Publications by authors named "Andy Chen"

Immune checkpoint blockade can facilitate tumor clearance by T cells, resulting in long term patient survival. However, the capacity of exhausted CD8 T cells (Tex), present during chronic antigen exposure, to form memory after antigen clearance remains unclear. Here, we performed longitudinal single cell RNA/T cell receptor sequencing and ATAC-sequencing on antigen-specific T cells after the clearance of chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection.

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Treating advanced metastatic cancer, particularly with bone metastasis, remains a significant challenge. In previous studies, induced tumor-suppressing (iTS) cells were successfully generated through genetic, chemical, and mechanical interventions. This study investigates the potential of electrical stimulation to generate iTS cells.

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Halide perovskites are positioned at the forefront of photonics, optoelectronics, and photovoltaics, owing to their excellent optical properties, with emission wavelengths ranging from blue to near-infrared, and their ease in manufacturing. However, their vast composition space and the corresponding emission energies are still not fully mapped, and guided high-throughput screening that allows for targeted material synthesis would be desirable. To this end, we use experimental data from the literature to build a machine learning model, predicting the band gap of 10,920 possible compositions.

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Objectives: While emergency cholecystectomy is the preferred treatment for acute cholecystitis, conservative management can be used as a bridge to definitive surgical management in situations where emergency surgical services are limited. The objective of this systematic review is to identify factors associated with conservative management failure as defined as either failed resolution of symptoms on initial presentation, or the recurrence of symptoms whilst awaiting an elective cholecystectomy. This study aims to allow clinicians to make evidence-based recommendations for conservative versus operative management.

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Lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel) is an autologous CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy approved for the treatment of relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma. We present a multicenter retrospective study evaluating safety, efficacy, and resource use of liso-cel in the standard-of-care setting. Patients received commercial liso-cel at 7 US medical centers, and patient selection, toxicity management, and disease assessment followed institutional practices.

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Background: Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies are available for patients with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL); however, their use has been limited in accessibility due to nondisease factors.

Patients & Methods: We conducted a retrospective study evaluating the influence of sociodemographic factors on access and outcomes after CAR-T therapy for adult patients with B-cell NHL in our institution treated between 2016 and 2023.

Results: Among 154 patients treated with CAR-T, 43% were older than 65 years, 68% male, and 14% non-White (including Hispanic).

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Age-related osteoporosis is a metabolic skeletal disorder caused by estrogen deficiency in postmenopausal women. Prolonged use of anti-osteoporotic drugs such as bisphosphonates and FDA-approved anti-resorptive selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) has been associated with various clinical drawbacks. We recently discovered a low-molecular-weight biocompatible and osteoanabolic phytoprotein, called HKUOT-S2 protein (32 kDa), from Thunb that can accelerate bone defect healing.

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CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapies, including axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel), tisagenlecleucel (tisa-cel), and lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel), have transformed the treatment landscape for B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, showcasing significant efficacy but also highlighting toxicity risks such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS). The US Food and Drug Administration has mandated patients remain close to the treatment center for 4 weeks as part of a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy to monitor and manage these toxicities, which, although cautious, may add to cost of care, be burdensome for patients and their families, and present challenges related to patient access and socioeconomic disparities. This retrospective study across 9 centers involving 475 patients infused with axi-cel, tisa-cel, and liso-cel from 2018 to 2023 aimed to assess CRS and ICANS onset and duration, as well as causes of nonrelapse mortality (NRM) in real-world CAR T recipients.

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Early trophoblast differentiation is crucial for embryo implantation, placentation and fetal development. Dynamic changes in DNA methylation occur during preimplantation development and are critical for cell fate determination. However, the underlying regulatory mechanism remains unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focuses on how mosquitoes and other insects detect odors using specialized ion channel complexes made up of an odorant-binding subunit (OR) and a co-receptor subunit (Orco).
  • - Researchers used cryo-electron microscopy to determine the structures of two different mosquito odorant receptor complexes, finding an unexpected ratio of one OR to three Orco subunits.
  • - The findings show that when an odorant binds to the OR subunit, it is enough to open the channel pore, offering insights into how these receptors evolved and how insects sense odors.
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  • - The study investigates the effects of cyclopentenyl cytosine (CPEC)-coated stents on preventing artery narrowing, encouraging blood vessel healing, and reducing blood clots.
  • - Researchers used advanced microscopy and drug release tests to evaluate the CPEC-coated stents against traditional everolimus-coated stents in lab settings and within animal models, finding CPEC stents led to less stenosis and promoted better healing.
  • - Results showed that CPEC-coated stents significantly lowered blood clot formation without requiring anticoagulant medications, suggesting they could improve treatment outcomes for cardiovascular diseases.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores access to CART19 immunotherapy for large B-cell lymphomas among minority health populations (MHPs) compared to non-MHPs in different hospital settings.
  • It found that while MHPs had access to care for LBCL, their representation in CART19 therapy was lower, with only 6.7% at the Abramson Cancer Center and 4.2% at the Knight Cancer Institute receiving the treatment.
  • Outcomes for MHPs who did receive CART19 were similar to non-MHPs regarding response and survival, but the small sample size necessitates further research to confirm these findings.
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CD19 CAR T-cell (CAR-T) therapy is commonly administered to patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphomas (LBCL), but salvage or bridging therapy can sometimes lead to a complete response (CR) prior to infusion. Limited studies have assessed the outcomes of patients infused in CR. A total of 134 patients with LBCL in CR prior to CAR-T infusion were identified from the CIBMTR registry, with median prior lines of therapy of 3 (range 2-9).

