procedure …