Publications by authors named "Amy Decker"

Adoptive T cell therapies (ACT) have been curative for a limited number of cancer patients. The sensitization of cancer cells to T cell killing may expand the benefit of these therapies for more patients. To this end, we use a three-step approach to identify cancer genes that disfavor T cell immunity.

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Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological demands placed on Australian police officers carrying out common operational tasks.

Methods: Forty participants (n = 40) from an Australian police force (mean age = 33.58 ± 7.

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Article Synopsis
  • Local adaptation helps organisms survive in specific environments by developing useful traits, but fast changes in the environment can sometimes create problems instead of solutions.
  • Researchers studied how cancer cells, specifically acute myeloid leukemia (AML), change when exposed to different treatments, revealing a complicated relationship between drug resistance and sensitivity.
  • They discovered that certain genetic pathways in these cells can make them resistant to one type of treatment while making them more vulnerable to another, which could help develop better cancer therapies that target this weakness.
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Tumor relapse is the leading cause of death in breast cancer, largely due to the fact that recurrent tumors are frequently resistant to chemotherapy. We previously reported that downregulation of the proapoptotic protein Par-4 promotes tumor recurrence in genetically engineered mouse models of breast cancer recurrence. In the present study, we examined the mechanism and functional significance of Par-4 downregulation in recurrent tumors.

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Pathogenic missense and truncating variants in the GABRG2 gene cause a spectrum of epilepsies, from Dravet syndrome to milder simple febrile seizures. In most cases, pathogenic missense variants in the GABRG2 gene segregate with a febrile seizure phenotype. In this case series, we report a recurrent, de novo missense variant (c0.

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Background: We aimed for a comprehensive delineation of genetic, functional and phenotypic aspects of encephalopathy and explored potential prospects of personalised medicine.

Methods: Data of 48 individuals with de novo variants were collected from several diagnostic and research cohorts, as well as from 43 patients from the literature. Functional consequences and response to memantine treatment were investigated in vitro and eventually translated into patient care.

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Mutations in the SERPINA1 gene can cause deficiency in the circulating serine protease inhibitor α(1)-Antitrypsin (α(1)AT). α(1)AT deficiency is the major contributor to pulmonary emphysema and liver disease in persons of European ancestry, with a prevalence of 1 in 2500 in the USA. We present the discovery and characterization of a novel SERPINA1 mutant from an asymptomatic Middle Eastern male with circulating α(1)AT deficiency.

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DNA sequence variation is known to exist in and around the repeat region of short tandem repeat (STR) loci used in human identity testing. While the vast majority of STR alleles measured in forensic DNA laboratories worldwide type as "normal" alleles compared with STR kit allelic ladders, a number of variant alleles have been reported. In addition, a sequence difference at a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer binding site in the DNA template can cause allele drop-out (i.

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Modern highly multiplexed short tandem repeat (STR) assays used by the forensic human-identity community require tight control of the initial amount of sample DNA amplified in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process. This, in turn, requires the ability to reproducibly measure the concentration of human DNA, [DNA], in a sample extract. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) techniques can determine the number of intact stretches of DNA of specified nucleotide sequence in an extremely small sample; however, these assays must be calibrated with DNA extracts of well-characterized and stable composition.

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We have examined 389 father/son sample pairs from U.S. Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics and Asians using the 17 Y-STR loci in the Yfilertrade mark kit and observed a total of 24 differences between father and son.

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Mental retardation (MR) is not a common feature observed in patients with classical ectodermal dysplasias (EDs). Several genes responsible for EDs and MR have been identified. However, the causation has yet to be identified in a significant number of patients with either ED or MR.

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Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Despite advances in treatment of endocrine-dependent tumors, the complete molecular basis of transformation is still unknown. What is clear is that a variety of genetic lesions and epigenetic modifications are present in the neoplasm.

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Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) markers are being used as potential tools for distinguishing low levels of male DNA in the presence of excess female DNA as is present in many sexual assault samples. Usually single copy Y-STR loci produce a single amplicon in single source samples, and thus the observation of multiple peaks at such a locus could suggest to an analyst that a mixture of more than one male contributor is present in the tested sample. However, many regions of the Y-chromosome are duplicated or even triplicated in some individuals and this fact can thus complicate potential mixture interpretation.

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189 samples from 3 different U.S. sample groups Caucasian (74), African American (71) and Hispanic (44) were typed for 70 autosomal genetic markers.

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We report on a 6.5-year-old girl with a balanced translocation between the short arms of chromosomes 1 and 6. She was referred for genetics evaluation because of developmental speech delay and congenital absence of several deciduous and permanent teeth.

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