Publications by authors named "Andrea Lau"

Derailed cytokine and immune cell networks account for the organ damage and the clinical severity of COVID-19 (refs. ). Here we show that SARS-CoV-2, like other viruses, evokes cellular senescence as a primary stress response in infected cells.

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Lesion-based targeting strategies underlie cancer precision medicine. However, biological principles - such as cellular senescence - remain difficult to implement in molecularly informed treatment decisions. Functional analyses in syngeneic mouse models and cross-species validation in patient datasets might uncover clinically relevant genetics of biological response programs.

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Background: A cost-minimization analysis (CMA) was performed to estimate the economic impact of introducing the SQ house dust mite sublingual immunotherapy (SQ HDM SLIT)-tablet marketed as ACARIZAX™ (regulatory approval May 2017) for the treatment of HDM-induced allergic rhinitis in Canada (Ontario and Quebec), where house dust mite subcutaneous immunotherapy (HDM SCIT) is already an available treatment option.

Methods: A CMA was deemed appropriate and was based on the assumption that the SQ HDM SLIT-tablet has comparable efficacy to HDM SCIT. A societal perspective was adopted in the model, including relevant costs of medications, health care services and productivity loss.

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In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the lysine acetyltransferase NuA4 has been linked to a host of cellular processes through the acetylation of histone and non-histone targets. To discover proteins regulated by NuA4-dependent acetylation, we performed genome-wide synthetic dosage lethal screens to identify genes whose overexpression is toxic to non-essential NuA4 deletion mutants. The resulting genetic network identified a novel link between NuA4 and septin proteins, a group of highly conserved GTP-binding proteins that function in cytokinesis.

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Epidemiological studies demonstrated that human exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) may contribute to the development and progression of metabolic and cardiovascular disorders. However, the mechanisms involved and the role of selenium (Se) and vitamin E (V(E)) supplementation in modulating MeHg cardiovascular toxicities remain unclear. This study examined the effects of Se and V(E) supplementation on MeHg-mediated systemic oxidative stress, antioxidant defense, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction in an animal model.

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Multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1/ABCC1) is an ATP-dependent polytopic membrane protein that transports many anticancer drugs and organic anions. Its transport mechanism is multifaceted, especially with respect to the participation of GSH. For example, vincristine is cotransported with GSH, estrone sulfate transport is stimulated by GSH, or MRP1 can transport GSH alone, and this can be stimulated by compounds such as verapamil or apigenin.

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