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A major limitation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies is the poor persistence of these cells in vivo. The expression of memory-associated genes in CAR T cells is linked to their long-term persistence in patients and clinical efficacy, suggesting that memory programs may underpin durable CAR T cell function. Here we show that the transcription factor FOXO1 is responsible for promoting memory and restraining exhaustion in human CAR T cells.

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Early-life stress increases sensitivity to subsequent stress, which has been observed among humans, other animals, at the level of cellular activity, and at the level of gene expression. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying such long-lasting sensitivity are poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that persistent changes in transcription and transcriptional potential were maintained at the level of the epigenome, through changes in chromatin.

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3-dimensional (3D) genome conformation is central to gene expression regulation, yet our understanding of its contribution to rapid transcriptional responses, signal integration, and memory in immune cells is limited. Here, we study the molecular regulation of the inflammatory response in primary macrophages using integrated transcriptomic, epigenomic, and chromosome conformation data, including base pair-resolution Micro-Capture C. We demonstrate that interleukin-4 (IL-4) primes the inflammatory response in macrophages by stably rewiring 3D genome conformation, juxtaposing endotoxin-, interferon-gamma-, and dexamethasone-responsive enhancers in close proximity to their cognate gene promoters.

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Psychostimulant use disorders (PSUD) are prevalent; however, no FDA-approved medications have been made available for treatment. Previous studies have shown that dual inhibitors of the dopamine transporter (DAT) and sigma receptors significantly reduce the behavioral/reinforcing effects of cocaine, which have been associated with stimulation of extracellular dopamine (DA) levels resulting from DAT inhibition. Here, we employ microdialysis and fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) procedures to investigate the effects of dual inhibitors of DAT and sigma receptors in combination with cocaine on nucleus accumbens shell (NAS) DA dynamics in naïve male Sprague Dawley rats.

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Osteosarcoma (OS), a common malignant bone tumor, calls for the investigation of novel treatment strategies. Low-intensity vibration (LIV) presents itself as a promising option, given its potential to enhance bone health and decrease cancer susceptibility. This research delves into the effects of LIV on OS cells and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), with a primary focus on generating induced tumor-suppressing cells (iTSCs) and tumor-suppressive conditioned medium (CM).

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Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified loci associated with alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD), they do not identify which variants are functional. To approach this, we evaluated the impact of variants in 3' untranslated regions (3'-UTRs) of genes in loci associated with substance use and neurological disorders using a massively parallel reporter assay (MPRA) in neuroblastoma and microglia cells. Functionally impactful variants explained a higher proportion of heritability of alcohol traits than non-functional variants.

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Four-dimensional (4D) printing unlocks new potentials for personalized biomedical implantation, but still with hurdles of lacking suitable materials. Herein, we demonstrate a bioresorbable shape memory elastomer (SME) with high elasticity at both below and above its phase transition temperature (T). This SME can be digital light 3D printed by co-polymerizing glycerol dodecanoate acrylate prepolymer (pre-PGDA) with acrylic acid monomer to form crosslinked Poly(glycerol dodecanoate acrylate) (PGDA)-Polyacrylic acid (PAA), or PGDA-PAA network.

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Current standard methods for evaluating benign vocal lesions, including white light laryngoscopy and video laryngostroboscopy, may struggle to identify smaller lesions. While histopathological results obtained from laryngeal microsurgery provide definitive results, their invasiveness can lead to scarring and impaired phonological outcomes. Intralesional steroid injection has recently gained acceptance, but it lacks pathological diagnostic capabilities.

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Background: While videostroboscopy is recognized as the most popular approach for investigating vocal fold function, evaluating the numerical values, such as the membranous glottal gap area, remains too time consuming for clinical applications.

Methods: We used a total of 2507 videostroboscopy images from 137 patients and developed five U-Net-based deep-learning image segmentation models for automatic masking of the membranous glottal gap area. To further validate the models, we used another 410 images from 41 different patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The trial included 97 patients who received tisagenlecleucel, with significant estimated 24-month rates for progression-free survival (57.4%), duration of response (66.4%), and overall survival (87.7%).
  • * Biomarker analysis indicated better outcomes correlated with low levels of exhausted T cells and higher levels of naïve T cells, confirming the treatment's durable efficacy and favorable safety profile.
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