Publications

Kinase activation by chromosomal translocations is a common mechanism that drives tumorigenesis in spitzoid neoplasms. To explore the landscape of fusion transcripts in these tumors, we performed whole-transcriptome sequencing using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues in malignant or biologically indeterminate spitzoid tumors from 7 patients (age 2-14 years). RNA sequence libraries enriched for coding regions were prepared and the sequencing was analyzed by a novel assembly-based algorithm designed for detecting complex fusions.

In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC), lymphoid infiltrates comprised mainly of T helper 2 (Th2) cells predict a poor survival outcome in patients. IL-4 signaling has been suggested to stabilize the Th2 phenotype in this setting, but the cellular source of IL-4 in PDAC is unclear. Here we show that basophils expressing IL-4 are enriched in tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) of PDAC patients. Basophils present in TDLNs correlated significantly with the Th2/Th1 cell ratio in tumors, where they served as an independent prognostic biomarker of patient survival after surgery.

Alphaherpesviruses infect a variety of species from sea turtles to man and can cause significant disease in mammals including humans and livestock. These viruses are characterized by a lytic and latent state in nerve ganglia, with the ability to establish a lifelong latent infection that is interrupted by periodic reactivation. Previously, it was accepted that latency was a dominant state and that only during relatively infrequent reactivation episodes did latent genomes within ganglia become transcriptionally active.

Loss of pancreas β-cell function is the precipitating factor in all forms of diabetes. Cell replacement therapies, such as islet transplantation, remain the best hope for a cure; however, widespread implementation of this method is hampered by availability of donor tissue. Thus, strategies that expand functional β-cell mass are crucial for widespread usage in diabetes cell replacement therapy.

Neuronal circuit asymmetries are important components of brain circuits, but the molecular pathways leading to their establishment remain unknown. Here we found that the mutation of FRMD7, a gene that is defective in human congenital nystagmus, leads to the selective loss of the horizontal optokinetic reflex in mice, as it does in humans. This is accompanied by the selective loss of horizontal direction selectivity in retinal ganglion cells and the transition from asymmetric to symmetric inhibitory input to horizontal direction-selective ganglion cells.

The cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is known to stimulate proinflammatory immune responses and impair β-cell function and viability, all critical events in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Here we evaluate the effect of SER140, a small peptide IL-1β receptor antagonist, on diabetes progression and cellular pancreatic changes in female nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. Eight weeks of treatment with SER140 reduced the incidence of diabetes by more than 50% compared with vehicle, decreased blood glucose, and increased plasma insulin.

Sighs are long, deep breaths expressing sadness, relief or exhaustion. Sighs also occur spontaneously every few minutes to reinflate alveoli, and sighing increases under hypoxia, stress, and certain psychiatric conditions. Here we use molecular, genetic, and pharmacologic approaches to identify a peptidergic sigh control circuit in murine brain. Small neural subpopulations in a key breathing control centre, the retrotrapezoid nucleus/parafacial respiratory group (RTN/pFRG), express bombesin-like neuropeptide genes neuromedin B (Nmb) or gastrin-releasing peptide (Grp).

Complex Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) populations composed of mixtures of different strains of the virus are commonly found in citrus trees in the field. At present, little is known about how these populations are formed, maintained, and how they are structured within a host. Here we used a novel in situ hybridization approach allowing simultaneous visualization of two different RNA targets with high sensitivity and specificity to examine the distribution of two isolates, T36 and T68-1, representing phylogenetically distinct strains of CTV, in a citrus host in single and mixed infections.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Enteroviruses (EVs) have been linked to the pathogenesis of several diseases and there is a collective need to develop improved methods for the detection of these viruses in tissue samples.

OBJECTIVES:

This study evaluates the relative sensitivity of immunohistochemistry (IHC), proteomics, in situ hybridization (ISH) and RT-PCR to detect one common EV, Coxsackievirus B1 (CVB1), in acutely infected human A549 cells in vitro.

STUDY DESIGN:

Current analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is hindered by sub-optimal sensitivity and specificity of devices or assays as well as lack of capability of characterization of CTCs with clinical biomarkers. Here, we validate a novel technology to enrich and characterize CTCs from blood samples of patients with metastatic breast, prostate and colorectal cancers using a microfluidic chip which is processed by using an automated staining and scanning system from sample preparation to image processing.